Of course, every car do come with problem, but it depends on major or minor problem.

2012 CFE got wire harness melted issue....

GB issue exist too...but in very small number la

is all depends on your luck..

See VW....see the GB LOL~

hmm.. civic down to preve.. save a lot of.. at least 40k.. i think listen to ur gf quite good suggestion... so far didnt heard people said got gearbox problem.. between these 2 cars, i would say leg room in preve is better than new civic. but overall civic giving better driving feelings.. but more or less same.. just civic refinement better a bit.. in msia, due to tax, civic price is higher than preve a lot.. so far with Preve Premium 73k pricing vs civic 118k~138k, preve consider a good choice too..

My recent car journey is similar to yours (except no GF but wife).

I have just replaced my 13 yrs old Wira with Preve Premiun last week. Overall, I will give it an 8 out of 10. Power and stability are my 2 main likes. Spacious interior.

Dislikes are:
* hard landing on road hump
* engine a bit loud (but this is European design where they prefer some noise from the engine. Japanese design prefers a quiet engine)
* high back limiting back viewing on the mirror
* ?

On your question on the gearbox, no comment. Sorry.

Cheerio.

P/S On getting an imported car vs Preve, I did some price comparisons (M'sia vs overseas). About 30% of what one pays in M'sia for an imported car is tax. My frugal brain cells complained that I get nothing for that additional 30% price, no extra features in the car, just as tax. So for the same price as a basic imported car, one can get Preve Premium with MANY added features! E.g. air bags, GPS, turbo, etc etc.

Good luck!