Hi, I bumped into this forum when I was Googling info about Civics. I was looking to buy (and eventually, work on) a Civic as a first car.

I have about $3000 to spend for now (still have to pay for a year of insurance) and was looking at stock Civics from around 2000 (will have more later on, have to pay rent and tuition first). What specifics should I be looking for, aside from the basics such as rust/outside noticeable wear, asking when the timing belt and water pump were last done, records of work done on the car, milage, A/C, etc.? I was looking for a Sticky but couldn't find one.

Thanks and look forward to being a part of the forum

 

Basically, you are looking for rust, maintenance records etc. You know, the normal stuff for a used car. A/C is never important to me, so that is a "if you want it" type of thing.

 

Keep mileage in mind but don't count one out if it has 150K+ miles (240K kilometers) or so. Hondas are known for their longevity.

 

Hmm... sounds good

Now my question is: Should I bother saving up a few thousand more and then buy a newer Civic for around ~6000 with lower mileage? Would a newer one have significantly lower maintenance costs or other advantages, from your experience? I'm not nosy about little extra features aside from A/C, but I'm just wondering if I'd have a lot less headaches in the long run