Hi everyone, I just found this site and I'm thinking about buying a 1998 civic dx 2 door 5 speed. It has 117,500 miles. The shifter is a little sloppy in gears, but shifts perfect. It runs great. It has about 5 small dents, a couple spots of chipped paint, and some scratches, but it still looks pretty good. It whines pretty loud when going in reverse (is this normal)?? And theres no rust at all. The guy wants $3200. I'm just looking for opinions on if you think thats a decent price. KBB value is a lil over 4000 i think. Sound like a good price...yay or nay. Thanks for all your help.


P.S.- It has a brand new inspection, and the oil was just changed(i was there when the guy did it)

 

Reverse whining is completely normal.
Can you post any pics?

 

I might be able to get pics up tomorrow of it.

 

sounds good deal to me BUT TRUST ME..... write down the VIN numbers and run a CARFAX report on the car... that will tell ya if its been wrecked or not.....
just check the car out alittle further. and take it into consideration...

 

Hey guys I went and looked at the car today again and ran a carfax. Its all clean with no reported wrecks. Sorry I couldn't get pics...I have no camera. Theres two issues that caught my eye when I was there...one, the belts squeal. Not a big problem I just noticed it. And two...theres a rattling noise coming from somewhere by the belts or valve cover. It scared me cause I thought it might be an engine knock but it only makes this noise at around 1500rpm. It doesn't do it above that or below that like at idle. Any ideas on what it could be. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

well if the belt is sqwiking then it could just be a loose bolt on the alternator or power steering pump or ac pump...
or maybe the ACs guide pulley squel from the pulleys bearing starting to go bad....
sounds pretty minor. my 94 belt squel alittle bit when i start it up but goes right away.

if ya get the car i would sugest replacing the timing belt and other belts at the same time..... just a good idea on any used honda....
but just because the carfax report is clean... use your eye all over the car, like I THINK there should be vin number stickers on each door, trunk lid, and not sure about the hood tho. is they are different or missing then it could have been in a minor incedent that just wasnt reported to the cops....
my 94civic has a clean carfax but has been hit at least twice. new hood, and also a front bumper thats took like a spike that slightly bent up the frame behind it...

but jsut because its been wrecked doesnt mean its a bad buy.... it sounds like a good deal so far.
just be sure ya like the car. you could also point out every flaw and maybe get alittle bit cheaper. doesnt always work but sometimes you can get a few hundred bucks off.LOL worst case scenerio is ya pay asking price.LOL

 

I was thinkin it was a belt or pulley noise too but it seroiusly sounds like a slight knock (like maybe if you knocked on a piece of wood thats what it sounds like). But like I said it only makes that sound at around 1500 rpm. If it was an engine knock it would be at all rpm's right? And forget about asking him down, the price started at 3450 I just offered 3200. But yes I really like the car. One more question, I mentioned the shifter play in my first thread...it kinda feels like it in neutral when I'm in any gear...as I can move the shifter left and right about an inch or two...what could that be?? Bushings?? Bad tranny?? Thanks.

 

just bushings. my older shifter WAS VERY SLOPPY!!!! i replaced them with some new urethane bushings and its stiffened up ALOT BETTER NOW!
cheap fix.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/88-00...QQcmdZViewItem
like 3 bolts to remove to swap the bushings. hardest part is working the new stiff bushings over the shifter arms...

heres mine instaled....





both under the car, one on the back of the shifter linkage, and one on the tranny itself. VERY EASY to do yourself!
my shifter only moves about 1/16-1/8inch now when in gear... but before it was like you could move it from 1st to 3rd maybe even 5th when it was in gear side to side! pretty bad. but its just cheap bushings, 15 min swap job.

but another thing with the posibly knocking..... it could just be from the valves needing adjusted. with a old motor they could have worn down a few points and just need to be adjusted. it states valve adjustment as a recomended maintance in the manual.
tho i would have that done at a dealership because it can be a mess!

 

Hey man thanks a bunch for helpin me out. I know I sound like a noob but I'm very familiar with cars...just not imports (I was always a lifted truck kinda guy) I've adjusted the valves on a 1.6L 8 valve Geo Tracker motor which wasn't comlicated at all...the valves were directly under the valve cover. Is it like that on civics?? Either way I think I'm gonna buy it. I looked up labor times on ALLDATA for changing the tranny...it called for 3.2 hrs for the entire job. Thats awesome...just seems like a nice car to maintain. And I know its the "slow" SOHC non vtec but it picks up speed pretty well. And I'm not really looking for a race car anyway...just something that gets me from a to b a little quicker then my gas guzzling 4x4 does. And maybe if I want speed later on, theres always options like motor swaps and mini me swaps and tons of bolt ons and what not. But thanks again for all the info!!

 

its all good.... i started out with old school american muscle, then trucks and then gas prices went up and i bought my first honda, been hooked ever since! VERY HARD TO BEAT a 30+MPG vehicle for under 10K.

ya just learn one thing at a time... 2 important things to have one a manual on your car, and two a good site like this to help ya out when your stumped..... everything is pretty much universal just minor tweaks here and there......