Hi! Newbie!

In our state, we have inspections of vehicles every year. I'm talking with someone online who has a sweet '99 possibly for sale, but it's got a performance exhaust (header-back) on it that isn't passing inspection at multiple shops on noise.

I was wondering, if it has no muffler (it must have a cat,) if it's possible to just cut a section of pipe out and put in a muffler at a shop for not too much? If it has a muffler, I don't mind paying for one that passes.

By the by...he also can't pass on the tinted windows. I read online that it can be removed DIY by using a steamer very carefully. Is that generally true? It's all done up with a body kit, custom paint, etc, and I don't think he wants to tone it down to pass it; kinda like some people don't want to neuter their dogs. I think he'd rather pass the problem off to someone else instead of deal with it anymore (he just bought the car, himself, from a dealer.)

It's so...shiny...I want it... o.O

Oh, yeah, I think it's been raced. That concerns me. Why else would it have a carbon fiber hood with pins and a deck lid to match, 16" wheels, etc? Wannabe, I'd hope.

Thx!

 

I think you should be less concerned about the car being raced and more concerned that any modifications he has done might have been done with crappy parts.

Typically, Civics with body kits and "custom paint" (usually code-word for an ugly *** "pimp-my-ride" paint job) have been modified by people who don't really know what they are doing. Usually these kinds of Civic owners buy cheap low-quality parts to save money, and often don't even install them properly. These kinds of Civic owners are the ones more commonly referred to as "ricers". I personally would never buy a car from a ricer, for fear of not knowing what molestation may have been performed on the car in question.


The car you are talking about... I think you should turn around and take a few big steps away from it. Look for something better. Look for something that either hasn't been tampered with much, or has been modified but only by someone who knows what they are doing.

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll keep it in mind for future prospects. He just emailed me and said he got it to pass at one place this morning. I'm going to let the matter just drop with him, because he was starting to sound like he was more interested in seeing "what it's worth" - not too serious about selling.

But I'm still looking to buy a '99 Civic. Seems in this area, southeast NH, ~$30-3500 gets you one that is claimed to have little to no problems. Prices do go down to $2000 for those admitted to have things needing to be fixed, so that sounds right to me.

Stepping up to '00, and the price jumps? I thought '01 was the next generation. *shrug*

Well, I will trek on. I'll be cruising these forums for advice on '99s now that I'm very near to having the funds, so I might be posting again.

 

A car in good stock condition is generally worth quite a bit more than one already modified. Like the others said, someone selling their modified car is usually doing it because they've become tired of all the problems.