It sounds like you need a new Temperature sensor and possibly a new radiator hose and thermastat. There are two Radiator hoses, an upper and a lower, make sure you get the right one. Your radiator also needs to be checked.
Turn the car off, hold down tripometer reset. Remove fuse NO# 13, then re-insert it. I dont advise tampering with the service light, its on for a reason, either your engine has a problem or the ECU is spitting out error codes.
Your car sounds like its in good shape other than the trans. The Transmission is only around $250 and around $600 with labor, you should just fix it. If you sell it for cheap and try to get a new car, its going to cost more than just fixing the car you have.
Personally, my favorite is the Civic CRX, but the overall best Honda model would have to be the Honda NSX Type-S Zero, wich was Honda's flagship car in the mid 90's.
You have a D16W7 1.6L VTEC-E sohc (single overhead camshaft) that puts out 115 whp. In orded to have a dohc (dual overhead camshaft) vtec engine you need a whole new engine, perferrably a K20Z3 2.0L dohc vtec, it puts out 190 whp.