3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
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3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
Well I am interested in buying a clean 3rd gen civic hatchback dx. It’s either an ‘86 or ‘87 I believe. It’s a manual, I’m guessing a 4 speed, 130k miles, all original. My friend said that 130k is a lot of miles for those years, but I’ve been interested in 3rd and 4th gen civic hatchbacks and 1st gen crx’s for a while and never heard anything negative about them concerning reliability. Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
Last edited by RGhonda; Jan 10, 2019 at 02:35 PM.
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
The 3rd gen civic is great but the base dx d15 carbd model brings you all the issues of driving a classic vehicle, prob needs carb rebuilt or upgrade (weber 32/36) and a vac delete , those cars are cool with dohc dseries
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
I’m 17, would it be a good car to learn on and would it be ok to daily drive? The guy says it runs good. Also, is 130k really a lot of miles for a 3rd gen? I’ve heard of 1st gen crx’s going above 300k and I believe that they are pretty much exactly the same as the 3rd gen civics. Thanks.
Last edited by RGhonda; Jan 11, 2019 at 08:01 AM.
Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
As a potential young gearhead, always remember when you buy an older car there is a very high potential for that car to break down and leave you stranded. To learn on, this will be a great introduction for you. As a daily driver, just be prepared to be on your parents AAA insurance for that free sweet towing for your inevitable breakdown.
If you can get the car for $500 to $1000, I say go for it as long as it's just as the seller says it is. Runs good, no electrical issues, not rusty, etc...
Post pics if you can...
If you can get the car for $500 to $1000, I say go for it as long as it's just as the seller says it is. Runs good, no electrical issues, not rusty, etc...
Post pics if you can...
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
Yep my family has AAA. In California so rust shouldn't be a huge issue. It's up for $2500 I was thinking about asking if he'd take $1500... I could just throw $1000 out there and see if he takes it, not sure how firm he is on the price. I'll try to post some pics again. Thanks for the advice and helping me understand the reality of daily driving a 35ish yr old car... I'll keep that in mind. 
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
as mentioned before its going to be a fun car and a great learning project , same not it IS GOING TO BREAK DOWN , IS GOING TO NEED WORKED ON , IS GOING TO NEED MAINTENANCE BEFORE DAILY DRIVING , and im sure if you took it to a mechanic to do a inspection they can give you a small novel of worn out parts on it that need to be replaced, id buy it if its cheap and dont have to drive it every day
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
My experience is that a lot of parts are available and cheap, even for my 83. Unlike new cars you can pop the hood and identify everything and get to most of it easily. Like others have said if you yearn to work on cars, might be a fun thing to do. I drove a series of $1500 cars: a Chevette, a Citation, then the Civic (which I can’t seem to get rid of). I had good luck with all of them. But YMMV.
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
Yep my family has AAA. In California so rust shouldn't be a huge issue. It's up for $2500 I was thinking about asking if he'd take $1500... I could just throw $1000 out there and see if he takes it, not sure how firm he is on the price. I'll try to post some pics again. Thanks for the advice and helping me understand the reality of daily driving a 35ish yr old car... I'll keep that in mind.
What has been done, new coil, new radiator, the distributor internal seal was replaced due to leaky engine oil inside the distributor, alternator, starter, battery, spark plug wires, better shocks? I found a completed AC system at the junk yard that was still holding refrigerant and installed it, One of the vacuum switch has failed so the cold morning start are still good, but after a few minutes on cold California days the engine may stall and be hard to restart.... but with a manual trans, pop it in 3rd gear and let it roll...
$2500 is a bit steep, $1500 is a good price, the state will give the owner $1000 if they retire/donate the car at the local junkyard.... which do not see too many of this year vintage... The car looks good, except that you need a new driver seat and those are not cheap... make sure that all electric accessories work, radio, rear wiper and rear defroster... I had to repair the rear electrical harness that had some broken wire by the hatchback tailgate... remove the trunk cover and check for water puddle, there should not be any water....
