Good morning everyone. Obviously new here, but not to Honda. I have an opportunity to purchase an 02 Accord EX for $1,500 with 197k from a coworker that has transferred to another office out of state. I don't have all the specs just yet, as I've asked for the VIN in order to determine what engine, trans, etc.

I know Honda's are built to last, but it would seem as if this particular model is plagued with problems. Granted, it's a $1500 car, but I don't want to buy something that I immediately have to put money into (ie: transmission). Also, I work in a very remote area in West TX, and commute to central TX (Waco) every other week. My schedule is nine days on, six days off. My commute to work and home is ~1k miles, twice a month.

I'm very savvy with cars and tech in general, I have several BMW's. My favorite is my e46, 20 psi supercharged, fully forged and built engine. I built it from a bare block. Just some background on me.

Any suggestions are welcome on what to look for when I go look at this car on Monday, 2/17. I'm thankful for forums such as these that provide valuable information from very knowledgeable people that are willing to help.

Thank you in advance!

 

Obviously, get under the car and look for leaks. Check for torn CV joints and such. Look in the radiator for sludge to see if there is a head gasket/engine issue. Make sure the car shifts cleanly and ask if the fluid has ever been changed in the transmissions and when. Check all power windows and locks, those seem to fail regularly and get skipped for repair. Make sure windows up and down, power motors are going to be tired at best and non-working at worst. Check the vents to see if the air still comes out of all directions (the regulators and blend motors die on these after a while), check if air conditioning is cold (leaky valves seem common on these at this point).

All repairable except engine, which I would simply not buy if you find the sludge.

 

I bought a '99 EX in September 2018. I wish I had checked underneath more thoroughly - specifically the brake and fuel lines. I had both replaced last September due to rust/corrosion. In your area it's probably not even a concern. It's primarily what's used to treat snow and ice on the roads in this area that does them in.

Still, I'm glad I bought the car. It was about $1,100 for a shop to replace both and it runs great around 174k. It feels more like it has about 60k. The other concern I'm going to need to address is the timing belt, I don't know when it was last changed. Fortunately you know who's selling the car and can hopefully provide information about the timing belt.

 

If it's a V6 model just stay away from it. The transmissions are junk. It's not a matter of if a failure will occur, it's a matter of when. The 4 cylinder models are prone to automatic transmission failures too, just not as much as the V6 models. Manual 4 cylinder would be ideal and would make for a super reliable commuter. They are good cars in general but the Achilles heel are the automatic transmissions.

 

Thanks guys for the replies so far! The owner has told me his now father in law changed the timing belt, water pump and plugs around 160k prior to "gifting" the car to his now wife. I am hoping it's a 4 cylinder; however, I know it's an autotragic. I'm going to check the car over really well prior to buying. I certainly don't want to hit the road on my 500 mile commute home and be left stranded when my BMW has never let me down. Keep the suggestions coming!

 

Good you were able to find out about the timing belt, should be good for another 20k or so miles. My 2.3L 4 has plenty of power IMO and gets decent gas mileage. I was fortunate to find a manual transmission which are becoming increasingly rare in later models, especially on higher level trims like the EX.

I still see many gen. 6 Honda Accords on the road here in New England - and generally without that much rust. Although the automatic transmission doesn't have a great reputation, I'd think the cost to service it wouldn't be astronomical given it's a basic 4 speed. I can't imagine what it would cost to service a modern 6, 8, or 9 speed automatic.. or CVT. And I wonder is there really such a great advantage over a 4 speed? Good luck, hopefully the transmission on the one you're considering is in good working order.

 

Another item that has a high chance of needing replacement are the motor/trans mounts. The back one is very hard to get to and gets skipped (from what I can see), so the front ones gets broken from all the back and forth. Easy to test, open the hood, have someone in the car keep their foot on the brake while the car is on, have them shift it into drive, see if the engine rocks (not just a little bit, I mean truly move forward several inches) and then reverse and see if it rocks. If it does move, it's the motor mounts, replace all four if you can, the back is very important. It's also expensive for an OEM which I also think is why people don't want to do it. However, if you put in a a non-oem, often it will be too stiff and the car will shake or it won't work.

Regarding transmission, since you are hands on, if you ever do need to replace the transmission, they are pretty easy to find for $100-$200 in salvage yards to swap in. Unlike the BMW, the transmission is in the front of the car so (to me) and transverse so it's easier to pull than the BMW.

I'm in the middle of swapping in an engine in my 99 Accord, the engine started showing oil in the radiator, so I picked up another one and am swapping it in now. Tedious, but can be done without power tools.

 

I ended up buying the car for $1400. It needs a gas cap, valve cover gasket, and right rear shock.

If I drive it for a year or so I figure I can sell it for what I have in it and move on to something else. Unless the trans goes at some point, at that time I'll rebuild or replace and drive it longer. It's a cheap car, people are always looking for cheap cars.