looking at a 87 civic with 170,000 miles.what problems do these cars have?headgasket,tranny?has auto tranny.what should look for when i go look at it?oil in water?and how long do they usually last?thanks

 

I don't know anything specific about it but make sure it's not like leaking a lot of oil, no oil in the coolant, take it for a test drive and make sure it's not overheating. Stuff like that. How long it will last relies on how well it was taken care of. Try and read the person you are buying it from, do they seem like something who drives it hard or drives 5 mph under the speed limit and keeps maintenance records of everything from timing belts to oil changes. I could last over 300k miles if it was taken care of.

 

CHECK EVERYTHING RUBBER! A car that old may need new rubber things if they haven't been done yet.

 

O yes - rubber and plastic parts. that must be checked and replaced.