Have a chance to buy a very low mileage integra, interior is mint but under the hood is completely filthy. The air intake is actually brown instead of black. Need some advice, is this an indication of a neglected car or am I being paranoid. Oil was changed every 4k miles, it's completely stock nothing has been changed still has original clutch. I always keep my engine bay clean,but maybe I'm being too ****. It just seems if your willing to let that go uncared for then what else have you not kept up with. Opinions please.

 

it all comes down to doallars. if someone is asking 6 offer 3 and see how bad they cringe. what you posted just tells me they took it to oil can henery and didn't do much else. if you're worried do a leak down test and see how the compression comes out. just make sure you unhook the coil when you crank the engine.

 

A woman owns it and she's the original owner,it's probably never been driven hard it's just f**ing dirty as hell but seems to run good. I guess I'll see if she lets me do a compression test. If not then I have some thinking to do.

 

women never wash engines. i would ask on the test as you plan but remember, cars always come down to dollars. i bought my GSR from a guy who knew nothing about cars. it was totally stock. paid $3k for a 97 GSR with 130k miles. total title that dates back to 1998. someone stole it for the airbags back when they cost a grip. other than that it had a clean carfax. tell this lady some story about how the economy is killing you and won't she please give you a good deal LOL. i actually offered the guy with my GSR $2k on a car he had in the paper for $5500. finally settled at $3000.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by category5 SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A woman owns it and she's the original owner,it's probably never been driven hard it's just f**ing dirty as hell but seems to run good. I guess I'll see if she lets me do a compression test. If not then I have some thinking to do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You can always take it for a pre-purchase inspection with your mechanic. Just explain to her what your concerns are, that you're willing/wanting to buy the car, and that you'll pay for the inspection.

It isn't that expensive and anything they find wrong gives you haggle room on the price.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by category5 SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have a chance to buy a very low mileage integra, interior is mint but under the hood is completely filthy. The air intake is actually brown instead of black. Need some advice, is this an indication of a neglected car or am I being paranoid. Oil was changed every 4k miles, it's completely stock nothing has been changed still has original clutch. I always keep my engine bay clean,but maybe I'm being too ****. It just seems if your willing to let that go uncared for then what else have you not kept up with. Opinions please.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would ask about what all maintenance has been done to the car..(besides just oil changes..) how many miles is actually on the car?

I used to detail cars for a local dealership and i found it very common for all of our used cars that came in.. every engine bay was filthy... it doesn't necessarily mean the car has been neglected.. some people just aren't as **** as we are with our engine bays..

It can all be fixed in a matter of 10-15 minutes with some degreaser...

 

Would I buy an integra with a filthy engine bay?

I already did 6 years ago

 

It's a 99 with 51,000 miles on it.

 

just ask for service history. If there have been no repairs or any major issues than its just a dirty engine bay. No one says you cant clean it.

 

You can clean an engine bay. Most women don't even know how to open their hood. Not kidding.

She obviously took the car to a shop for service, and they sure as hell aren't going to clean her engine for her. Seems to me like she took care of the car pretty well and maintained the interior and exterior, and left the mechanical stuff up to a mechanic.

51k? Buy the car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tim2179 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

51k? Buy the car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed. 100%
If the price is even decent, then you can still haggle like all hell. A stock engine with low mileage that has been exclusively female-driven is pretty much the perfect candidate.

 

that's simple. buy it, then clean it.

 

buy buy buy!!

 

jsut buy it and clean it .. thats what i did haha

 

if not too expensive you need to buy it

 

Nothing engine degreaser won't fix.

 

bought my 94 gsr back in 99 with a filthy *** engine bay. Nothing but dirt everywhere. it's been 9 years and is still running strong... I say buy...

 

Buy it and don't look back, just make sure YOU do all the maintenance items that should have been done when she had it.

 

exactly, if you can get a good deal just go ahead an do a FULL 60k maintenence!
clean the engine bay and tada!

 

So... did you buy it or ignore the majority?

 

With the engine bay dirty you can see what's actually there.

Dealers will clean up their engine bays routinely to hide all sorts of leaks whether it be oil, cv boot grease, etc.

Dirty engine bays FTW!