Hello all! Like the title says, I'm buying a 97 Accord EX Thursday for $4200. I'm new to Hondas but I do my own work to my and my family's cars. This EX has a few miles on it, 168,000, its auto and has power everything, but no leather which I'm glad. By looking, driving listening and crawling all over and under it, seems to be in very good shape, no evidence of crash damage or anything like that. It even has the owners manual along with all the origional keys, keyless remotes, etc. I know the first thing is the timing belt / water pump deal, which with the miles on it should have already been changed, but what else in particular should I look for? Its a wierd color, sort of a very dark greenish blue with a tan interior. It will be my wife's primary car and our daily driver. By the way, I also have a 94 Nissan Sentra SE-R, which is my 17 tear old son's, and an origional 85 Camaro Iroc-z, my driver - restoration project.
It looks as you all have a great tech oriented site here and I look forward to receiving and giving insight here. Thanks for having me!!!

 

That price seems a little high for the amount of miles but it is the ex model with all the options.

That being said I would want to see some service records with the car having that many miles on it. If it has 168k and the timing belt hasn't been done who knows what else has been neglected.

Other things I would watch out for are the power windows being really slow and the power door lock actuators going out. I would also check in the drivers side door to see if the odometer has been replaced (I had one go out at 22k and I have gathered that it is a fairly common problem). A carfax will usually catch this.

Good luck and welcome to HT.

 

Thanks, Slunk. The windows operated pretty well I guess. I'm going to check Thursday before I actually buy it and see if I can find any of the service records for it. Both nada and kelly blue book has the average retail about $1000 higher than he wants for it. I'll definately look at the drivers door and check carfax see if I can find out anything on the odometer. Thanks for everything!!!

 

honda auto trannys are teh suck.

 

Theres nothing wrong with accord transmissions. Auto or manual . Of course if you DOGG it all day everyday. Yeah they take a beaten and break . If this car has been driving like a grocery getter should have been, and not hot-rodded by some kid , (saying "can you feel the vtec') the transmission should be good for a while . If it was maintained and not abused. And I if you have the f22 4cyl motor. Transmissions cost 300 or less at the junk yard and can be swapped out in a day by a novice. So dont get to scared about the transmission .

I think 4200 isnt bad . If it is the proper conditition you state. No body damage, clean paint, clean interior, smooth running motor, and transmission , suspension and steering feel smooth , You might have a deal there.

Hondas are great !! Buy it for the 4200 , Drive it for 6 month to a year , sell it for 5200 and get you something newer. I have seen it done with a few accords. Mainly 97+ accords.

 

Thanks guys! Yea, I don't think the car has been beat on or anything. The paint, interior, everything is clean and in good shape. Even under the hood is fairly clean, considering the age. I have dealt with this individual before and he is as good as they get on dealing with used autos. This will be our daily driver for a while and I don't see any real abuse happening with it, that is if I can keep it out of my 17 year old son's hands.

 

The 5th gen accord seems to be one of the strongest hondas around. I see a whole lot of them with over 250k miles. Make sure to check the compression to be able to tell if anything wierd is going on in the engine. If everythign checks out, chances are, you probably have a good deal. I still get 31-32 MPG on mine.

 

Went yesterday and bought it. Cleaned it up, washed and waxed it, and I have to say it doesn't look too shabby! It has almost new Michelins, I can't find any evidence of any type of oil or other fluid leak, every item on it works. It drives very smooth down the road. Like I said earlier, I'm new to Honda's, this being my first, but I have to admit it's a fine ride! The car was origionally sold at Babylon Honda in Babylon, NY and seems to have been taken very good care of. I am still going to do the timing belt / water pump Monday or Tuesday, thanks with the excellent write up in the Accord facs. Thanks to all of you for your help and insight!!!