89 CRX DX with raggy interior
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89 CRX DX with raggy interior
First off, as per forums rules i'm not asking if i'm getting ripped off, but feedback would be appreciated.
Looking into buying this 89 CRX DX for a DD, it currently has no air, needs brakes (front rotors+pads atleast) and also has a weird idle problem that comes/goes as it pleases.
http://columbusga.craigslist.org/cto/2673197990.html
I've talked him down to $2600, but that still leaves me with putting atleast $400 into the car myself to get it driveable.
I've always wanted a CRX since I first drove one when I was 17, I'm sorry if I'm violating rules, just don't have a lot of cash to throw around and want some honest opinions on if I should persue the car or not.
EDIT: No signs of rust, straight body other than a few dings, clean carfax, a/c controller is broken out of place and rear cargo hold is broken along with the trunk cover, drives good aside from brakes being terrible, no weird noises other than what I think is the hatch rattling around.
Looking into buying this 89 CRX DX for a DD, it currently has no air, needs brakes (front rotors+pads atleast) and also has a weird idle problem that comes/goes as it pleases.
http://columbusga.craigslist.org/cto/2673197990.html
I've talked him down to $2600, but that still leaves me with putting atleast $400 into the car myself to get it driveable.
I've always wanted a CRX since I first drove one when I was 17, I'm sorry if I'm violating rules, just don't have a lot of cash to throw around and want some honest opinions on if I should persue the car or not.
EDIT: No signs of rust, straight body other than a few dings, clean carfax, a/c controller is broken out of place and rear cargo hold is broken along with the trunk cover, drives good aside from brakes being terrible, no weird noises other than what I think is the hatch rattling around.
Last edited by Will_GT90; Nov 21, 2011 at 09:50 AM. Reason: adding info
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From: Florida
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 159
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From: Lowell, MA
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
who cares about the guys feelings he's trying to scam you bro.. i could see 3900 if it had a built b18c5 in it lol
like i said, a fair price would be around like 1000-1500. 1700 if it was an si.
i just kbb'ed it and in good condition, meaning NOTHING is wrong with it, new tires, brakes, minor scratches, minor interior wear, like as if 90% of the vehicle is mint and it said 1900
so with the 400 you'll need to put it in as you say 1500 is alright
like i said, a fair price would be around like 1000-1500. 1700 if it was an si.
i just kbb'ed it and in good condition, meaning NOTHING is wrong with it, new tires, brakes, minor scratches, minor interior wear, like as if 90% of the vehicle is mint and it said 1900
so with the 400 you'll need to put it in as you say 1500 is alright
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 546
Likes: 5
From: Dallas, Tx
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
I'm going to slightly disagree with everybody here:
Sorry, but "needing brakes" isn't exactly a huge deal and/or a deal breaker in any capacity, especially if just needs pads and rotors. Check RockAuto, look for wholesaler close-out deals (drastically marked down, sometimes 50-80%). Last month I got pads + rotors for my car for under $40 total from RockAuto.
That car looks to be in physically great shape compared to the rest of the junk EF's you'll commonly find around. I'm not directly calling BS anybody above but, in general, I'm always leery of when people claim to get "mint" or "great condition" cars (no less increasingly hard-to-find-unmolested-and-in-great-shape cars like EF's) for astoundingly low prices - especially over the internet. In those situations, you must ask yourself whether or not your definition of "mint" or "great condition" is the same definition some of these claimers have. Have you SEEN some of the absolute pieces of crap some guys on here own and think look nice? Chances are your idea of "mint" and/or "great condition" WILDLY differs from some of these people. Now, is it occasionally possible to get an absolute steal of a deal on a very nice EF? Sure. However, those are few and far between these days.
Lastly - if you really think the interior on the CRX in your link is "raggy", then you are in for a rude awakening in EF-ville. That interior (at least from the picture) appears to be in well above average shape.
