I am looking at a 01 civic lx with auto transmission the transmission clunks when it is put into either reverse or drive and it is a really loud clunk more like a bang then a loud clunk but it still drives and shifts fluid is nice and pink and full, when it is in park the od light flashes green. the transmission was replaced and has only 48k on it. I haven't had a chance to scan this car yet for any faulty codes, should I even bother scanning or should I just walk away from this. the owner is only asking $800 for this 01 civic lx. Thank You

 

Give the engine mounts a good look over. They could be the source of your bang. However, this generation of civic has had major problems with the transmission. So don't buy if you're not prepared to accept that it may fail sooner than later. I'd have the owner change the transmission fluid in front of me though, then take it for a nice drive to see how the transmission behaves to be on the safe side.

 

I'm an 01 Civic LX owner. It never ceases to amaze me what these cars sell for in my area - are the people selling these on crack? Maybe it's just cuz I drive one ... not that I don't love my car. For $800 I'd buy it out from under you but I have no idea what the mileage is or condition etc - you have to consider the whole package.

IMO you should look at the worst case scenario (just speaking of the tranny). I replaced mine with a reman and spent about $1K (spent more but it was on some tools, other stuff that I did during the work). However, if you buy a reman from Honda it's like $2K or so plus the work, and brand new, might as well buy a different car.

If you go to a shop...$$... who knows.

But here is a quick piece of advice - Risk = Consequence x Likelihood. You know what the consequence could be but you don't know the likelihood. So I'd say as long as you're willing to take that kind of risk and still feel good about your purchase move forward. If not, why risk it.

IMO - if it doesn't sound right...it ain't right.