Condition of 3rd gens in the NW

[YK86]

For the guys living in Washington and Oregon, what are the conditions of everyday 3rd gens in that area? BC has decent ones compared to the rest of Canada but the 3rd gens down there seem to be in much better shape when i go to Washington some times. The nice ones I see up here have usually been repainted and filled with who knows how much bondo or they are LX's driven by grannys. I need a new 86 or 87 sedan (EX-i or LX-i) to redo everythng on as the rear half of mine is not in the greatest shape due to sitting too long ( the trunk floor is extensively rusted and the underbody isn't great either) and I'm considering importing one from the US if it's worth the effort. It it's not much different than BC, then I'll keep looking around locally.

[MrBen]

There are tons of them here in Washington but usually have a small relatively insignificant amount of rust on the rear wheel lips. I do see a lot of nice ones but it's safe to say that most have the rear wheel lip rust in minor amounts, much like my 3g did. I see a 3g everyday and 80% of the ones I see are fairly nice. In any event, the reason there are so many of them here in Washington is because they last longer here, as compared to the east coast. So the Pacific Northwest is really the place to look if B.C. doesn't have what you want.

It's too bad you didn't want one a few months ago, because I would have let you have mine before I sold it, but then again you want a fuel injected one :tongue:

[BlueBead]

Yasu, you should come look on the Island; especially in vic... there is little salt used all year round combined with lots of old people who don't drive alot and keep them in the garage. I see tons of really nice ones all over on the island, but especially in Victoria (which i drool over).
Then you don't have to mess around with insurance stuff and ICBC.... :rocket:
I need to get a new body for mine too... it was supposed to be a beater for the winter and ended up as my driver when my hatch got pounded into scrap.
I've been thinking of upgrading, but being off work for 4months has set that back till summer at least. I'll be doing bondo and welding in new sheetmetal till I can upgrade i guess.. :uh:
I'm going to be in Vic this weekend so I can look around if you want.
What price range are you looking in?

Here are a couple from the saanich paper:

1987 HONDA Accord EX-i, 4-door, 5-speed, sunroof, cruise, very clean, power options, extra rims/tires, $2500 obo. 474-0942.

1986 HONDA Accord hatchback, 5-speed, good condition, 253,000 kms, accident free. No rust, recent tune-up, newly painted. $2500. 727-2207
PM me if you want anything checked out.

[YK86]

Thanks for the info guys. That's exactly the type of stuff I was wondering about.

Ghettoaccord:that's what I meant when I saw the averge 3rd gen down in Washington. Chris (pealdrop) told me cars around his area are in great shape as well. Only down side is that prices in Washington are much higher for any used car which probably why lots of people from Washington buy cars from BC. That along with the hasles of importing and registering once I bring it back kind of turns me off. Something with.....maybe 30% or more rust on the rear wheel well is already too much for me (learned from experience) as there is bound to be more rust where you can't see. Something with a few bubbles are fine and that's about as much as I saw on most 3rd gens when I went down there.


Bluebead:Thanks! I'm not in a hurry yet to get one so you don't have to go out of your way. If you are going to check some out, maybe snap a few pics so I can see the types of cars over there so I can get an idea of the condition. The price I want to pay is totally related to the overall condition. Like an absolute mint EX-i sedan body that's charcoal grey, 5 speed, with blown motor/tranny......maybe $1500CAD max?? I wouldn't spend more than $1000 on anything in the same condtion but different color since the last 3 I bought that had mechanical problems were all dirt cheap ($225, $300, $500). Or a running one with minor rust.....$2200? The most I'd spend is probably $2500 and that's for a very clean one in good shape mechanically that pretty much fills all my requirements. I want to swap certain interior things to the new car which is why I'd prefer one that's identical in color. I don't need the motor or tranny anyways as the B20 will be replacing it.

I guess the requirements are:Must be an 86 or 87 EX-i sedan with minor rust.
I'd really like it to be in charcoal grey and a 5 speed but this is preferance only.

If that ad with the 87 was grey and in great shape, I'd pay very close to what that guy would want. unfortunatley, I have an 86 I'm fixing up right now to sell and I really need to sell that first before I go looking for another (no room). In the future, when I do get serious about looking, can you help me out if there is a good one out that way? I'd be happy to pay you a finders fee for your troubles.

[NXRacer]

You should look at cars in oregon. they're perfect. Except for way eastern oregon, absolutely no salt is used on the roads. In the salem area, i see a ton of nice 3g's. Very seldom do i see rust and its in weird places like around the license plate.

Have you seen my car? (http://www.cardomain.com/id/n2oracing) I was pretty lucky to find a low mileage car that was only owned by one person. Mine was on the lot for $4999 and i walked away with it for just under $2K. you shouldnt have a problem finding a nice 3g for around $1k thats pretty nice.

[BITESIZE]

I've some pretty mint 3geez here in Idaho....no salted roadways is beautiful!

[86AccordLxi]

Yeah, most Oregon cars in general are not rusty at all. My 3g only had the tiniest spot of rust (1/3 the size of a dime, maybe) where someone stole my side moulding and got into the paint a bit. Beyond that, cars are CLEAN around here.

Alex

[MattsAccord]

Yeah I would try Oregon. I dont know if you would want to come all the way down here to Southern Oregon but nice weather and no salt equal nice rust free cars.

[YK86]

Wow, you guys are lucky down there. a 19 year old car with only a dime size rust spot is extremely rare to find up here. Even 4th gens have some rust. I'll have to start thinking it over once we hit late spring or early summer. Only problem with going down to Oregon is how do I bring it back LOL. I can find a guy to drive me down to maybe Seattle but Oregon is a bit far.