Honestly, $2600 possibly a few hundred too high considering the A/C is out (but, again, you'll find more often than not with EF's find non-working A/C's), but it certainly isn't outrageous. Though - is the A/C system itself or is it just a physical climate control unit issue? And 115k miles - you'll have a VERY hard time finding another EF with such low miles (however, admittedly, mileage isn't a huge concern with Hondas).
Personally, my only hang-up about it would be that it's an auto, but those are easy enough swaps.
Nonetheless, do some comparison shopping if you feel this is drastically too high - which it's not, really. You'll likely come across mostly rusted out, riced out, completely jerry-rigged pieces of sh$t and you'll end up spending big money if you want to make a nice car out of it.
I bought my EF for $800 as a total hunk of junk former ricer-mobile about 5 years ago, and had to put several grand into it to make it nice/clean. Looking back, I should have just paid "top dollar" for the CLEAN bone stock EF I was thinking about but wrote off because it was "too expensive" - I think about $2,500.
Just my $.02
Sorry, but "needing brakes" isn't exactly a huge deal and/or a deal breaker in any capacity, especially if just needs pads and rotors. Check RockAuto, look for wholesaler close-out deals (drastically marked down, sometimes 50-80%). Last month I got pads + rotors for my car for under $40 total from RockAuto.
That car looks to be in physically great shape compared to the rest of the junk EF's you'll commonly find around. I'm not directly calling BS anybody above but, in general, I'm always leery of when people claim to get "mint" or "great condition" cars (no less increasingly hard-to-find-unmolested-and-in-great-shape cars like EF's) for astoundingly low prices - especially over the internet. In those situations, you must ask yourself whether or not your definition of "mint" or "great condition" is the same definition some of these claimers have. Have you SEEN some of the absolute pieces of crap some guys on here own and think look nice? Chances are your idea of "mint" and/or "great condition" WILDLY differs from some of these people. Now, is it occasionally possible to get an absolute steal of a deal on a very nice EF? Sure. However, those are few and far between these days.
Lastly - if you really think the interior on the CRX in your link is "raggy", then you are in for a rude awakening in EF-ville. That interior (at least from the picture) appears to be in well above average shape.
Honestly, $2600 possibly a few hundred too high considering the A/C is out (but, again, you'll find more often than not with EF's find non-working A/C's), but it certainly isn't outrageous. Though - is the A/C system itself or is it just a physical climate control unit issue? And 115k miles - you'll have a VERY hard time finding another EF with such low miles (however, admittedly, mileage isn't a huge concern with Hondas).
Personally, my only hang-up about it would be that it's an auto, but those are easy enough swaps.
Nonetheless, do some comparison shopping if you feel this is drastically too high - which it's not, really. You'll likely come across mostly rusted out, riced out, completely jerry-rigged pieces of sh$t and you'll end up spending big money if you want to make a nice car out of it.
I bought my EF for $800 as a total hunk of junk former ricer-mobile about 5 years ago, and had to put several grand into it to make it nice/clean. Looking back, I should have just paid "top dollar" for the CLEAN bone stock EF I was thinking about but wrote off because it was "too expensive" - I think about $2,500.
Just my $.02
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 428
Likes: 0
From: Florida
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
James guy has a point, but at the same time, brakes are easy as hell to change out, but asking $3,900 originally for that car is a bit outrageous...it would have to be perfect condition almost... even 2600....the interior is beat and more than likely reeks like a wet ash tray, BUT for the asking price you'll get "a 6 pack of Vanillaroma-scented Little Trees" = DEAL
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 546
Likes: 5
From: Dallas, Tx
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
Where in the world are you guys getting this from? You must have access to high quality detailed pictures of the interior..
Seriously, from the one single picture of the interior on the ad, that interior is well above normal average condition. Plus, it appears to be complete, which is hard to find on EF's these days since most have been destroyed by ricers and meddlers over the years.
