The Honda Civic is an automotive icon for good reason. It’s not fancy or especially large but can reliably serve as a family vehicle for years. This 2009 example had a rough life but finally received much-needed detailing.
This Civic has a tragic backstory. An old woman sold it to the current owner because the lady’s husband died of a heart attack in the car. After something like that happens, you can understand wanting to get rid of the vehicle.
From the outside, you can’t tell how nasty this Civic is. The car is certainly dirty but not disgusting. Powerwashing the body goes a long way to improving the appearance.
Cleaning the interior starts with the trunk. Removing the liner reveals a bunch of sunflower seeds and rat turds. Then, all of the seats come out of the cabin, which reveals a hidden mouse nest. It takes lots of vacuuming to clean the carpet.
Restoring the seats involves spraying them with a cleaning solution and using a brush on a power drill to agitate the fibers. Judging by the color of the water that the vacuum pulls up, the rear bench is even more disgusting than the front chairs.
Steam cleaning does an impressive job of getting gunk off the door panels. There’s so much grime on the gearshift that it’s brown rather than black. The steering wheel is similarly disgusting. Even the seatbelts receive attention.
This Civic looks as good as new after the deep cleaning. It rides on steel wheels that don’t look particularly good, but a new owner could swap them out for something else.
The Civic remains an important part of the Honda lineup in the United States. The hybrid model broadens the range for the 2024 model year. The version available in Europe uses 2.0-liter four-cylinder running on the Atkinson cycle and two electric motors. The total output is 181 horsepower and 232 pound-feet of torque.
