Topic: Need Honda advice

My daughter is hoping to get her driver's license next month and that has us looking for a cheap first car.  This came up on CL:

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/5481304283.html

I've never owned a Honda, and know nothing of their issues on the street.  What would be the common issues I should look for on this?

"She's a brick house" 57th out of 121 and 5th in Class C, There Goes the Neighborhood 2013
"PA Posse" 21st out of 96 and 2nd in Class C, Capitol Offense 2013.
"PA Posse" 29th out of 133 and Class C WINNER, Halloween Hooptiefest 2013
"PA Posse" 33rd out of 151 and 2nd in Class C, The Real Hoopties 2013

Re: Need Honda advice

That vintage Accord has a timing belt which can be upwards of 1k to replace at a shop.  Also they had auto trans problems.  Check the quality of the trans fluid and find out when it was serviced last or if at all.

" the only good thing hipsters have brought about is the canning of non crappy beers"

Re: Need Honda advice

Disco wrote:

That vintage Accord has a timing belt which can be upwards of 1k to replace at a shop.  Also they had auto trans problems.  Check the quality of the trans fluid and find out when it was serviced last or if at all.



Ouch!  Thanks for the heads up.

"She's a brick house" 57th out of 121 and 5th in Class C, There Goes the Neighborhood 2013
"PA Posse" 21st out of 96 and 2nd in Class C, Capitol Offense 2013.
"PA Posse" 29th out of 133 and Class C WINNER, Halloween Hooptiefest 2013
"PA Posse" 33rd out of 151 and 2nd in Class C, The Real Hoopties 2013

Re: Need Honda advice

racinrob wrote:

My daughter is hoping to get her driver's license next month and that has us looking for a cheap first car.  This came up on CL:

<snip>

Get something that, you know, might not look bad at a Lemons track after a bit of 'driver's ed?' smile

Howzabout:

http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/cto/5483903130.html

(Makes budget as-is!)

Re: Need Honda advice

Can/will she drive stick?  3PM has a rough around the edges but runs well 1996 Civic Hatchback at Jeff's house.  It was a 2 owner car before he got it from his good friend who moved cross country and hasn't really done anything with it.  I think it has less than 150k miles on it and it is in generally fine shape.  It needs a rear brake hard line replaced, and has a dent in the LF fender and scrape on the LF bumper, but it should pass inspection.  It has some alloy wheels and some OK tires on it, but they are 14s, we probably have more kicking around too.  I'm sure that Jeff would sell it for what that Accord was selling for. He keeps putting off fixing the brake line to sell it for more, but I know he would unload it cheap to a friend.

Chris from 3 Pedal Mafia

Re: Need Honda advice

Disco wrote:

That vintage Accord has a timing belt which can be upwards of 1k to replace at a shop.  Also they had auto trans problems.  Check the quality of the trans fluid and find out when it was serviced last or if at all.

Since the ad was deleted, Just from this I'm guessing it was a late 90's to early 2000's V6 accord.

The Roto-Racer '89 Merkur:  If it ain't rusting, It ain't racing.

'14 Real Hoopties of NJ: Judges Choice

Re: Need Honda advice

Drdanteiii wrote:
Disco wrote:

That vintage Accord has a timing belt which can be upwards of 1k to replace at a shop.  Also they had auto trans problems.  Check the quality of the trans fluid and find out when it was serviced last or if at all.

Since the ad was deleted, Just from this I'm guessing it was a late 90's to early 2000's V6 accord.

Correct

" the only good thing hipsters have brought about is the canning of non crappy beers"

Re: Need Honda advice

EF Civic hatchback or wagon is a great choice for a first car. Easy to work on, great chassis, light, huge aftermarket support, and large interior. 88-91 Civics have stood the test of time in terms of performance/budget ratio and are practical, get great MPG, and not speeding ticket magnets unless they have fart cans and are slammed to the ground. MacPherson struts in the front and double wishbone in the rear. Only trouble spots that I am aware of are head gaskets and some distributor issues. Neither and super common for street cars as far as I'm aware.