But yes, you're right - $3,900 is way too high. But then again, any smart seller starts high so that the buyer can "negotiate" down to a lower price which is likely the seller's true desired price in the first place. That way the seller gets what he wants and the buyer thinks he got a "deal". But even at that $3,900 is high as a starting asking price.
Seriously, from the one single picture of the interior on the ad, that interior is well above normal average condition. Plus, it appears to be complete, which is hard to find on EF's these days since most have been destroyed by ricers and meddlers over the years.
But yes, you're right - $3,900 is way too high. But then again, any smart seller starts high so that the buyer can "negotiate" down to a lower price which is likely the seller's true desired price in the first place. That way the seller gets what he wants and the buyer thinks he got a "deal". But even at that $3,900 is high as a starting asking price.
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
I'm going to slightly disagree with everybody here:
Sorry, but "needing brakes" isn't exactly a huge deal and/or a deal breaker in any capacity, especially if just needs pads and rotors. Check RockAuto, look for wholesaler close-out deals (drastically marked down, sometimes 50-80%). Last month I got pads + rotors for my car for under $40 total from RockAuto.
That car looks to be in physically great shape compared to the rest of the junk EF's you'll commonly find around. I'm not directly calling BS anybody above but, in general, I'm always leery of when people claim to get "mint" or "great condition" cars (no less increasingly hard-to-find-unmolested-and-in-great-shape cars like EF's) for astoundingly low prices - especially over the internet. In those situations, you must ask yourself whether or not your definition of "mint" or "great condition" is the same definition some of these claimers have. Have you SEEN some of the absolute pieces of crap some guys on here own and think look nice? Chances are your idea of "mint" and/or "great condition" WILDLY differs from some of these people. Now, is it occasionally possible to get an absolute steal of a deal on a very nice EF? Sure. However, those are few and far between these days.
Lastly - if you really think the interior on the CRX in your link is "raggy", then you are in for a rude awakening in EF-ville. That interior (at least from the picture) appears to be in well above average shape.
Honestly, $2600 possibly a few hundred too high considering the A/C is out (but, again, you'll find more often than not with EF's find non-working A/C's), but it certainly isn't outrageous. Though - is the A/C system itself or is it just a physical climate control unit issue? And 115k miles - you'll have a VERY hard time finding another EF with such low miles (however, admittedly, mileage isn't a huge concern with Hondas).
Personally, my only hang-up about it would be that it's an auto, but those are easy enough swaps.
Nonetheless, do some comparison shopping if you feel this is drastically too high - which it's not, really. You'll likely come across mostly rusted out, riced out, completely jerry-rigged pieces of sh$t and you'll end up spending big money if you want to make a nice car out of it.
I bought my EF for $800 as a total hunk of junk former ricer-mobile about 5 years ago, and had to put several grand into it to make it nice/clean. Looking back, I should have just paid "top dollar" for the CLEAN bone stock EF I was thinking about but wrote off because it was "too expensive" - I think about $2,500.
Just my $.02
Sorry, but "needing brakes" isn't exactly a huge deal and/or a deal breaker in any capacity, especially if just needs pads and rotors. Check RockAuto, look for wholesaler close-out deals (drastically marked down, sometimes 50-80%). Last month I got pads + rotors for my car for under $40 total from RockAuto.
That car looks to be in physically great shape compared to the rest of the junk EF's you'll commonly find around. I'm not directly calling BS anybody above but, in general, I'm always leery of when people claim to get "mint" or "great condition" cars (no less increasingly hard-to-find-unmolested-and-in-great-shape cars like EF's) for astoundingly low prices - especially over the internet. In those situations, you must ask yourself whether or not your definition of "mint" or "great condition" is the same definition some of these claimers have. Have you SEEN some of the absolute pieces of crap some guys on here own and think look nice? Chances are your idea of "mint" and/or "great condition" WILDLY differs from some of these people. Now, is it occasionally possible to get an absolute steal of a deal on a very nice EF? Sure. However, those are few and far between these days.
