I am looking at purchasing a '98 Civic Ex (5 spd) from a guy. Let me start off with saying that this needs a lot of cosmetic work which is fine with me (want sort of a pet project car anyways).

My biggest concern is making sure the engine is mechanically sound. I am going to take it to my girlfriends mechanic (she has a '95 Ex) and have him check it over and do a compression test. He is trust worthy and everything but I want to know what I am getting myself in to with this car.

The engine looks like it has some minor uprades done to it. Cold air intake, upgraded spark plug wires, and some other random colorful hoses. I am going to assume the worst and that he dogged the crap out of the engine. I know Honda's are reliable and what not and the car seems to pull pretty good. I pushed it a little hard to try and get a feel for it. The clutch, he claims, was changed about a couple thousand miles ago.

Do you guys have any insights or suggestions that I should ask about, check for, or make sure my girlfriends mechanic checks over? What should the compression be assuming normal wear and tear with 100k on the odometer?

The price the guy is asking is 2900. I offered 2500 after looking at it and he chomped at the bit and was immediately sold on that price. Should I be leary of this and possibly offer him less if the mechanic says it will cost me 500 to a thousand plus to get it up and running?

Just want to know what I am getting myself into. I do have some experience with imports as I used to have a '96 Eclipse GSX that I built from the bottom end up. Not saying it is the same car but I am saying that I am not scared to get my hands dirty and put in time and effort.

Again, thanks for your help and any/all advice.

Late...

 

Take it to your mechanic and found out if anything's wrong with it.

If there is, deduct the cost to fix it from the $2,500 price tag.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JKov240 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Take it to your mechanic and found out if anything's wrong with it.

If there is, deduct the cost to fix it from the $2,500 price tag.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly. It's just good business.

 

you should def. ask about the timing belt (when done?)
compression should be 150-160ish? across (i dont remember exactly but it shouldnt be like 120)
test drive it thoroughly...take some hard turns, brake tests, clutch test (floor it in 5th at low speed)
ask about other maintenance/mods and the reciepts for them...if he has them then thats a plus

 

caaaaaaaarfax it too

 

On taking it to the mechanic