Buying a used car, need some opinions.

[Deadhead]

Ok, well i went to the local used car dealer here in town, and they had this civic they pulled in this morning. It's a 96 ex.

it is modified.

lowered somehow, but lowered right it seems... drove real nice and cornered hella good.

generic intake
Full exhaust.
Alarm of sorts (I set it off when i was going to go start it lol)

However, here are the problems.

we did a carfax and it came up with a salvage title ( we knew that)
The car does have some problems. In order to start the car (it was cold) i had to floor it while cranking. When it started, it would not idle until it warmed up for about a minute. And the idle was extremely low ( like 550 rpm).
The car drove like a slug and smelled rich.

it also needs tires, they are 16 inch rims and have to be low profile tires.

The dealer is asking 3 grand for it. We are thinking that we are just going to run in and offer them 2200 cash as is.

The car's only got 90k miles on it.

What do you guys think? The interior is mint and the engine compartment is fair.

[Deadhead]

oh, and i'm taking the car to my school to look at it better, run a compression test, etc. on monday.

The car will also be taken to a local mech to check for frame damage etc.

air bags ARE deployed.

[Bglad420]

I wouldn't buy that, sounds like a peice of shit, I used to work in a body shop and I know what salvage means.....And I see a lot of kids fix up complete piles of shit, Its not a SAFE idea......take my advice, and keep looking.

BTW...bondo can hide a lot of things......

[Deadhead]

i'm not worried about the body as much as I am the frame...

oh, i forgot, it got a rebuilt title...

[Bglad420]

Those rebuilt titles are cars pulled from Jyards, its kinda like buying a dumped motorcycle

[Deadhead]

well, i'm not concerned about titles because it doesn't affect my insurance... we even checked.

when the car finally warmed up, it sounded great, just the idle was a bit low.

The compression check will show what problems it has and what not. it just seems like the timing or the idle adjustment is not adjusted correctly.

[Bglad420]

What ever your $$$ do what you will, personally I'd find something else for that kind of money....

[Deadhead]

well, i'm not going to go in blind with this deal.

Things that don't concern me:
title

Things that DO concern me:
frame (straight?)
body (which is in pretty damn good shape)
Driveability (it runs decent when it's warmed up.... will definately get that fixed first thing)
Working options (almost everything works... only thing that doesn't that i could tell, was the drivers side window... something is just not making a connection)

The air bags doesn't really bother me that much... i've never had a car with airbags.

[TheWatcher]

Some insurance companies won't even insure a car w/ a salvage title. But ...

well, i'm not concerned about titles because it doesn't affect my insurance... we even checked.

Peace.

[Deadhead]

The insurance company actually didn't even ask about the title.

they just ask about safety features like abs and airbags etc...

besides, it's liability only..... so that might be why.

[TheWatcher]

The insurance company actually didn't even ask about the title.

they just ask about safety features like abs and airbags etc...

besides, it's liability only..... so that might be why.

How is the insurance company supposed to know you would buy a salvage title.

Here Progressive Insurance has to explain to the insurance commissioner why the charge MORE for certain people based on their zip code. But you somehow believe that driving a salvage title car would NOT cause your insurance to skyrocket???

Peace.

[HondaBoy]

sounds just like the POS civic my friend bought. it looked all good, but he kept running into problems as he's had it. he's had to rebuild the engine twice now and is still finding little things that fuck it up for him. i'd say hell no on that car your lookin at. as for what you've already described, i'd offer a bit less than you want to offer. and that's if you are planning on having to work on the car often. i'd rather keep the 3gee than get a newer car thats already showing that it might have problems in the near future. i kept my 3gee when i bought a second car to have. my datsun looked great and everything but i could see it would just be my project car. good thing i paid so little for it and got a parts car.

[cubert]

Car isnt worth 500 bucks...


You could find something a million times nicer for 3k...


Dont rush into buying it just because its there...i have that horrible habit and it sucks.

[Deadhead]

lol... well, we're going to offer them 1800 plus my car. If they don't take that, then we'll leave.

We couldn't get the car started at first today, so i came back later and took out the spark plugs to find them covered in gasoline and black with carbon. The gap looked to be very large too.

The plugs were corroded in the dizzy cap and it just looked nasty. We cleaned that stuff up and we finally got it started. I took it for a drive and it did alright, very nice handling and brakes. Just has no guts because of the running condition.

I'm truely beginning to think that it might be only the spark plugs/wires/cap/rotor. They are just in such horrible shape that i believe that would cause the problems it's having. The plugs are bosch platinum, so they were junk to begin with.

Other than that the car checks out for the most part. It will need a radiator flush and a few things here and there, but for the most part it's alright.

[halxi]

well, i'm not going to go in blind with this deal.

Things that don't concern me:
title

Things that DO concern me:
frame (straight?)
body (which is in pretty damn good shape)
Driveability (it runs decent when it's warmed up.... will definately get that fixed first thing)
Working options (almost everything works... only thing that doesn't that i could tell, was the drivers side window... something is just not making a connection)

The air bags doesn't really bother me that much... i've never had a car with airbags.

pray you never have to use the airbags... the powder shit thats in them BURNS like a mofo when it gets in your eyes.

[88Accord-DX]

That car looks like it was owned by a teenager & ran into the ground.

Definetly do a compression test on it, find out what the readings should be at. Look over that car real good if you decide to get it. Sounds suspecious though.

[theDougler]

if i were you i would wait for something better, that civic had to be bagged on if its 3grand especially if its a 96. wait for something in better condition to come along you'll be much happier

[HondaBoy]

not to be all dick or anything, but why do you want that particular car so much? personally, i'd look for something more promissing, being that as you said that car has been modified. to what extent i dont know, but still that would push me away.

[Deadhead]

Well, i want this car because of the condition of the car in general, and the fact that it get's 30 mpg city and 38 hwy.

The car is a bit rough, however, it looks like a good tune up should do it wonders. A compression test WILL be done before the car will be purchased. It is dead obvious that there was a kid that beat the tar out of it... however, carfax showed that is passed emissions 5k miles ago when a new owner got the car. I believe the car has only been beat on for 5k miles, which isn't too bad.

The car is cheap because of the salvage title, we are going to offer low, and if they don't take it, we are walking out on them. If we don't buy it, it is going to auction on friday... so our guess is that they'll take that much for the car.

The accord just isn't cutting it anymore, gas mileage has dropped and the brake master cyl's seals are giving way. Not to mention the frame damage that occured, causing my tire's to wear out in 5k miles.

i'm looking at spending 2800 on this civic with the repairs and new tires, along with a camber kit for the rear.