Hi,

I found a Civic Hatchback that I might buy. it is a 1996, manual, with 151,000 miles on it. The price is only $1800. The car was well maintained, and was owned by only one person. What do you think about the high milage? What are the main things that I should be concerned with about the car?

Please share with me your knowledge and experience!

Thank you very much,
Ben

 

Hi,

Back in Feb. I traded in the exact smae car, but with 160,000 miles on it (to get my '06 Civic). The "trade-in value" on that car was $1,300, so your price seems reasonable.

As for what to look for: Those engines have (internal) timing belts (not chains) that should be changed each 90,000 miles (per Honda), and, when they did the timing belt, my dealer said: "You might want to change out the water pump too, as we need to remove it to get to the timing belt, anyway." (So I had them swap the water pump out, but the relacement started leaking at 160k miles--go figure.)

The car you're looking at is 29,000 miles from the point (90,000 miles x 2 = 180,000 miles) where the car will need it's 2nd timing belt (assuming it was done back at 90k miles). So you'll need to get that belt replaced at some point in the future. BTW: I would not fool around with delaying that job too long either, because if the timing belt goes while the engine is running, the pistons will slam into the valves, and bye-bye engine!

Regards,

 

Is the body clean and straight? Maintenance records? Do the fluids look good?
Buy it up, sounds like a good deal to me.

 

Hell yes grab it, I just paid $750 for a 96 ek shell if that tells you anything.

 

I paid the same price for my 94 hatch with 181,000 miles on it. And mine is beat up real good. Both front fenders, the hatch door, and the rear bumper are all misshapen. There is a small rust hole above both rear wheel wells, the cargo cover is missing, the steering column cover is mangled, and the seats are stained with a couple cigarette burns.

By my standards, bkbkesh... the one you're looking at is a steal. LOL

 

IM about to buy a 96 hatch today .. with 101,k on it.. 4600.. which is the low end of the EK's for sale in my area.. i tried looking for something cheap like Marty got but nothing around.. alot of 96's i looked at before stumbling upon this one are 6-8k.. so i wish i lived near u guys if u are getting for under 2g's