honda civic- buying advice?

[Daox]

Here are a few of our garage entries and the mileage our members are getting...

1996 Honda Civic EX 33.14 mpg
2000 Honda Civic EX 33.96
2004 Honda Civic EX 27.27
1998 Honda Civic EX 40.74
1999 honda civic ex 49.65
2002 Honda Civic EX 32.43


1997 Honda Civic HX 40.04
2001 Honda civic HX 45.58
1999 Honda Civic HX 43
1998 Honda Civic HX 40.42
1998 Honda Civic HX 44.11
2001 Honda Civic HX 33.23


1994 Honda Civic VX 52.85
1993 Honda Civic VX 52.23
1995 Honda Civic VX 48.55
1994 Honda Civic VX 46.89
1992 Honda Civic VX 41.27

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by hamsterpower

Keep in mind any civic of this age will soon need shocks, bushings, timing belt, water pump, alternator, belts, hoses, radiator, thermostat, input shaft bearing, clutch, syncros, exhaust, and brakes. At least well before 10 years. Don't get me wrong I love these cars but they are 12-18 years old now.

Even a brand new civic is going to need a timing belt and water pump after 6-10 years, once it gets to 100,000 miles, but is it worth buying a new car to avoid a $300 repair bill?
As I said before, even replacing the tranny and doing an engine rebuild would be less then $1,000 on any older civic, so if you have a $3,000-5,000 budget I would only worry about rust if you want it to last 10+ years.

[PaleMelanesian]

These are pretty durable cars. I've replaced on mine:
timing belt & water pump - important to do this one!
radiator
thermostat
some exhaust parts

[robots4joey]

I've been talking with this guy over email, and the least he will sell it for is $3900- I can't find any other honda's in my area...

What do you all think of that price?

Honda civic EX, 112K, MT, clean carfax, records of service/oil changes, only some small dings and a crack in the bumper...

[PaleMelanesian]

That looks like a fair price, but nothing to shout about.

[robots4joey]

Thank you everyone for the helpful advice- it is awesome to be able to have a community out here that knows exactly what I want a civic for-and it's not for a 1/4 mile time like so many...

I think I'm going to buy it, I really haven't seen a civic in that good of condition with that few miles on it for that price in my area...

A question on the civic EX,

I understand that the transmission gearing is really set up for performance, so the engine rev's too high at highway speeds for very good mileage. Has anyone done a gear swap on one? what about taller tires?

Any ideas?

[PaleMelanesian]

Someone did try a wheel/tire swap on a civic, and mileage went down.

The gears aren't easily exchanged. You'd have to swap the whole transmission. All the 92-95 generation (vx, cx = same good gear ratios) and 96+ generation (hx not as good as vx) transmissions are a direct fit, though.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by robots4joey

I understand that the transmission gearing is really set up for performance, so the engine rev's too high at highway speeds for very good mileage. Has anyone done a gear swap on one? what about taller tires?

Any ideas?

The reason for the engine and gearing of that car is that it is fully loaded and 4 doors and that they wanted to keep it from feeling under powered when you have 5 people in it.

[PaleMelanesian]

When you can take that car (a friend's EX, auto) on a highway trip, with 4 adults and luggage, in the Texas summer with AC blasting, and the cruise control doesn't have to downshift even once in 400 miles, it's geared too high. The manual is geared even shorter than the auto, too.