[MrBen]

Well there isn't a WHOLE lot of a difference between Seattle and Oregon... it's a few hours drive. I say look for your car in Seattle. I sold my 3g (pictures in vbgarage) for 1,900 and there wasn't a spot of rust on it after I fixed it... so I'm sure you'll be able to find what you want.

[YK86]

Yeah, I go to Bellingham and it's only like 45 minutes away and I already see the difference. When the time is right, I'll think about it. Might need your guys's help locating one.

[MrBen]

In the summer those things pop up like flies around here, so stick it out till then.. right now there isn't much of a selection at all and the prices are sky high. Example: http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/61657279.html

And others http://classifieds.nwsource.com/auto/detail.cfm?id=6158049

http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/62256114.html but it's auto.

http://classifieds.nwsource.com/auto/detail.cfm?id=6145437

I know all of those aren't really what you want, but it is an idea of what there is right now...

[NXRacer]

also, its better to find ones at a dealer because its a lot easier to talk a dealer down then a private party. Dealers usually get them in on a trade in, so as long as they sell it for more then a couple hundred bucks, they're making money on it.

[Hash_man_Se_i]

Yasu, you should come look on the Island; especially in vic... there is little salt used all year round combined with lots of old people who don't drive alot and keep them in the garage. I see tons of really nice ones all over on the island, but especially in Victoria (which i drool over).

Any 88 or 89 4dr's for sale on the island you know of? calgary sucks for rust compared to BC, its really hard to find a decent 3rd gen here.

[YK86]

Thanks for the tips. Around here, it's best to stay AWAY from dealers LOL. The ones that sell older cars like 3rd gens are bondoed or rebuilt etc. Aside from maybe 1 out of 10 small dealers, that's the kind of cars they sell. Bigger dealerships don't stock anything less than $4000 most of the time as all the cars go to auction or smaller lots.

Just looking at the links, you're right, it is a bit expensive. The one for $1300 is probably the type of car I'd be looking for except I really don't want a champagne color one. $3000US is way too much as I can get a good condition SE-i for that price locally. Do you need some sort of membership or somethig to browse those listing sites? Or is it free to view, pay to list sort of deal? The local classifed paper is free to view online but you have to pay to see the most current copy.

[MrBen]

The links I posted are free. If you want to look for 3rd gens in the Puget Sound area, you can use http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/ and type in your search query, or you can use http://www.littlenickel.com/search/SubCategories.html?portal=ln&SubCat=H4&Class=H4&-session=NPUserID:78BABA942269AC3C6D400B5914A754AF or http://class.heraldnet.com/ or http://classifieds.nwsource.com/auto/findit.cfm?analytics=1

Anyway, those are the big classifieds listings in Western Washington.. hope that helps you out!

[YK86]

Yeah, it helps alot. Thanks!

[2drSE-i]

makes me sad every time i see a 3g down here in oklahoma..........their all pieces of SHIT. Mine is the only decent one here, and i have hail damage, my back bumper is sagging and my front one is bent pretty badly

ME WANT BODYWORK!

[Elijah]

Holy shit havent seen you around in a long time. Do you still have the B20 beast?

[BlueBead]

Any 88 or 89 4dr's for sale on the island you know of? calgary sucks for rust compared to BC, its really hard to find a decent 3rd gen here. :werd:

This one sounds pretty mint. You'd probably want to swap the tranny, but otherwise its a frigging wet dream: :rockon:

1988 HONDA Accord EXI. 4-cylinder, automatic, power windows/locks, sunroof, one owner, garage kept. $3900. 478-6857

Victoria has the best climate in all of canada, so cars here last the longest in the country. If you don't want to mess around with importing a car, which can be a major hassle, Vic is the place to look. I can check cars out if peeps are interested, but if you wanted me do anything more in depth I'd probably have to go to a finders fee. I'm down there every couple of weeks, so I can look anywhere between the Mid-Island (Nanaimo area) and Vic.

[YK86]

Holy shit havent seen you around in a long time. Do you still have the B20 beast?

Yeah, I was gone for a while. Now I come here a couple times a day if I can (probably started doing that a couple weeks ago??). The B20 is still sitting in the garage :( The only thing I've done was get my parts guy to try and find a t-belt tensioner that's a bit smaller so the belt isn't so tight using the usdm b20 stuff. As you can see, I'm starting to look for another 86 or 87 to start all over on. Kind of sad but at the same time, I look at it as an oppertunity to redo everything I didn't do very well on the silver one. I experimented and tried things for the first time on that car so things such as wiring isn't as clean as I'd want it. I have all the things I need to finish the car but I just don't have a good frame to do it on.


Victoria has the best climate in all of canada, so cars here last the longest in the country. If you don't want to mess around with importing a car, which can be a major hassle, Vic is the place to look. I can check cars out if peeps are interested, but if you wanted me do anything more in depth I'd probably have to go to a finders fee. I'm down there every couple of weeks, so I can look anywhere between the Mid-Island (Nanaimo area) and Vic.

I was reading over the stuff on Transport Canada about importing and it is a bit of a hassle so I think if there's nothing in the Fraser Valley, I'll be checking stuff out on the Island before looking in the US. Between Nanimo and Vic is perfect as that's where I'd be going anyways (taking the ferry) and I would need a friend to drive over there with me. I have no problems paying a finder's fee so if there is a good car I need checking up on, I'll PM you.

BTW Bluebead, did you get my PM from a couple days ago??