Purchased - 89 Honda Accord DX Coupe

[6eHonda]

Hey guys. New(b) here..

I've owned a 2002 honda accord ex (4 cylinder vtec) for 3 years now and that has been a treat. Well, really it's the wife's car. I've been driving a 1990 Nissan Stanza for the last year that I bought for 50 bucks. That car was quick and fun for a POS that hardly passed emissions but the transmission broke one day, 5th gear literally fell apart. I sold it for 275 (probably 400 in parts invested) so not a total loss.

I decided on another Honda as a replacement and this 89 DX was in great condition. It has:

-174k miles with 5 speed (carburetor)
-No rust on wheel wells but little tiny specks of faint colored rust on front of hood and tops of doors. Suggestions for treating this before it spreads would be great.
-Supposedly (as in only some of it is documented):
-Timing Belt/Water Pump/Tensioner replaced
-New Clutch
-Strut replaced
-Valves adjusted
-New Master Brake Cylinder/Rotors/Pads
-Garage Kept, synthetic oil for last 130k and 10 years. (castrol-syntec, not my brand, but ok)
-Runs like new, starts easy, (I'm getting used to the carb, never had one before, but letting it warm up for a couple minutes and drop from 2000 rpm before even leaving)
-Paint in great shape with a chip on the side by the rear window and some missing black window trim (the bottom horizontal piece that seems to be designed to not stick to the car) and only a couple small scratches.

I paid $1,550... what do you think? I was desperate for a car and I'm not regretting it because it's really fun to drive, but KBB doesn't even put a value on anything older than 1990.




Concerns:

No cupholder, wtf mate?

When I remove my hands from the steering wheel below 20mph you can see the steering wheel move left and right in uniform 2cm arc. The car drives straight as can be on the highway and rather smoothly ( I drove for 2 miles straight with hands off the wheel today ). Do you think this is a tire balance issue or would that cause problems at all speeds? Or is it possibly something to do with the car? The only abnormality is that the Power Steering fluid is a couple centimeters below the min line. I need to get some genuine Honda P/S Fluid.... right?

Also thinking about recharging the A/C system.. any thoughts ( i am still in the process of reviewing all the resources on this site ).

Thanks guys.

[ShyBoyCA6]

welcome to the site

as for the cupholders only the se-i came with them you would have to look around for them and its a rare item for our cars. the price seems fair, you will need five post to put pics.

[ghettogeddy]

Well you got your self the absolute bottom of the barrel 3gee(not a bad thing) with out seeing pics im gona say 1500 was prolly a bit high, in my neck of the woods anyways. I have picked up about 3 of these for $500 and less lol that includes the one in my sig.

now i think there is a new rule here you cant post pics till about 5 posts in
also the links yo0u added are not right
you just linked from an email account not a hosted site

you could upload to image shack and post the urls

[charliekuney]

as for the cupholders only the se-i came with them and lx-i had the option for them you would have to look around for them and its a semi-rare item for our cars. the price seems fair, you will need five post to put pics.

^ Fixed.

Welcome!

As for pictures: Just wait until you have five posts on this thread, and then edit your first post. What color is your coupe?

The "black horizontal strips beneath the rear windows" are very hard to find original without cracking or flaking.

Your wheel-wobble could also be a problem with your tires (i.e. alignment, poor tread).

$1,550 is a bit high (for what I've paid for cars) but if it's in good shape and a good runner, it'll be worth every penny.

[ghettogeddy]

^ Fixed.

Welcome!

As for pictures: Just wait until you have five posts on this thread, and then edit your first post. What color is your coupe?

The "black horizontal strips beneath the rear windows" are very hard to find original without cracking or flaking.

Your wheel-wobble could also be a problem with your tires (i.e. alignment, poor tread).

$1,550 is a bit high (for what I've paid for cars) but if it's in good shape and a good runner, it'll be worth every penny.

Ummm no charlie. lxi had an option for them a dealer option that you had to pay for. all sei's came with them.

[charliekuney]

Ummm no charlie. lxi had an option for them a dealer option that you had to pay for. all sei's came with them.

That's what I meant. I made the incorrect text bold. I was trying to get the point across that SE-i's weren't the only one. Same with armrests.

[ghettogeddy]

That's what I meant. I made the incorrect text bold. I was trying to get the point across that SE-i's weren't the only one. Same with armrests.

remember most dealer bought armrest are dif then those that came stock in a sei. the sei one is the one to get

[charliekuney]

remember most dealer bought armrest are dif then those that came stock in a sei. the sei one is the one to get

Yeah, the SE-i had them stock and had the actual piece, not the bolt-over, ugly ones. There were a number of LX-i's with OEM armrests, though.

[ShyBoyCA6]

thanks for the fix charlie

[MessyHonda]

you are going to love your coupe.

[6eHonda]

[Vanilla Sky]

Get rid of the fender trim NOW. It holds water and seems to help the arches rust faster.

[charliekuney]

Get rid of the fender trim NOW. It holds water and seems to help the arches rust faster.

What the fuck is that?

- mirror delete plate: +1
- rear mud flaps: +1
- lack of sunroof: +1

Does it have A/C or any other options? Get some interior and left side shots!

[A18A]

that looks nice yo. cool how it comes from the factory with a missing side mirror. i like seeing mint white 3gs

[ghettogeddy]

Get rid of the fender trim NOW. It holds water and seems to help the arches rust faster.

your talking about the lil arch trim shit
i always take that off to lol it looks better that way

[charliekuney]

What are you guys talking about?

[carotman]

There's no fender trim on the car. Just a fender protector. Leave it there if you want.

[Tdurr]

i like my inner fender protector..

and looks like a very mint car that you got there. GL with it and we are here to help ya with anything you need man!

[Rendon LX-i]

Shit thats one hell of a clean coupe. Leave as is.

[6eHonda]

[2drSE-i]

Get rid of the fender trim NOW. It holds water and seems to help the arches rust faster.

What the fuck is that?

What are you guys talking about?

There's no fender trim on the car. Just a fender protector. Leave it there if you want.

Its the stick-on fender arch protectors. None of the cars i've ever peeled them off of have had rust underneath, but i can see why someone would think that. We also don't use salt on the roads here though.

[6eHonda]

hey guys, took some more photos if you scroll down a bit. there's a nice shot of the engine, which I have not cleaned myself. I think the guy liked his car. Is there anything you see out of whack in the engine bay? All I noticed was the PS fluid is a bit low and there is no wire connecting to the center post on the engine block.. . but maybe this post is just used as a grounding point when jump starting the battery?

-Still loving my coupe - opened up the throttle past 4k RPM yesterday and that car flies, and sounds like a beast compared to stock fuel injected cars. It's fun, but now back to being good on gas mileage. . first test returned 31mpg (mostly hwy).