Hi all.

I'm working on a budget and need to find a car that will be safe enough to transport my 10 year old and also my girlfriend's mother(she was diagnosed with cancer January 1st).

I have been looking at Hondas and found a '94 Civic with a manual transmission and it seems to run fine, the only issue is that is has 250k miles.

The owner showed me the records of a timing belt/water pump change just a few months ago. It has the original motor and original transmission.
It also has brand new tires, rims and the motor is blue with blue wires and a blue air filter thing. The owner drives it like a race car and says it shakes at 90mph. I'm not looking for a race car. I'm looking for something dependable. If I buy it I'll drive it like a gandma.


Will this car last at least 7 months? I need it to last long enough to save up and get something newer. He wants $1,400 and is firm on the price(I tried offering 1,200 and he said he needed 1,400).

 

if its not a total raged out car 1400 is not bad as long as he has maintained it with more than just timing belts,belts hoses regular rad flushes motor mounts,the little things are what counts

 

I would test drive it first before anything...the Owner can say anything but you might have a different opinion from what he has when YOU drive it.
Open up the hood & look for any leaks.....Take it for a drive(about 3 miles or more) and check under the hood again for leaks & under the car as well.

 

I ended up not buying it.

Someone made me an offer for a '94 Corolla(standard) with 160k miles, no leaks and an obvious recent tune up and paint job. Very clean car, interior is also immaculate.

I've been driving it for 2 days and have checked under the car everytime and still, no leaks.

The driver of the Civic was into racing(he told me he had over 65 moving violations) and that along with the fact that he told me he had used 24 cans of spraypaint to paint the car black gave me a little idea of how he took care of his vehicles.

I would have rather have had a Honda, but given circumstance, I couldn't pass the Toyota up. 100k miles less than the Civic, taken care of, professional paint job, no leaks and cheaper.

I may have to repair the clutch or pay for a timing belt job in the future but it will be worth it.

It was great to see how durable a Honda engine can be even when a driver beats the crap out of it but I'd rather not take on financial responsibility for any damages his habits may have caused.