I recently decided to switch cars and I'm looking to get a manual eg/ek Civic coupe/hb in my efforts to learn to drive a stick in a reliable car w/ good gas mileage... that I'm bored with my Celica.

I don't have any experiences with Hondas, except for my buddies Accord (w/ 200k+ miles)... so I was wondering if you guys had any tips/suggestions when checking out a used Civic.

Thanks.

 

civics and hondas in general are extremely reliable and last a long time, so a used civic can be a great investment. However, regardless of what company or model, a used car is a used car so take any precautions you would normally take when buying one. If in doubt, use common sense.

 

I'd definatly stay away from modified civics, or any modified car for that matter, you don't know that the modifier knew what they were doing, chances are they fucked up something...

 

Ok, let me give you some basics

92-95 (EG)
-EX Coupe and Sedan, and SI hatch has the 1.6 SOHC VTEC (D16Z6), all others have the 1.5 (US models)
-optional rear disc
-Lighter than EK's
-Accepts most parts from DC2 integras
-all models OBD1

96-00 (EK)
-Si (99-00 only) coupe has DOHC 1.6 (B16A2), rear disc brakes, rear sway bar etc.
-EX coupe and sedan has very similar 1.6 to the EG's (D16Y8), rear drums, all others have non-vtec 1.6 (D16Y7)
-all models OBD2

 

Hmm, so nothing in particular I should watch out for (besides the general used car stuff)...

Yeah, I'm having to sort through a lot of mod'ed Civics--some of 'em I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.

I'm going to look at a '98 Civic EX coupe tomorrow. Hopefully it's as clean as it is in the pictures.

Thanks for the heads up guys.

 

I didn't see this before I posted my 1st reply... guess we posted at the same time. But thanks for the info. man. I'll keep that in mind.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Littlegreend15 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd definatly stay away from modified civics, or any modified car for that matter, you don't know that the modifier knew what they were doing, chances are they fucked up something...</TD></TR></TABLE>
didnt think about that, but yes, definitely steer clear

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sun-tzu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, I'm having to sort through a lot of mod'ed Civics--some of 'em I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I know what you mean, there are a lot like that lately.

At 90k hondas need a timing belt and water pump replacement.
oil on the inside of the intake tube (at the ThrottleBody) is a bad sign, but not death.
IMO any ricer mod drops my interest (fart can on stock exhaust piping, 5" tach on the dash, stickers everywhere) again common sense stuff.

take it for a drive, the typical reverse run to check alignment, sharp turn to check CV joints, any sloppyness in the wheel, general stuff like that covers most of it.

One last peeve of my own... make sure nothing in the suspension rattles when you hit bumps. replacing suspension arm bushings really sucks.

 

also if you go for a 92-95 look at the rear fenders, thats almost always the first spot were rust starts.