It's 2018...
 

In the small town where I worked at a school, we did not have our own Craigslist, and we did not necessarily want to use Craigslist for cities hours away, so that town has a yard sale Facebook page. It is occasionally more than stuff for sale. I liked the people in the town well enough, living there just did not work out for me, so I have not left the group. Today I saw someone selling a 2002 Accord with 161,200 miles, allegedly runs perfectly, and does not have a check engine light.

They want $2,000.

My 1998 Accord with 195,000 miles runs perfectly despite a check engine light, but I am going to acid-dip my cat again, and if that does not work, replace the CC.

Anyway, Kelley Blue Book says the other Accord is worth around $2,428, so it is probably a very reasonable price, or there is a reason they do not show either side.

For some reason someone felt he should share this: https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1537148152

Does that count as a meme? What does a guy looking out the window and someone asking $3,500 for a 1997 Accord have to do with somebody asking $2,000 for a 2002 Accord with low miles?

Here is a guy asking $100,000 for a 2002 Accord. I believe that he has been trying to sell it for a while: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/c...686693471.html

Here is another 2002 for $4,900: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/c...697752457.html

Eventually when I sell my wifes 2008 3.3L Hyundai sonata hopefully I can get up to $4,000 for it.
Problem is I can't really find a V6, they're all 4cyl, so not sure of market value.

There is a hack involving lengthening the tube for the O2 sensor. I'm not entirely sure how that makes it read a passing emission level, but I'd be inclined to do that before I bought a new cat. BTW, are you sure it's not a bad O2 sensor causing the CEL?

At any rate, I'm in a county that doesn't smog. I'd just knock out the cat. I bet the combination of removing the cat and reprogramming the ECU to not do the rich/lean dance would boost fuel economy 5% or so.

I like to compare KBB with Edmunds. Usually Edmunds shows a lower car valuation, but sometimes it shows higher. That limited interest Facebook page might be a good place to snag some great deals since it gets much less attention. A great deal on Craigslist in the Portland area goes in an instant.

When I acid-washed the cat the CEL stayed away for 5,000 miles, but the engine burns oil, so that probably fouled everything again.

Sounds like the engine doesn't burn oil so much as vomit it into the exhaust where the cat chokes on it.

If the wash works, then it sounds worth the effort to me, possibly. I'd certainly not buy a new one if the engine is just going to continue vomiting oil into it. Waste of money there.

Maybe get a straight pipe for daily driving, and throw the acid washed cat in every time you go in for inspection?

Better yet, why not buy that newer car and treat yourself to one less headache?

The 2002 Accord five hours away? :)

I originally found my current cheap cat for $110 and it seemed to last two years. It would have been under warranty, but I am not the original owner. I have since found it for $86 and if it lasts two and a half years I will be out $2.87 a month.

If I were to purchase another Accord, why not this one about three hours away? One year newer than mine, but two years older than the other one, and it shows the sides! Also, it has the aluminum wheels that I have always wanted!

Somehow it has half the mileage of the other one. https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/c...693204827.html

Actually, I think it is more likely you will find a Honda driven 45,000 miles a year than 4,500.

It says that it is rebuilt, which is not great. I searched for the VIN and all that I really found was this: https://offerup.com/item/detail/541116077/

It includes this detail not shared on Craigslist:
People mess up, but the rest of that story does not make any sense. I used five different sites to check the VIN and no, it did not show any accidents, thefts, or anything.

Not even sales.

Right now I am just curious, but I cannot imagine a legitimate reason for an absence of sales.

I found the random comment "If $24 makes the difference on whether you purchase the car you should not own a car." That person received upvotes, but imagine if I had not been able to find out the following information without paying, or I paid a mechanic $24 to inspect it and found a deal-breaker that I could not have recognized on my own?

Some reddit post said to substitute your VIN in this URL: https://www.melraptonhonda.com/templ...cg6694yc017152

It shows an accident on 03/05/2017. Well, there you go, the seller is lying.

It shows eleven odometer readings, while the others showed zero, although they had places for them.

It had 92,101 miles on 12/29/2006.

Huh.

Almost twelve years ago it had more 10,000 miles than now.
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1537173704

On 04/12/2017 the car had 260,352 miles.
It was apparently totaled on 03/05/2017, and on 09/07/2017 it had 78,384 miles. On Xistday 2018 (03/23) it had 78,000 miles, so it accrued 115 miles or fewer in six and a half months and they rounded down?

So, it sat for six months before someone rebuilt it and another six months before they got the rebuilt title, and somewhere in there some esteemed DMV professional said "That's wrong, but I don't care?"

The detailed vehicle history supports that. Apparently on Xistday they registered it and passed emissions.

Good news everyone! I found out how to get good free VIN checks! :)

[It doesn't work anymore]

The O2 hider mod just covers the rear O2, then it reads leaner than what it really is.
So no more P420 code.

Well only the upstream O2 sensor is used for short term fuel trim. Not sure if the downstream sensor is used for long term fuel trim, so perhaps there are consequences to spoofing it?

I have a dim view of aftermarket cats because many are a scam, and the ones that aren't likely cost a lot, and in the end you're just trying to turn a light off the dash so you can pass inspection. Fuel economy isn't affected at all unless the cat is actually clogged.

So, it is not doing the rich\lean dance?

I don't really know. Don't you have a ScanGauge? Take a look at long term fuel trim. It should dance around going from lean to rich. The unburnt fuel is meant to ignite in the cat and create the heat necessary to burn off the other pollutants.

The short term fuel trim is meant to maintain an ideal AFR based on throttle input (load) and RPM.