I bought this car 18 months ago with 69K on the odometer. Since then I have done the following maintenance/repairs:

Battery $50
Radiator $250
2 Front Tires $250
Brakes $125
Clutch $400
AC $200
90 K Maint: Water Pump, Plugs, Timing Belt, Radiator Belt
$600

Now the check engine light is on!!!!!!!!

I've had it with this GSR.
Expensive to buy, expensive to insure and way too many repairs.
I've had 3 Honda's and they never had this many problems. I"ve
spent over 2K on repairs, so it's time to sell.

Anyone else experience this many repairs on their GSR?

 

a lot of the things u listed seem like normal matinance items. when u buy a used car u never know wut ur gonna get but integras r generally very reliable.

 

Everything but the battery and radiator are wear items and typically wear out at such an interval.

Radiator belt -?

Pull the code for you CEL.

 

ITR's are even worse in the wear department...stats aren't totally in on how much harder ITR owners drive their cars, but tires (RE010's usually last 20k miles) and clutches (I've seen as little as 30k miles before replacement) are exceptionally high wear items. Pads and rotors are also kill items if the car is solo'd or track'd.

 

Dude, there's a button you can push to turn off that check engine light. I bought my integra with low miles and now have 95k on the odometer, it never broke down on me... not even once, no problems at all except when one spark plug went bad (normal) when driving hard. Acura makes quality cars, just cuz u bought a shitty one doesn't mean you can dog on Acuras..

hahaha

good luck with ur car

 

it seems like everything u got there are wear and tear...if u look at the most reliable cars...acura and honda are the most reliable for dollar to dollar car...this is in comparison to BMW and Mercedes Benz...

 

Pretty much everything on your list is maintenance/wear and tear items..
its a 96 (according to your sig) so its not unusual for the battery to need replacement...

the radiator..probably the common top tank leak...

the 2 front tires are wear items.. but it could have a direct correlation w/ the worn clutch.. dunnoz...

the brakes (pads and rotors) are normal wear items

the clutch all depends on how it was driven but it is also a wear item...

A/C - not sure what went wrong w/ your a/c...

90K maintenance is a maintenance/wear and tear along w/ the t-belt service...

most of the items you listed are maintenance, upkeep and wear and tear items.. other than the a/c...

EDIT: look here for the CE light

http://www.bseries.net/html/garage/engcode.php

http://www.c-speedracing.com/faq/06.php

http://www.c-speedracing.com/faq/05.php

 

That button is for the maintence light not the check engine light.
There is a difference. My Maintence light doesn't mean squat.

 

battery : you probably bought the car with the original battery, I am simply amaised at how long the battery has lasted in my integra, I replaced the original after 4 years, and I am 2 years into the second one now.

radiator : I had to replace mine at 90k miles, the top of the tank was cracked, this seems to be the only problem that integras consistantly have that is drivetrain related.

2 front tires : when I first got my integra I think I went through 2 sets of tires in 30k miles, burnouts and fast corners do that

brakes : I am still on my first set of brakes, over 100k on the car and still 1/4 pad left, the owner of your car probably waited till the last second to brake and you are now putting on the 3rd set of pads.

clutch : heh, I am on my 3rd clutch I really hard on my clutch

AC : never any problems, but I did go to pep boys this summer and got a can of r134 and topped off my system. slow leaks are inevitable.

90k maint : probably the most important maint you can do is your timing belt.

this is all expected maintenance, and deffinately not overpriced. some people dream of a $200 AC fix, or a battery or radiator that was so cheap to install/purchase.

consider yourself among the lucky to have such a good car, and that you have done this maintenance now you don't have to spend that money later. your car will likely last you for as long as you are willing to drive it without any major problems, but if you want to drop it because the maintenance costs are above your desires, there will be another deserving owner I am sure.

 

I understand what you guys are saying, I guess the lesson here is not to buy a car between 60K to 90K, that's when all the basic maintenance repairs happen.
I did a search on check engine lights, how do I get the CEL #?
Someone said something about tripping two wires, green wire and ? under the passenger floorboard and counting the flashes of lights?

 

Opinions are like ********, everybody has one.

