924Board.org

[tuurbo]

Sorry for bringing rice into the picture, but I want a good car for my wife. She's looking at an immaculate 99 Honda Prelude. Most of the guys here know their cars so it shouldn't matter too much if I'm asking about a Porsche or a Honda.

The VIN checks out with CarFax ok. No accidents. Fleet driven.

It's the H22 VTEC engine.

My worry: Has it been beaten up? Is the engine ok? The price is low so something is awry.

So the question is: I can't be in NJ to help her buy it. So she's on her own. I've suggested to her that she use her ears and listen carefully to see if she can hear irregularities in the engine. I've said she might check out and see if she can find too much carbon or smoke at the exhaust while it's running. But she's not a car guy.

I'd like to say to her, you know, look under the car for leaks and so on but I'm not sure she's going to do that one. Years of experience with this one have taught me my limitations.

What can you suggest for quick and dirty ways to reject the purchase of a car? Like, what are the things that would make you say "I'm not buying this one!" The reason I want rejection criterion is because she has a 99 Civic that is perfect, slow, and very reliable. She needs a reliable car.

Does anyone know if parts are a problem for the 99? Or if they'll cost her a fortune to maintain? Thanks!
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1980 924 turbo, MSD, Meth. Inj, otherwise stock.

[Mike924]

Stick with the Civic - it's " perfect and reliable".
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1985 Porsche 924 'Lux', Kalahari Beige (my ex)
1993 Porsche 968 Coupe, Midnight Blue, 6 spd

'There is no substitute for a little grease under your fingernails.' - Chrenan, 924board.org

[Khal]

[rosco]

Even if the parts cost much,they are reliable. I have gotten two civics. One 92-95 year and second 87 year III gen. Parts are little expensive than some other car,but this isnt a problem,because you dont need do change parts

[924guy]

spend the $100 and use one of those mobile mechanics to do a pre purchase inspection.. lemon busters or some such name... lots of those guys in the tri state area..

three things i ask: can i have my mechanic check it out, where has the service been done on the car and what is their number, and last, why is it being sold.
if they baulk at any of those, i walk... theyre all easy questions to answer and easy to tell if their bs'ing you. the actual answers arent important as how they answer. wont tell you if the car is any good, but it will tell you if theyre full of crap or not.
i recently picked up 98 civic lx cheap, ive replaced the rad, o2 sensor, and muffler.. easiest car ive ever worked on...no power (106 whopping ponies) but im now averaging 34 mpg and when you commute almost 600 miles a week, the fuel savings is awesome(get 18 hwy with my truck, which is good for a 4wd, but 34 is much better!). this car will pay for itself including the repairs in less than six months.. i will drive it to work until im bored to tears, or it blows up, i dont have much hope of self destructing though..
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Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[Vince Ponz]

I have a plain jane honda civic 2004 with roll up windows, 14in tires,stock radio am/fm 4 door. On our trip to Fl on 4 occasions I got 42+ miles per gallon. It is very reliable and starts every time. It is my 5th honda product the others were high end Acura Legends. All went into the 200,000 mile range without any trouble.
Stick with what she has and shhhhhhh put the money in the Porsches.
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"Never let them see you sweat"
77.5 924 modified track car
79 931 Euro stock
88 924S SE
87 911 Targa stock

[Paul]

I've owned 7 Hondas, all have been reliable, cost effective, and almost fun to drive. Currently have a 08 Pilot... was busting through 3 foot snow drifts earlier this week....
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White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[morghen]

the H22A has ~200HP are you buying your wife a 200HP car ?
Japanese cars are known for lasting about 8 years....they are perfect for the first 8 years then things start to fail....ok it also depends on how you drive it but mainly thats the ideea.
I say get a newer and more soft car.
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Supercharger and EFI kits
https://www.the924.com

[tuurbo]

Very amusing Khal lol I s'pose I am a bit nuts to ask about a Honda on a Porsche board but see I was the one who suggested this car to her, and now that she's excited about it, I stand to be de-boned if I'm in error.

If I go to the Honda board I'll be what kids call a 'noob' and I'll have to endure Wlharris and his band of merry men.