Lastly - if you really think the interior on the CRX in your link is "raggy", then you are in for a rude awakening in EF-ville. That interior (at least from the picture) appears to be in well above average shape.
Honestly, $2600 possibly a few hundred too high considering the A/C is out (but, again, you'll find more often than not with EF's find non-working A/C's), but it certainly isn't outrageous. Though - is the A/C system itself or is it just a physical climate control unit issue? And 115k miles - you'll have a VERY hard time finding another EF with such low miles (however, admittedly, mileage isn't a huge concern with Hondas).
Personally, my only hang-up about it would be that it's an auto, but those are easy enough swaps.
Nonetheless, do some comparison shopping if you feel this is drastically too high - which it's not, really. You'll likely come across mostly rusted out, riced out, completely jerry-rigged pieces of sh$t and you'll end up spending big money if you want to make a nice car out of it.
I bought my EF for $800 as a total hunk of junk former ricer-mobile about 5 years ago, and had to put several grand into it to make it nice/clean. Looking back, I should have just paid "top dollar" for the CLEAN bone stock EF I was thinking about but wrote off because it was "too expensive" - I think about $2,500.
Just my $.02
Maybe you're a little more understanding here, I'm planning on getting a CRX DX/HF or even a Civic VX/HX for a DD, i'm not picky i'm just trying to find a non-molested original car that gets 40+ MPGs without buying a Prius
H-T White Ops
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 17,603
Likes: 22
From: USA
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
I'm the sort who likes to buy cars stock or really close to it.
In April of this year I purchased a 1988 CRX HF in white with blue interior and manual transmission. It was totally stock, 163k miles, clean title, everything worked, though it needed a little bit of maintenance. It cost me $1800 after tax and title through a dealership in the Seattle, WA area where these cars usually go for a nice price. They're highly sought after here. I basically was just lucky I bought it first. When I went back to get tags the salesman told me they got about fifteen more calls about the car after I left.
The driver seat bolster was characteristically torn. It has an intermittent charging system warning light (pretty sure it needs new alternator brushes - battery and alternator test good and I haven't had an issue with the car not starting or eating batteries). The passenger fender was dented up some too, but it was just cosmetic (and I managed to find a replacement for $40, already painted, but I hear that's uncommon).
Later I found out the ignition switch harness had two shorts in it, but that was likely due to age. A new one from Honda cost me about $75. Oh, and the blower motor resistor went out, but that was a five minute fix. I put over 10k miles on it since April (two cross country trips) and have since suffered a blown up HF transmission and some sort of weird issue with a CEL indicating a TPS issue (but the TPS checks out find, as does related wiring). The distributor bearing blew up at some point too. Car still ran. Just sounded horrible.
I plan to swap an engine I already have into the CRX though so none of that matters a lot to me, and honestly that's not all horrible for a 23-year-old car. I've put some cash into the car as well, but I expect to do so with any used car I buy because no used car is totally perfect.
If you look around some more, perhaps expand your radius that you're willing to drive, I think you can find a better deal than a guy you have to talk down from $3900.
In April of this year I purchased a 1988 CRX HF in white with blue interior and manual transmission. It was totally stock, 163k miles, clean title, everything worked, though it needed a little bit of maintenance. It cost me $1800 after tax and title through a dealership in the Seattle, WA area where these cars usually go for a nice price. They're highly sought after here. I basically was just lucky I bought it first. When I went back to get tags the salesman told me they got about fifteen more calls about the car after I left.
The driver seat bolster was characteristically torn. It has an intermittent charging system warning light (pretty sure it needs new alternator brushes - battery and alternator test good and I haven't had an issue with the car not starting or eating batteries). The passenger fender was dented up some too, but it was just cosmetic (and I managed to find a replacement for $40, already painted, but I hear that's uncommon).