Bert One - 1981 Volvo 262c Bertone | Ernie - 1990 Nissan 240SX

Re: Need Honda advice

skivittlerjimb wrote:

Only trouble spots that I am aware of are head gaskets and some distributor issues. Neither and super common for street cars as far as I'm aware.

I love the optimism of this statement.  It is completely valid so I am not knocking you but...

For about 25+ states the other issue is rampant rust.  The sills tend to fare well but wheel wells disappear and shock towers can be affected.  Rear doors on sedans are also targets of the tin worm.

Still better than most GM/Ford/Chrysler products of the same era but not as good as most of the European makes.  Other Japanese cars of that era were a mixed bag but the Nissan Maximas seem to survive pretty darn good and hit many same points.  Sadly, may favorite of that era suffers from body rot worse than the Civic...Mazda 323.

Re: Need Honda advice

[shrug] So get one from a southern state. If you're looking for a cheap, reliable first car that is reasonably fun to drive a Civic is an excellent choice unless you buy a rusty basket case. German cars in the same price range (Audis, BMWs, Mercedes) are almost always going to be doubly expensive to maintain simply due to part costs and more proprietary maintenance tools and procedures.

Later Volvo 240s and 7 series seem to hold up better to rust belt issues than most domestics and Japanese cars, and are reliable and comparatively easy to maintain, but in stock form perhaps not as fun to drive as a lightweight Honda.

Bert One - 1981 Volvo 262c Bertone | Ernie - 1990 Nissan 240SX

Re: Need Honda advice

No Mac Struts in 88-00 Civics, they are double wishbone in front, part of why they are so great.  01+ went to Mac struts for cost and packaging, handling suffered.

Chris from 3 Pedal Mafia

12 (edited by skivittlerjimb 2016-03-10 03:21 PM)

Re: Need Honda advice

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Bert One - 1981 Volvo 262c Bertone | Ernie - 1990 Nissan 240SX

Re: Need Honda advice

Sorry Jim, the 92-00 still had double wishbones.  I've worked on many of these through the years.

Chris from 3 Pedal Mafia

Re: Need Honda advice

Buy a 4 cylinder Accord. Not a V6 accord, and not a Civic. I said a 4 cylinder Accord. Tweakers are still grabbing every Civic they can get their hands on to cut up, at least around here* And the V6 Accord has a not-so-bad to DIY T-belt but has an automatic trans made of TP.

*My street is such that we would park our 380SL top down on the driveway without a thought, right next to the neighbor's Jeep Rubicon which was also top down all through the spring and fall seasons, yet the kid with the 1998 Civic down the street came out to find his car on cinder blocks because someone wanted the wheels. That's the Civic demographic, it seems.

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Re: Need Honda advice

skivittlerjimb wrote:

[shrug] So get one from a southern state. If you're looking for a cheap, reliable first car that is reasonably fun to drive a Civic is an excellent choice unless you buy a rusty basket case. German cars in the same price range (Audis, BMWs, Mercedes) are almost always going to be doubly expensive to maintain simply due to part costs and more proprietary maintenance tools and procedures.

I would argue that mechanical is "cheaper" in old used cars than rust.  Rust never sleeps...get a nice southern car, bring to an area with a DOT addicted to sodium chloride and you can have a rust bucket in as little as 3 years...two if you are not super religious about washing it off.  It can be unsafe before a college Freshman graduates.

Mechanical issues, unless endemic to that vehicle, once fixed are fixed for quite some time.

Obviously, to each their own.  I love that era of Honda and would love to have an old Civic hatch or CRX but not until I live well south of the Mason Dixon line.

Re: Need Honda advice

Type44 wrote:

And the V6 Accord has a not-so-bad to DIY T-belt but has an automatic trans made of TP.

That is why my wife's '00 Accord V6 was donated to Car Talk; that and the broken motor mount, kid-destroyed interior, leaking power steering, etc.