I am looking at purchasing a '98 Civic Ex (5 spd)from a guy. Let me start off with saying that this needs a lot of cosmetic work which is fine with me (want sort of a pet project car anyways).

My biggest concern is making sure the engine is mechanically sound. I am going to take it to mygirlfriends mechanic (she has a '95 Ex) andhave him check it over and do a compression test. He is trust worthy and everything but I want to know what I am getting myself in to with this car.

The engine looks like it has some minor uprades done to it. Cold air intake,upgraded spark plug wires, and some other random colorful hoses. I am going to assume the worst and that he dogged the crap out of the engine. I know Honda's are reliable and what not and the car seems to pull pretty good. I pushed it a little hard to try and get a feel for it. The clutch, he claims, was changed about a couple thousand miles ago.

Do you guys have any insights or suggestions thatI should ask about, check for, or makesure my girlfriends mechanic checks over? What should the compression be assuming normal wear and tear with 100k on the odometer?

Again, thanksfor your help and any/all advice.

Late...

 

It's good to check the timing belt and if it has been replaced or not, if not you probably need to do that soon. If I think of any other frequent mishaps i'll post, but i'm kind of drawing a blank right now.

 

also see if the water pump has been replaced.askhim if has like recipts and stuff to confirm theoil changes and w/e was done to the carand just make sure you visually check everything to see if its in good condition

 

ahhhh, the upgrade of champions

 

Well I was thinking the colorful hoses add's like 5hp or something.

As far as I can tell, he does not have the receipts for the car. It has been through three owners that I know of. The only reason why I am looking at this one is because the price he is asking is pretty good. His ad said 2900, I offered 2500 and depending on what the mechanic says then possibly even lower.

It has been advertised in the local paper for about a month now and he is just sitting on it. The car isn't being driven or anything of that nature. Compression and multi-point inspection's should uncover anything significant, right? I don't mind putting some money into it but if it is going to cost me the price of the car plus a grand out the door with amechanic then I might just lease an '07 Accord.

You guys are great, keep it up.

Late...

 

Take the oil fill cap off and look for sludge inside. Should just look like light brown metal. That'll tell you a lot about the previous owners' attention to oil changes. If there's sludge, trust me, you will have engine trouble soon. Of course this is the kind of thing a mechanic would do, he might even take the valve cover off.

If you buy the car, replace the timing belt, water pump, filters, all fluids, etc. immediately to get a fresh start and know everything is up to date on maintenance.