Later I found out the ignition switch harness had two shorts in it, but that was likely due to age. A new one from Honda cost me about $75. Oh, and the blower motor resistor went out, but that was a five minute fix. I put over 10k miles on it since April (two cross country trips) and have since suffered a blown up HF transmission and some sort of weird issue with a CEL indicating a TPS issue (but the TPS checks out find, as does related wiring). The distributor bearing blew up at some point too. Car still ran. Just sounded horrible.
I plan to swap an engine I already have into the CRX though so none of that matters a lot to me, and honestly that's not all horrible for a 23-year-old car. I've put some cash into the car as well, but I expect to do so with any used car I buy because no used car is totally perfect.
If you look around some more, perhaps expand your radius that you're willing to drive, I think you can find a better deal than a guy you have to talk down from $3900.
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
Re: 89 CRX DX with raggy interior
I'm the sort who likes to buy cars stock or really close to it.
In April of this year I purchased a 1988 CRX HF in white with blue interior and manual transmission. It was totally stock, 163k miles, clean title, everything worked, though it needed a little bit of maintenance. It cost me $1800 after tax and title through a dealership in the Seattle, WA area where these cars usually go for a nice price. They're highly sought after here. I basically was just lucky I bought it first. When I went back to get tags the salesman told me they got about fifteen more calls about the car after I left.
The driver seat bolster was characteristically torn. It has an intermittent charging system warning light (pretty sure it needs new alternator brushes - battery and alternator test good and I haven't had an issue with the car not starting or eating batteries). The passenger fender was dented up some too, but it was just cosmetic (and I managed to find a replacement for $40, already painted, but I hear that's uncommon).
Later I found out the ignition switch harness had two shorts in it, but that was likely due to age. A new one from Honda cost me about $75. Oh, and the blower motor resistor went out, but that was a five minute fix. I put over 10k miles on it since April (two cross country trips) and have since suffered a blown up HF transmission and some sort of weird issue with a CEL indicating a TPS issue (but the TPS checks out find, as does related wiring). The distributor bearing blew up at some point too. Car still ran. Just sounded horrible.
I plan to swap an engine I already have into the CRX though so none of that matters a lot to me, and honestly that's not all horrible for a 23-year-old car. I've put some cash into the car as well, but I expect to do so with any used car I buy because no used car is totally perfect.
If you look around some more, perhaps expand your radius that you're willing to drive, I think you can find a better deal than a guy you have to talk down from $3900.
In April of this year I purchased a 1988 CRX HF in white with blue interior and manual transmission. It was totally stock, 163k miles, clean title, everything worked, though it needed a little bit of maintenance. It cost me $1800 after tax and title through a dealership in the Seattle, WA area where these cars usually go for a nice price. They're highly sought after here. I basically was just lucky I bought it first. When I went back to get tags the salesman told me they got about fifteen more calls about the car after I left.
The driver seat bolster was characteristically torn. It has an intermittent charging system warning light (pretty sure it needs new alternator brushes - battery and alternator test good and I haven't had an issue with the car not starting or eating batteries). The passenger fender was dented up some too, but it was just cosmetic (and I managed to find a replacement for $40, already painted, but I hear that's uncommon).
Later I found out the ignition switch harness had two shorts in it, but that was likely due to age. A new one from Honda cost me about $75. Oh, and the blower motor resistor went out, but that was a five minute fix. I put over 10k miles on it since April (two cross country trips) and have since suffered a blown up HF transmission and some sort of weird issue with a CEL indicating a TPS issue (but the TPS checks out find, as does related wiring). The distributor bearing blew up at some point too. Car still ran. Just sounded horrible.
I plan to swap an engine I already have into the CRX though so none of that matters a lot to me, and honestly that's not all horrible for a 23-year-old car. I've put some cash into the car as well, but I expect to do so with any used car I buy because no used car is totally perfect.
If you look around some more, perhaps expand your radius that you're willing to drive, I think you can find a better deal than a guy you have to talk down from $3900.
Guy has lowered his price to $2000, I currently have $1800 to spend on a nice DD, Might see if he will work with me.
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Tyson
Honda CRX / EF Civic (1988 - 1991)
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