Just last night I picked up a 2002 Honda Civic LX automatic with 188k on it. The body is in great shape, although I haven't been under the car yet. Its originally from Texas and has only spent 10 months in Wisconsin so far.
I picked it up for essentially scrap price, because it has a bad head gasket. The previous owner had been dumping water into it for a few months now. I figured the worst case is that it needs a new engine. However, when I talked with him last night, he said that the water wasn't getting in the oil. So, hopefully, I'll probably be able to get away with a head gasket replacement.
We'll see as things progress. Its also going to need a few other things I'm sure (like cleaning up those headlights). On the way home I also heard the clickity clack of what is probably front sway bar end links. As I go through the car I'll post the progress here.
So, the first adventure with the car started this morning. I woke up to find a tree had fallen on my new car (and old car)! Thankfully no damage was done. It definitely wasn't what I wanted to see though, haha. I didn't get a before picture, but you can see where the Civic was parked next to the Tercel.