First time poster. I am buying my first car and it seems there's a lot of people around here with solid experience in dealing with civics.

I went down to a buy here pay here that I saw had a Honda Civic in their ad and was surprised at what I had found. It was a 4 door Civic, 1995 with 49k miles. They wanted 2500.

After Hurricane Wilma, I guess some people had broken into it and stole the speakers and radio out. The dash where the radio and A/C would be is completely open. It looked clean and the connecters still looked there. Everything else on the car was fine. Engine looked good, no rust, no leaking, no smells. I have yet to check the bolts to see if there has been body damage in the past, etc.. and I am open for advice in to looking for other things.

Assuming there isn't anything else wrong with the car, how much would it be to put in a new a/c and stereo and such? Should I test drive it down to a mechanic and have him look at it further?

Appreciate it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VonHayek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Should I test drive it down to a mechanic and have him look at it further?
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would be a good idea.


as far as the stero system goes, thats not hard to replace, and the price depends on what you buy.

id just leave AC out of it

 

i highly doubt a 1995 civc wiould have 49k milege, they switch the gauge cluster.

 

I don't need the a/c either, even though I live in FL. Will save gas too. But, I'm worried about not having a defroster. What will I do if windshield gets fogged up?

 

maybe it has flood damage

 

seemed fine. how do I check for flood damage? the car started right up. no fowl smells either.

 

take it to a mechanic, that will be best, and check the VIN on carfax

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93egsedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">take it to a mechanic, that will be best, and check the VIN on carfax</TD></TR></TABLE>
Best advice yet, run the VIN and check the history of the car.

If you really want AC, find another civic with AC, it wont cost much more than that one (thats the same car I drive) and you wont have to worry about the hassle. I guarantee you will have to pay an arm and a leg to get AC back in, trust me.

Oh, make sure you know what you want before you buy it (fast car, reliable, looks, etc.) Youd be surprised the cars you could find in that price range.

 

something reliable that is comfortable basically. good gas mileage.

 

final bump.

think they would let me test drive to a mechanic?

 

If the place wont let you, dont ever deal with them . . . . . ive never met a dealer that wont.

 

Our shop does pre-purchase inspections. If they won't let you take it, just walk away.

 

Well, I bought it. the thing runs great!

there is only one issue I have noticed since having it. When it rains, i'm not sure where it comes through, I think through the lower ac vent (where your feet are) on the passenger side, it leaks through. the carpet is wet on that side. how much would this cost to fix? i'm assuming it's minor? also it starts a bit hard after it rains. not sure if it's concidence, or it just needs to be ran more since it sat most of its life. 3,000 miles were put on in 3 years.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VonHayek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, I bought it. the thing runs great!

there is only one issue I have noticed since having it. When it rains, i'm not sure where it comes through, I think through the lower ac vent (where your feet are) on the passenger side, it leaks through. the carpet is wet on that side. how much would this cost to fix? i'm assuming it's minor? also it starts a bit hard after it rains. not sure if it's concidence, or it just needs to be ran more since it sat most of its life. 3,000 miles were put on in 3 years.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Take a look down in the floor board and you should be able to see a small tube running through the firewall right there. That could be leaking. Also, if it has a sunroof, the seals on that could be leaking as well. I was going to say it was probally your heater core, but if it only happens when it rains, it most likely isnt.

 

No sun roof. I'll check for that. What about the engine starting hard?

 

?

 

that tube is most likely the leak problem, mine did that.

what do you mean by engine starting hard?

like it just cranks and cranks and cranks then fires up, or it feels like it blew up under the hood?

 

the cranks and then fire up. once it's been ran for a bit, I can shut it off and start it up much easier.

 

Sup.

 

Last bump.

 

Going to get a tune up soon. Hopefully a new air filter, fuel filter and injector wipes this all out.