Buying an Older Civic

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  needwheels2 Member Posts: 31

  October 2009

  Thanks for the detailed reply - unfortunately for some people like me, spending that much is just not an option. And my town is too small to have anything decent on ebay (there aren't even any running cars of ANY kind in my town on ebay under $3500)
  
  I guess I should ask the question differently, "what can I expect to fail next on a 89 civic with 150k miles". I am trying to find out if the timing belt was replaced at all since the 120k mark since that's the next big one.
  
  So slowly leaking oil and brake fluid are failing seals?
  I guess that means it can get worse?

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  crazyfly Member Posts: 61

  October 2009

  If you are seriously interested in this civic you can have it checked by a mechanic to determine what is causing the leaks, and the repair cost. I kept a detailed account of all repair & maintenance of my 92 civic and here is a summary of some big items that were fixed after 150K
  
  Timing Belt Package........ at 155K miles....... $700
  Brake Master Cylinder .....at 159,000 miles....$750
  Control Arms...................at 165,000 miles ...$720
  Tires, brakes, filters etc... ...........................$300
  
  After I put in $2,500 in the car it worked well for about 4k miles but then it needed shocks + a whole lot more worth another $2000. At that point I was done putting money in the hole and sold the car. In hindsight, if at 150K miles I knew I would be putting so much in this car that I had babied for years I would have sold it and put the $2500 towards a newer vehicle.... which I ended up doing anyways, but only after burning my hard earned money. I have provided the details here so that perhaps my experience can help someone save some $$.
  
  Buying off ebay:
  I don't know where you live, but you should definitely expand your search area. When I purchased my current civic on ebay auction, there were no *good* civics selling in the city where I live (and am in one of the top 10 largest city in the country!) But back then the gas was $4.50 a gallon and no one was selling a good gas sniffing vehicle. I ended up buying from a private seller who lived 5 hour drive from me. Took a Greyhound bus to get there and drove the car home.

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  schumia Member Posts: 6

  October 2009

  Dear all,
  
  I'd like to get your thoughts on a Private Sale for a used 2006 Honda Civic LX, 4 dr, Auto at $11,000. It already has ~ 55,000 miles.
  
  The person just recently purchased this car in late Mar'09 as a Honda Certified Civic, he's selling it so he can get some cash quick.
  Since it was Honda certified, it is qualified forthe extended warranty of 1 yr/12,000 miles bumper-to-bumper and 7yr/100,000mi Powertrain under the Honda Certified program. However, due to the high mileage (he's driven ~10000 miles in 7 months!! ), the bumper-to-bumper has about 2000 miles left before expiring.
  
  I test drove the car and it felt to be in good mechanical condition, however, we did discover it has a few scratches on the rear fender, as well as some pronounced streaks on both front passenger door frames... More aesthetic than anything else, but one could say this may tell the kind of driver or cartaker the previous owner is...
  
  Considering that there's Powertrain warranty left 'til 2013 and that 7 months ago it was just Honda certified, I think mechanically this should be fine.
  But as a private party sale, is this still a good price?
  
  Thanks for your advice!
  
  schumia

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  magee2 Member Posts: 4

  April 2011

  Thanks for your in-depth advice. You are helping me as I want to maintain my car although it is a tight budget.
  
  Sincerely appreciate the time and detailed response.

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  loem01 Member Posts: 2

  October 2011

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  loem01 Member Posts: 2

  October 2011

  Hi all,
  
  I'm new to this forum and am looking at an opportunity to buy a used 1999 Honda Civic EX couple (5 spd), just want to see how much in general these Civics are going for right now? The car has a little over 150k miles on it, seems to be well maintained and runs well. There have been some repairs done on the car (belts, battery, distributor replacement, and the AC condenser was changed due to a minor front collusion). A couple of other things noted are: 1) there is noise coming from the cabin heat/ac fan motor, and 2) according to the owner, in heavy rains, water can leak into the trunk area, probably through some worn rubber sealing somewhere on one side of the trunk.
  
  The owner is looking for ~$4,000 or close to it. Is it worth it? What would be a reasonable price for it? Thanks for any opinion/suggestion.

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