How often do coils go bad?
 

I replaced my daughters coil on her '96 Civic about one year ago. It is showing the same symptoms again. Is it a common occurence for these to go out?

I replaced the coil and the car starts and runs fine again. Any ideas what I should look for in lengthening the life of the coil?

Hmm Im assuming you mean the ignition coil. If this is what you mean, I would consider either A) rebuilding the distributor or B) buying another distributor (used or new). Either way, there shouldnt be a reason for it to die within a year. was there a warranty on it? In addition, I would change the wires/plugs/dizzy cap and rotor. Also, if you are getting too much current to the coil, you may infact short it out

^^ New wires cap rotor and plugs. If there is excessive resistance in the output circuit (especially the wires) there will be strain on the coil