hi everyone - i'm not sure if this is the right forum to be posting this on, but bear with me. i have an 84 civic hatchback. 5 speed. it runs great except that it burns a lot of oil - like 3 quarts per tank of gas on the freeway. i don't drive much, i'm not a mechanic. but i think that's bad engine news, and i want to sell it before it dies on me. my question is this: from a bunch of people who know a lot about civics, what is that car worth? it's clean, no dents, some under body rust, doesn't overheat at all. it's been very reliable, just very very thirsty. i bought it for $1100 6 months ago from a dishonest guy - i now know it's not worth that much. what do y'all think? thanks --- amy

 

Older engines will burn a little oil especially an 84. If it's really bad you should get rid of it, but if it still runs good you know minus well drive it till it's dead. Just drive it with TLC baby it and it mightlast a year or two.If the oil is leaking around the valve cover (engine block) between the cracksand getting on your manifold the valve cover gasket might need to be replaced which isn't that hard of a job to do.
If the body is in good condition someone might want to pick it up to do things with. since it's an 84 it's going to be 25 years old in a few years making it an antique.
Replace the spark plugs often because I would bet oil will get caked on them over time.

 

The truth...I bet you wont even be able to sell it. If you do, it will be only for a couple hundred or for parts.

You mide as well drive it till it dies and save up money in the mean time.

 

hm. thanks for your replies. i've had a couple people guess what is wrong with the car without looking at it - either a crack in the engine so oil is leaking into the exhaust pipe and burning there (big clouds of black smoke), or the rear main seal. any thoughts? my hope, of course, is that it will turn out to be something cheap to fix...