professorman

I am looking on 94 Honda Civic 5spd LX with 178k miles. According to carfax, it has a salvage "rebuilt" title from something that happened in 2000. Currently, the car has been sitting for over a year. The owner says that it blew the head gasket and he never fixed it until recently. I do not know how to verify if he actually replaced the head gasket or if he is lying to me.
It is in okay condition and would need some cleaning up, with little rust spots on the hood from normal paint chips probably cause by stones while driving.
The last inspection and emissions was from 2006. He said he just had it parked. In 4 years, he drove it 10k miles, According to him and verified by carfax (as long as he didnt roll it back recently). The inspection sticker supports his word of not driving it though.

The big deal killer is that there is no radiator fluid in the car. To me, this would mean that the head gasket is still blown, and it leaks out. He had it parked at someone's house and didnt want to ask them for water to put in it. This is suspicious, because it doesnt seem like a big deal to get some water, but he said he had a falling out with them.

The car started after the first try with a battery boost from another car. When we tried turning on the A/C, the engine started reving up to 1.5k and back to 1k continuously. This would stop when the A/C is turned off. After some time, it started doing this even with the A/C turned off. My mechanic friend said that this is normal with no radiator fluid.

He does not want to reduce the price below $1,000. What do you think? Is this a super deal for a cheap salvage rebuilt title civic or should I walk away? Is it more problems that I care for at this point?

This is for my brother, and he doesnt have that much money for his first car.

vtecb18c

IMO i would stay the hell away...sounds like its gonna turn out to be one big headache especially with a possible blown head gasket and a salvage title...thats just my opinion

internfob

ya agreed save your money

-Gambit-

walk away.

cruzn29

walk away

palmbayeg

yeah u dont want to get screwed with a salvaged title.

92egSnatch

yea id say walk away
save you money you could find somthing alot better for a little more money i got my 92 vx for about 1500 then only prob it had was a vaccum leak

reyrey2006

There's better deals out there, save your money and find a better car sounds like a shady person just walk away .

blkegcoupe

it will idle like that if there is no radiator fluid in the car regardless

professorman

So, if I go back, and I put radiator fluid in, and it drives good, would this be a deal?

I drove it back and forth and the engine seems strong.

civiccoupe94

there are alot of RUNNING 5 speed eg sedans with clean titles going for 1000 firm. on craigslist you can see some going for 1800, 1500, etc but once you bargin it can be close to 1000.

4 door manual eg's cost less than a coupe or hatch, since its a 4 door. auto would cost more.

for coupes and hatches, its the other way around. autos would cost less and manuals would be more, since its a "sportier" car, and who wants auto for that?

I would absolutely walk away, the guy is either wanting to screw you over or he dont know **** (thinking honda's keep their values extremely good)

1992Si

What do you mean you drove it back and forth ?

If there's on anti-freeze in it I wouldn't drive it.

You seem like your going to buy this car no matter what all the guys here say.

If you were good with fixing cars it might be a good deal if it ran good, But IT DOESN'T.
If the guy wants to sell it that bad, he should get it running correctly, not you.

whereiscarmensandiego

wtf are u driving it with no rad fluid for hell its prolly overheated and screwed now.

for 1k with a rebuilt title and a questionable motor it better have a straight body and a flawless interior .

civiccoupe94

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by whereiscarmensandiego &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wtf are u driving it with no rad fluid for hell its prolly overheated and screwed now.

for 1k with a rebuilt title and a questionable motor it better have a straight body and a flawless interior .</TD></TR></TABLE>


I think its hard enough selling a eg sedan manual with a rebuilt title, with a RUNNING motor.

riceburnerryan

yeah i wouldnt buy it... sounds like a really bad deal in my opinion

reyrey2006

If you get a Civic get a Manual if you can't drive it learn, it took me 2 days to learn, now I drive it all the time. It takes a while to get used to but believe me you'll want to do a manual conversion later especially if you want to BOOST.

XxNampsterxX

iTrader: (1)

If it was a blown head gasket then the oil in the car will be a milky color because of the mix of oil and radiator fluid. If its been driving without fluid and it overheats then I would guess that the head is probably warped. I would say pass.

Azelas

You, should pass.