I need car and a friend of mine said he would sell me his 96 automatic Accord lx with the 2.2l engine that's in pretty good condition aside from a little rust on the bottom side skirt for 1k, The catch? It has 257k miles... I was wondering if any body that knows Hondas well could tell me if its worth getting. I haven't got a chance to test drive it yet but he said it doesnt leak anything and runs good. He is a mechanic so i want to believe him but should i be worried about such high mileage? Should i just skip this car?

 

So long as all the maintenance has been done on it it's not bad. But I would make sure the timing belt and water pump and fluids were recently changed out.

 

I wouldn't risk getting an automatic 5th gen with that many miles... the transmissions in those cars scare me.

 

my wife's cousin has a 94 ex with 250k on it, auto. she's the original owner and all she's ever done on it was the water pump, timing belt, brakes and oil changes regularly.

 

if the transmission was going out soon it would have problems shifting right?

 

I have a '97 Accord LX with 175,000 miles and the shifting is rough sometimes. I have been told by transmission guy that it wasn't bad enough to recommend replacing or rebuilding . To answer your question, you should be able to feel the shifting slipping or hard. Mine is usually very good when 1st driven but after 5 minutes or so can start to feel it.

 

I've got an auto with 202k and sometimes, for fun, ( i know its silly ) but i drive it by shifting the gears manually, even heel-toe rev matching when bringin it down a gear, been doin this off and on for 56k and no problems at all.

 

my manual has over 206,000 and i have no issues with ANYTHING. maybe you should swap a manual in it...