I did a price comparison between the three cars on parts like alternator, radiator, brake pads, AC compressor...things that get replaced. The costs were 99 Civic $2100, 99 Prelude $2300 80 931 $2400 (Porsche figures just ballparked). Some Civic and Prelude parts were the same.

Yeah I worry Morghen about buying this car for her because we just don't want it to break. She has to drive from East Windsor over to Princeton and all around those areas there's residential and rural - crappy bus service. I've sent along all these replies to her and abdicated responsibility as much as possible, always encouraging her to get what makes her smile. She lit up when she saw it.

The Civic is a no brainer - good car. But she said she found it gutless. The owner can't part with it for another 2 weeks and that's costing her daily on rentals. Plus he's going back to India so she'll have no recourse if it's a lemon.

The Prelude is $3200; The Civic is $4400 same vintage. Miles - 98.329
Transmission - Automatic
Tires - 70% remaining
Private owner, a woman. The car was always garage kept. The title is clear.




I suggested to her that she get a mechanic to look at it and/or get a smog check and we can look at the numbers.

If she gets it I'm going to demonstrate to her the infamous 'backward donut' - a Canadian invention you should appreciate Khal
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1980 924 turbo, MSD, Meth. Inj, otherwise stock.

[Paul]

It's probably going to need a timing belt and water pump soon. Use Honda's antifreeze.
_________________
White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

[tuurbo]

We're abandoning both the Prelude and the Civic. Excellent advice from everyone here. Esp re trusting the seller.

Long story short:

The Civic seller is leaving the country to go back to India. He therefore can't/won't be accountable to us and 'sue'-able so we're pausing to think. I think he's a curbsider. He wants a deposit to hold it until a sale finalizes at the end of the month. Reminds me of Wimpy's promise "I'll give you fifty cents tomorrow for a hamburger today". Cell phone only no home phone number. Can't explain why he's leaving the country...even though his English is excellent.

The Prelude seller apparently has moved to Canada and wants us to do the business through some kind of escrow or account through eBay - she wouldn't call back my wife in the time frame we gave her. She'd also posted the car on Craig's List for Chicago, New York, Brooklyn, New Jersey, Penn, and Long Beach CA and was removed from those sites for violation of Craig's List policy. I think it's fraud. Selling that Prelude for $3200 is a steal if it's in that kind of condition so why does someone have to list it in 6 places across the country and have a foreign address (no accountability). Funny thing too: The car pictures above, presumably taken for selling the car, were featured in sunny conditions, but if she's in Canada (snowy with donuts and Tim Hortons cups all over the road right now), and the listing on CarFax is for New York maintenance, well, things just aren't adding up.

So I just told my wife it's her call - she doesn't feel right about it - have to find someone we can trust.

It's too bad. She's crushed but I don't think she wants to get taken by fraud either.
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1980 924 turbo, MSD, Meth. Inj, otherwise stock.

[tuurbo]

I just want a seller who has a house and an address and a real home phone number.
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1980 924 turbo, MSD, Meth. Inj, otherwise stock.

[Neil924]

Geese man if your gut is telling you to run, then start galloping.

Peace of mind is worth a lot to me.

Have the checked out on a hoist, run it on a computer and see what the history says, then you'll know what you're buying.

[tuurbo]

Yeah I agree Neil. It's totally a gut thing - hers. lol For sure the Prelude was a scam. There's a whole website devoted to alerting consumers to this kind of fraud. Here for anyone that's buying a used car in the USA:

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/fraud.htm

Thank goodness I'm off the hook. The Civic guy called and said he changed the timing belt. So she's going to go over there and see the Civic again and see if she can get a home phone number. She's gonna do a deposit of $200 if he can show that the timing belt has a receipt and she's asking to see the smog test results on paper (and all other paperwork) which he says he can provide (this'll tell us if it needs a cat which are quite expensive for these cars).

She feels sorry for him cause he's a new immigrant. He's applying gentle time pressure now. What can I say...I've gotta trust her gut too even if my faith in this guy is a bit shaky. Besides, in NJ we don't have much recourse as used car consumers anyway. It's only a $200 risk at this stage.

It'd be easier if it were a 924!
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1980 924 turbo, MSD, Meth. Inj, otherwise stock.

[924guy]