87 Accord, who much should I pay?

[Templar]

My girlfriend is looking at this 87 2 liter that someone is elling. They are asking 1700 for it, here are the details:

The interior is nice, haven't looked under the seat covers yet, but they say they are perfect.
The engine sounds good. We haven't driven it yet, but it doesn't ping, knock, or idle rough.
The exterior looks fine. Only thing that seems to be wrong is the windshield (has three chips on the passenger side)
It has 225,000 miles on it.

Here are the things I noticed that were out of the ordinary:
The space between the bottom of the hood front and the top (where you stick your fingers in to release the hood) has drills holes through the metal and the plastic facades in there are broken off. No idea why. I'm going to ask next time I see them, but they only got it in August of last year.
There is a 2in by 2in square hole cut in the passenger side of the center console right to the side of the shifter. No explaination on that either.
There is dirty oil on the battery, and the engine exterior really doesn't look good.

What should I look for, especially at 225K? Is it worth paying 1200-1500? I appreciate the help! I've never played with a Honda before.

[A20A1]

hmm... he might have had leaky oil gaskets / o-rings and never bothered to replace them.

oil on the battery is hard to do... so I guess a hose might have burst at one time... or the battery has been there for a very long time.

make sure there isn't oil mixing with the coolant. and also check the underside of the hood right above the water pump... there are usually spray residue marks when the bearring on the pump begins to fail. Trun the wheel all the way to one side and check the loop on the rubber brake line to see if it is showing signs of cracking.

1250 is a fair price... as long as it runs strong... Is it an LX, DX or LX-I?

Old carbed cars (DX and LX) are a lot harder to maintain then the efi version of the accord (LX-I and SE-I). Simply because of the sheer mass of vacuum lines and valves.

[Templar]

heh, sorry, it's a LX. The battery part is odd. I am assuming it's old. Other than that is 1700 way too much.

I should also add that they think there is a "crated" engine in it. Unfortunately I cannot confirm that, nor how many miles would be on the "crated" engine even if I did find the numbers to be different. I did run a carfax report and the mileage seems to be right.

[shepherd79]

i would say $1200 max with all the problems you said.

[Low Tek]

tell them $1150 firm or no deal, sounds like a little bit of work so...

[diegoaccord]

There isnt ANY car with 225K thats worth even $1000. $1500 if it had 170K, but 225K- Id say $500.

My first car was a 91 Corolla 5 speed with 220K, in 2001. That cost all of $500. I didnt even talk it down, could and probably should have been $300.

[cubert]

id look around for something fuel injected...im not trying to talk bad about carbed cars, i would just much rather have fuel injection..just my opinion

[DaveC]

That is not worth it I got my 89 lxi for 1300 with 95 thousand miles on it. Go to any used car dealership and youll be able to find a FI accord for 1500 with ALOT less miles

[badmanferg]

i got my 87 LX for $300, w/ 191k....look around yo, only way to pay over a G for a car more than 15 years old is if it got rims, a system, perfect body, an good engine/transaxle....that's the only smart way to look at it


good luck
bless...:D

[zero.counter]

$500 is my opinion of its' worth... additionally, it has surpassed its mechanical merit. Visit www.kbb.com to get a better picture of the situation.

[al010101]

i paid 150$ for my '89 lx, has 170k, but it needed a head... :) and it still overheats...bleh, i'll fix it one of these days

[Templar]

Good call on the deal. The engine sounded nice, the interior was excellent, but the front struts were blown and the clutch ground going into second from first.

Next car :)

[zchb9]

i just picked up my 87 lx for 800$ good body good engine carburator needs tuned but other than that no major probs.