 

Yes one the passanger side theres a lower kick panel. Take it off and then you should see a green harness with like a blue harness inside it. Pull out the blue harness and stick a papper clip to connect the two wires. then turn the car on and count the blinking lights. Long lights = 10 short ones = 1 then tell us the number or look on http://www.c-speedracing.com

 

That link tells you how to do it, check it out.

 

If you thought any car has "O" maintenance, you need to get a bus pass.

 

Sounds like you bought an under-maintained car. You can't blame that on the automaker.

Battery: I replaced mine at 85k after 8 years, an amazing service life by most accounts. If yours laster 70k on the original battery, that's excellent.

Radiator: Like many others, I had the common top-tank leak at 90k. This kinda sucks, and I do fault Honda for using a crappy radiator. Make sure to get a replacement with all-metal tanks, not plastic. I got a fluidyne all-aluminum one for $320.

Front tires: sounds like the previous owner didn't rotate their tires properly, and/or didn't have the car aligned properly. Also may have driven it hard. You should have checked the treadwear before buying the car and factored that into your bargaining.

Brakes: normal wear item at that age. I replaced my fronts around that time too. Again, you should have had the car inspected before you bought it, and the fact that these items were worn out would have come to light.

Clutch: mine's still fine at 91k. Sounds like it was driven too hard. $400 is a good price for a replacement though.

AC: Don't know what to say on this one. Mine hasn't had any trouble in 91k miles.

90k maintenance: This is normal on all Hondas. Be glad you didn't have an older model which needed the timing belt replaced at 60k miles. All cars will have some type of service interval like this. You could have saved a lot by doing it yourself though. What the heck is a radiator belt?

CEL: Follow the instructions others have given above. It's probably something simple like a bad gas cap or a bad oxygen sensor.

Overall, my Integra hasn't been the most reliable vehicle in the world (broken items so far: radiator, thermostat, clutch master cylinder, brake master cylinder), but it's never left me stranded, and has had far, far less problems than any American car I've ever encountered. It also isn't falling apart after 90k miles (in fact most people are surprised when they learn how old it is), whereas all the American cars in my family showed age very quickly, not only with parts breaking, but with interior parts breaking, coming loose, rattling, plastic cracking, etc.

 

i agree.

if youre never had to replace those things in your other cars.. then obviously youve never had it long enough.

 

Pretty much everything is a wear item that you mentioned. With manufactureres using plastic end tanks on the Radiator they are not going to last. If anything blame the previous owner.

I do have a friend that went through 3 A/C's on his GS.

 

maybe you bought a friday car??? they threw it together so they could go home for the weekend and

 

Sounds like the previous owner didn't take care of the car. I have a 94GSR with 118k miles, everything works fine and is original from the factory. Only thing I have changed is the timing belt/water pump and the stereo system. Plus, a lot of the things you mention are normal wear and tear parts.

 

Yeah, I've had to do about the same maint. on my integra. The only other car I have experienced that has equaled or bettered the integra's reliability would have to be a toyota camry or something else made by toyota. Toyota also has convenient placement of the oil filters in most cases, making oil changes a breeze.

 

well come to the "used car owners club".

Where you get a great car at a lower initial cost but foot the bill for all the normal wear and tear replacements up until that point.

If you dont want the hassle, spend more money and get a new car. No guarantees on being hassle free but at least it will be certified and covered by the dealer.

The Plus in doing this work is, after its done, you know exactly where and how your car stands in every aspect and there is little left for guess work. The major repairs ive sent to the shop, and all others, ive done by hand. Its satisfying as a car enthusiast to do this at least once in your life time. Lots of guys brag and like to show off their fast cars but dont know the first thing about it under the hood beyond "paper specs". These aren't true enthusiasts in my book... but then again, maybe you only wanted a teg as a daily driver...

If that were true, you wouldnt have aimed at getting a GSR either

 

Quit your bitchin.. Honda is more reliable than anything else in that price range. If anything internal was wrong.. you can bitch.. but thats normal wear-n-tear

 

replaced my clutch because i'm prepping for my turbo, had atleast another 18k miles on it.

Radiator = great

my timing belt hasn't been changed yet and im at 92k miles... i think i should change it

Anyone have any links telling how to change the timing belt or is that something i should have a mechanic do? Oh yeah... passenger side axles too.

 

Axles are pretty easy if you know what you're doing, timing belt is a bit more tricky... but if you know your way around a motor, nether are that difficult.

 

Any links to install guides?