I'm looking for a Civic for a daily driver, and I've only come across a few that haven't been riced or are in bad condition.

One of them is this 1997 with 193k miles http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/940763136.html

Is that too many miles? How long could I expect a Civic to run before maintenance gets expensive? What should I look for, and what questions should I ask when I check it out?

Thanks!

 

if the body is in good condition just save up for a nice motor swap...

 

That's a lot of miles... but, as long as it has been maintained properly it should be fine. Ask about maintenance, and ask what has specifically been maintained. Ask when the last time the timing belt has been changed is. Ask if the water pump and timing belt tensioner have been changed. If you're going to buy a Civic with that many miles though, I would definitely take it to a mechanic to have it checked out before I buy it. Ask if you can have it inspected by a mechanic.


How do you know he (or she) cares about performance?

 

How much do you want to spend? If gas mileage is a major consideration, you might want to look at 5th generation Civics (92-95), which can get up to 40 mpg.

 

Thanks.

Yeah, I (I'm a guy) don't care about horsepower. It's going to be a strictly a-to-b vehicle. The fun for me will be in hypermiling. So no engine swaps.

These are the others that look promising--
http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/948685956.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/936130661.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/943378558.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/946888565.html

I'm only looking for a manual, so that limits the options. By the way, how should the shifter in a Civic feel? I had a 1995 240sx and the shifter was rough, but I remember reading that Hondas were smooth and crisp.

My fun vehicle is my Jeep XJ:

 

I want to spend $2000-3000. I like the 5th gen but decent ones are hard to find.

 

This one looks really promising. Low miles (for a Honda), and it looks nice and clean. Also (shhhhhh) it's got 99-00 Si rims on it, which look nicer than stock and if you want to sell them and get some regular stock ones you could make some money off it. Don't tell the seller those are 99-00 Si rims. Act like they're ordinary. lol


stock shifters are pretty loose.

 

i second this one, lowest miles out of all them and the best price. Also since it from a dealership you might be able to get a little warrenty.

 

The one with 193k sold this morning, but I'm going to look at that 122k one tomorrow. I like the SI rims, but I wanted to make pizza tray aerodynamic hubcaps

 

get any of them and do a K SWAP. im going to buy a really ****ty EF someday and do the K20A motor with an n/a build