Cheers
Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
Welcome, so you are in Cal, remember that the seller MUST do a smog check before selling the vehicle.... the smog check data will give you good infos of the general conditon of the engine. Be aware that the 3rd gen engines are lean burn engine and the level of NOX gases are usually fairly high due to lean burn and there is really no way to adjust it... if it is a carb model... I have an 86 vintage with the carb , 1500 cc engine and 5 speed, really a blast to drive, even at 175Kmiles. Owned for the last 7 years and 45Kmiles. I had very high Nox and found it to be a loose hose below the intake manifold, but it still cost me a misdiagnosis by the smog tech that said that a new cat had to be installed, which was not needed. I never rebuilt the carb, which is not really recommended because the insulator between the carb and intake manifold was unobtainum. Check redpepperracing for more tech infos...
What has been done, new coil, new radiator, the distributor internal seal was replaced due to leaky engine oil inside the distributor, alternator, starter, battery, spark plug wires, better shocks? I found a completed AC system at the junk yard that was still holding refrigerant and installed it, One of the vacuum switch has failed so the cold morning start are still good, but after a few minutes on cold California days the engine may stall and be hard to restart.... but with a manual trans, pop it in 3rd gear and let it roll...
$2500 is a bit steep, $1500 is a good price, the state will give the owner $1000 if they retire/donate the car at the local junkyard.... which do not see too many of this year vintage... The car looks good, except that you need a new driver seat and those are not cheap... make sure that all electric accessories work, radio, rear wiper and rear defroster... I had to repair the rear electrical harness that had some broken wire by the hatchback tailgate... remove the trunk cover and check for water puddle, there should not be any water....
Cheers
What has been done, new coil, new radiator, the distributor internal seal was replaced due to leaky engine oil inside the distributor, alternator, starter, battery, spark plug wires, better shocks? I found a completed AC system at the junk yard that was still holding refrigerant and installed it, One of the vacuum switch has failed so the cold morning start are still good, but after a few minutes on cold California days the engine may stall and be hard to restart.... but with a manual trans, pop it in 3rd gear and let it roll...
$2500 is a bit steep, $1500 is a good price, the state will give the owner $1000 if they retire/donate the car at the local junkyard.... which do not see too many of this year vintage... The car looks good, except that you need a new driver seat and those are not cheap... make sure that all electric accessories work, radio, rear wiper and rear defroster... I had to repair the rear electrical harness that had some broken wire by the hatchback tailgate... remove the trunk cover and check for water puddle, there should not be any water....
Cheers
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
also on top of it as mentioned before this isnt going to be a car you troublefree drive for a extended period of time, if you arent comfortable with finding worn out parts or diagnosing noises/problems take it to pretty much any mechanic for a $50 used car inspection and generally speaking you will be able to use that to influence the price where you want it and the $50 saves you sometimes hundreds
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
Thanks for the replies guys. The guy doesn’t say much about the car in the description, just that it is all stock, 130k miles, new tires, stick shift. Also, it is 2 hours or so away from where I live so it may be a little hard to get my parents on board, especially at the moment. I may have to take a pass for now, I’ll save his number and maybe when things settle a bit I’ll see if he still has it, or just wait for an EF to come up since those would be more daily driveable and easier to find parts for, although to be honest that would make me kind of sad since I love the old-school civics. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks for all the advice, you guys are really helpful. 
I’ll be back for sure.
I’ll be back for sure.
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
I didn’t mean to waste anyone’s time, I can still use the information even if I don’t end up with the exact car, you’ve given me some useful knowledge that I didn’t have before and couldn’t find anywhere else, and others can use the info on this thread as well, it’s not just for me. Sorry if that’s the way you feel.
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
I didn’t mean to waste anyone’s time, I can still use the information even if I don’t end up with the exact car, you’ve given me some useful knowledge that I didn’t have before and couldn’t find anywhere else, and others can use the info on this thread as well, it’s not just for me. Sorry if that’s the way you feel.
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Re: 3rd gen civic dx reliability questions
I hear you... I’m going to get in touch with the guy, I’ll just have to find a day that my dad can take me out there, and we’ll also have to work some insurance stuff out as well...today my family found out that our insurance is raising their rates, it would be $200 a month just to add me as a driver to the policy, and that isn’t even the car. 😕 Seeing as I would be paying my own insurance I’m not sure if I could swing that...