Should I do it?

[Outis]

Hi, I am new here and new to buying a fixer upper car, especially an old Accord, and I just don't know if I should do it, because I just don't have enough experience and I would like to be on a budget. I found a 1988 2.0l Accord EX (I think) with about 200,000 km on it, the interior looks great and the owner says everything works (I want to go check it out next week). I know the cars control arm bushings are bad, but that's a simple fix. And it has rust in both of the inner rear wings and both side skirts. And some gas is leaking, because there is some damage on the gas can. Some opinion and advice would be appreciated

[TyronasaurLX-i]

In my experience these cars aren't too hard to work on. I'm pretty new to my Accord but the community here has been very helpful and can generally point you to the right direction if you are having issues. The only thing I will warn you of is the lack of aftermarket parts and even some OEM parts. Rockauto still has some stuff available to my knowledge

[Sandwich]

yeh parts is this main thing I'd warn you about, I dont know how it is in Latvia, but in the UK I have to get nearly all shipped from the US for my accord. It's not crazy expensive but an added premium everytime, plus the ~2 weeks shipping time and the environmental cost of airmail which I dont even want to think about!
Body panels are hard to come by, not the end of the world but you may have to learn to weld or find someone who can weld for you using sheet metal, so a bit more challenging.

I don't wanna put you off massively just make sure you know what the situation can be like! I love my accord, have been working on it since July 2020 with NO prior mechanical experience, almost all things are manageable and there's good resource in shop manuals and on these forums, they're definitely not difficult cars to work on if you have the tools. They're good fun to drive, nice and comfy with cool interiors.

I'd recommend you join the 3geez facebook group, I think there are a few Latvian people on there so it could be worth posting and hearing from them where they get their parts.

Good luck, let us know how you get on

[Dr_Snooz]

That's the right car for getting experience. Go for it!

[KenD]

I've just bought a 1989 2.0 EXi Aerodeck which also needs lots of wheel arch attention, and I'd also say go for it if you're any way handy......keep in mind they're becoming very rare cars, so really cool to have something like this restored and on the road. Good luck with your decision!