Whats up guys? My name is Matt, I'm new to cars. That sounds weird, but my family has 2 jeeps, an Expidition, and I have a Chevy Silverado. I'm not new to Honda, had a 04' cbr600 f4i and a 06' CBR 1000rr sportbike (blue yellow). I love HONDA.

I'm going to check out a 1997 civic hatchback tomorrow. Car is bone stock with 150,000 miles on it. 5 speed, and a ding in the right rear quarter panel. Seller says he is the second owner, he used it as a daily driver and to deliver pizzas. Claims he gets 34/38 mpg city/hwy respectively. I offered $2000, its lower than he wanted but money is tight and he said he would settle.

What are your thoughts on this particular car make and model? I want it for a daily driver, as well as to commute regularly 280 miles back home from school, and 80 miles from school to the beach. My truck gets 14/17 mpg and makes it difficult affording to go home to see the family. I enjoy driving a stick, I heard it was a fun little car. Any cheap engine mods worth the price for enhancing engine performance and gas mileage without sacrificing reliability?

I'm open to all pros/cons thoughts recommendations and "I would....if I were you's"

Thank you,
MATT

 

If I were you...I'd buy it! Shells sell for more than that here, just check around and make sure the car doesn't have a bunch of problems first, it seems like you just want good reliable daily driver, and civics in general fit the bill well.

 

buy it and just get a cheap intake so u can get better mpgs.dont get a exhaust though,itll get annoying because ur gonna be drivin so much.

 

Sounds like a good deal.

 

If it doesnt have any major issues then 150k wouldnt scare me at all I would buy it . I bought a 97 hatch at an auction it had 237 k on it ran great no issues at all . Now it has a much more powerful engine in it and I still love the car.The old engine and trans worked perfectly til I pulled them out. I just caught the honda bug and before I knew I had turned my economy car into a race car lol ! Test drive it , look it over good . I say they are awesome cars and people like hatches it wouldnt be hard to sell if you dont like it .Although I think you'll wanna keep it and if I were you I would leave it 100% stock honda knew what they were doing and an intake and exhaust really isnt gonna make much if any noticeable difference other than noise !

 

AEM intake + wheels (not cheap ones).

 

motor swap a gsr in it
2000 front end
suspension
rims

you'll love ur ek after that
I know that's totally not what u were asking, but thats what i'd do if i were u

but prolly an intake arm w/ good filter (k&n)

 

^^^ what he said, ek hatches are very attractive when modded correctly. and theyre quite reliable in any case. and its a single cam it shouldnt be very hard to fix if theres a minor problem

 

take it for a spin...listen to some noises it makes.. check the oil...check for water marks inside.. check the brakes...

 

Thanks for the info. I will be checking it out here in a few hours. I will keep you posted on what goes down.

I decided if I do mod it, then I'm only putting used or salvaged parts on it. First thing, find new WHEELS! The steal stock wheels gotz to go!

 

Don't make the mistake of putting nice wheels on a stock suspension car. Looks 10x worse than stock on steelies does, trust me.

 

drop it on some dubs..

 

Just buy it.

 

Lower it on some nice coilovers (Tanabe) and nice wheels (Works or Volks) and throw in an AEM or Injen intake. If you want, throw on an exhaust.

 

I went and looked at it. Outside it looked its age, but the interior and the engine looked really clean. Has a broken window handle, and a broken hood pop handle. It drove well, exhaust is stock and old so it has good sound lol, but could be replaced. It already has a aftermarket air intake. The color was dark amethyst blue, but I call it purple. Had the money in hand, but couldn't drop it on the table. Needed a little more time to mull it over. Now I'm wishing I would I picked it up.

Whats the difference between the CX and the DX? This particular car is the cx, I noticed it doesn't have power steering.