So, within the next couple weeks I'll probably be buying a civic, year 1994 - 1998. Somewhere in between there, I'm still looking at ads, dealerships, craigslist, kijiji, etc. What are some things I should look for, I'll be bringing my buddy who works on civics, and cars all the time, and I'll also be getting it checked out at my parents mechanic.

Is there anything I can look/listen for?

Any help is appreciated.

Search is broken for me, I would have looked, but can't.

Thanks!

 

i wouldn't buy from a dealership... i don't really trust them. plus a dealership won't give you as good of a deal as a private seller. ask if the timing belt has been changed and when it was changed,

 

look for rust on rear quarter panels, look for oil leaks, fluid leaks, etc. check to see that the fluids look like they should. that will probably give you an idea of how well the car was maintained.

 

This is the car I'm looking at. Is the transmission needing a new bearing a relatively serious issue?

Once again, any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Gimmie the VIN and let me run a check for you.

 

I just e-mailed him to ask for it, thanks for the help, I'll get back to you.

 

which bearing is it?

 

I'm not sure, didn't ask. But my buddy who works on cars said we can just replace the entire tranny for a few hundred. Also, is standard hard to learn, I've gotta learn before I buy this car.

Thanks again.

 

i used to have an automatic civic until the end of may and then i sold it and bought this Del Sol. It's a stick and I drove it home with no prior manual driving experience when we bought it. I stalled once in that entire 15 miles, which IMO is pretty good for never driving a stick before and being alone in the car, and then the next day I had some trouble with stalling and the next day i had the "starting from a stop without stalling the engine" down.

the hardest part is making sure you don't just take your foot right off the clutch, you gotta let the clutch out slowly or you'll stall. easiest thing to do if your engine starts to stall is to stick your foot right back on the clutch and the engine will usually recover (doing this saves you from being humiliated and stalling). trust me, it's pretty embarrassing when you stall.

 

Good to hear, I can't wait to go take a look. I told my mom I was going to buy a manual and she freaked, said I'm making a huge mistake....ah women. I might check it out Thursday, and then another day come by with my buddy and he can drive it home for me and take a look at everything.