For financial reasons, I am forced to sell my current Si and purchase a vehicle in the $10,000.

I have come across a few 1994 or 1995 Integra GSR's with about 100K priced at $9000 or so. Is it worth it? Or will there be major reliability issues? Assuming the car is in good condition exterior/interior wise and the car drives fine, would this be a good deal? With a motor this old, what compression ratios should I get across all four? I figure I'd have to change out the oil pump, water pump, all belts, and flush out all fluids in the near future and probably build up the motor as well (high CR pistons and new valve train)

Or I can possibly find a newer 96-98 Integra LS for around $11,000 and half the mileage. And in the future I would swap in a B18C5 or a B20Z/B.

What would you do? Or what advice can you offer?

 

If it has 100k then the timing belt should have been replaced already. Unless the owner can document when major services were performed I would stay away from such a car unless you can get it much cheaper <$8000. I don't know where you're located, but you should be able to find something with less mileage for that price. In February I bought a 94 GSR with 65k miles form the original (female) owner for $9000. I've seen a few more for sale in my area around the same price so shop around. I would stay away from buying an LS to do a motor swap later on because it's going to be more expensive in the long run.

Tony

 

I am in NJ too. So far I haven't come across much.

1995 GSR 91K at $10995 in CT
1995 GSR 126K at $8995 in northern NJ
1996 GSR 61K at $11895 in NJ
1994 GSR 101K at $9200 in PA
1995 GSR 66K at $11879 in PA

If I could, I would buy privately and save a couple thousand dollars, but with the trade-in, I am forced to buy from a dealership. And no, I really do not have the time to sell my car privately since I am taking summer classes and working. So I really do not have any days off, nor the time to really show the car off to potential buyers.

This was all from some internet browsing. I have yet to check if the cars are still in inventory. And I will browse through some of the local papers and Autoshopper ads.

 

Thats crazy. I bought my 96 gs R with 60k for $9k.

 

Is everybody buying privately or from dealership prices?

 

buy it smurf.....it's a honda, and 100k is nothing (assuming that 100k was not all hard miles).

 

got mine about a year and a half ago for 10K, she had 19,XXX miles on it
one catch, reconstructed title (theft recovery, never hit) i saw it so it wasnt that bad, but look around, you can get a GSR with less that a 100K miles for about $10K, all you gotta do is shop around
HTH

 

100K miles???? Thats hardly broken in for a Honda.
Seriously though, if you do come across one for a good price.......($7,000-8000) for a 94-95 model which sounds about right, have it checked out before finalizing the deal. Have the body checked out and write the VIN down and run it through CarFax to see it's history. Just my $.02

 

I've been thinking that 100K is about the half-life for any well maintained Honda/Acura. And assuming all documentation for maintenance can be provided or that the dealership has given the vehicle its 90/105K maintenance check-up, that the vehicle should be in good condition.

I run every car that I am interested in thru carfax But I don't think it would show if the car was in an accident unless it was totaled. So I'd like to bring the car to a frame specialist, but last time I checked, the frame specialist wanted $400 just to set up his machine and $150/hour just so that I could figure out if my mother's sedan had some frame damage or the trailing arm was bent.

And the only GSR I found for $8100 with 50K was sold in 1 day. DAMN

I came across another Acura dealership that has a 94GSR with 101K for $7998.

 

If you trade your other car in rather than sell third party, you're going to get shafted on it.
As for reliability, it all depends on how it was driven. GSR's are likely to have done harder time than, say, an LS, but you might still find a good deal. I think buying from a dealer though is your first mistake here. I got my `94 GSR 3-4 months ago with nearly 84k miles for $8500, plus some bucks for routine maintenance, but she's been good so far.
Honestly, to get the car you want at the right price, you need two things that it seems like you're saying you don't have (no offense intended): patience and time. Getting the best deal involves being around evenings or weekends to show off your Si (thereby getting the best deal for it) and time to search Yahoo, Lycos, and Autotrader for third-party GSR's that might need slightly more work than one from a dealer, but probably are being sold by someone you can trust. As for the frame, rather than run what you're going to buy through a frame shop, take it to a Honda-certified mechanic you can trust once you've found one you like, and pay him $50-100 to go through everything for an hour or two (compression test, and all the goodies). I have a mechanic I can trust, and he pointed out things I wouldn't have spotted, which got the price of the car down for me and helped me make my decisions.

 

LnWolf--I got everything you are saying. I know I am sort of a bind here. I know that it could be a major difference in what the dealership will offer me for my trade-in and what I can possibly get if I sold it privately.

Because of the situation I am in, there is a trade-off between working to just make bills and studying (I'm on probation so i cannot slack here) versus free time to search for the best deal on both my car and my next purchase.

I suppose that I am more inclined towards getting a reliable car that I am happy with vs. getting the best price for the car. But I will post my car up for sale and see what offers I can fish.

 

Double post--sorry


[Modified by Smurf, 10:09 AM 7/8/2001]

 

If reliability is more important than performance, I'd look for a Gen3 LS or GS, then. By the way, if you must trade the car in, don't even tell them you have a trade-in until you've made your best deal on the car you want. Dealers sometimes use the trick of inflating the trade-in value of your car to give you a good impression, but then cut less off the price of the car you're buying. If you wait to mention the trade-in, you'll get a much better idea of what your car is truly worth, too.
Knowing that price is important too, the LS/GS will cost you less in insurance. Good luck!

 

OK, well I just bought my 94 GSR with 97,XXX for 8 Grand. It runs fine. It has a little dings and scratches here and there, but nothing big. She is strong as hell. I just look at it as a 97 thousand mile break in period, because I bought itt from original owner(some old guy) HAHA. She is a little bit of a freak too. Ran a 15.1 bone stock. Not bad for a 8 year old car.

I'd say if it runs good and maintenance was done go for it.