Old reliable: Honda's Civic checks all the right boxes

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- Taking delivery of a Honda Civic is like meeting up with a trusted, close friend ... familiar, comfortable and as reliable as the tides.

Little wonder that the Civic is one of the best-selling passenger cars of all-time.

The tested 2019 Honda Civic 1.5T Touring sedan simply reinforced all that is good -- and long been popular -- in this model.  My ride looked downright sporty in "Cosmic Blue" exterior paint and riding on 18-inch alloy wheels.

The Civic no longer looks like a basic block.  The sporty cues are a welcome touch.

Likewise, the Civic is no longer a bare-bones driving machine.  The tester was generously equipped with useful standard features, including paddle shifters, heated front/back seats, leather surfaces and a 10-speaker audio system.

A strong lineup of safety features is headed by Honda's LaneWatch system, which gives a center dash display, real-time camera view of the exterior right side of the vehicle when the right-turn signal is triggered.  It's a helpful feature, even as Honda says it is transitioning to the more-common blind spot-monitoring system going forward.

All these features have boosted the price of Honda's monster-selling model.  The bottom line on the tester was $28,220.

Still, that's a fair price, given everything put into this Civic.  It's more than fair when you add in max five-star federal crash test ratings across the board, plus excellent fuel mileage of 30 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway.

Oh, almost forgot, it's a fun driver.

The 1.5-liter turbo-4 is decidedly enthusiastic at 174 horsepower.  That power and the Civic's relatively light weight enabled me to zip it around in tight freeway traffic with total confidence.  In gridlock urban conditions, the Civic was responsive and easy to maneuver in and out of tight spots.  It climbed hills effortlessly in the Sierra Nevada.

One more bonus: the Civic's long history of reliability in countless consumer surveys.

In short, the Civic remains the gold standard for smart car buyers, everyone from parents seeking the ideal motor vehicle for their college-bound child to savvy seniors needing a dependable, affordable car to handle the usual chores in retirement.