hondapants

At the moment I'm looking at buying an EG civic hatch and was just wondering if anyone had some pointers on what I sould look out for in a good/bad one or any common problems I should be aware of, I have never owned a Honda before so any advise would be very helpful.

1995Civic

A very common problem is the main relay system in hondas. if it takes a while to start the main relay is going bad. Make sure no smoke, oil leaks, and sensors are good. Also, look for any spliced wires under the hood, such as your A/C. I had a guy try to sell me one with spliced wires everywhere! all in all, just make sure it idles well and runs good overall. good luck

wilsel

First tell me how much your looking to spend, and I'll tell you what to look for. A lot of people come on here asking the same question, but they only have $2000 to spend. Then they get replies to look for one without any rust, low mileage, and so on. Don't expect to find a perfect car for $2K.

Running925

I'm very suprized to hear someone say that the relay system is a "Common Problem". I don't believe that it is but anyways.

The most common thing that your going to find is rust over the back wheel wells, just make sure that it's not horribly bad. Other than that, just kinda check for maintence records like oil changes & what not. I always run the hell out of a car before i purchase it, hondas last for ever!

alphaxxn

I wouldn't say it was a COMMON problem, like main console problems in RX-7's and distributor problems in ford escorts, but it does happend.

Although it has been atributed to the kind of climate that your in , more likely then not if your in an colder climate then it wont be a problem, but if its a desert then the solders are likely to break inside of it.

hondapants

Thanks this is all very helpful, I'm not looking for a cheap one, I'm in england and the one I'm looking at has less than 50,000 and is a 93/94 VTI, at a rough guess I think it is about $5000 but has s/s exhaust coilovers ect, but cars are no way cheap here. you can pick up a VTI for around $3000 but most are high mileage cars.

lubas

i wanted to buy a vti but by the time i realised how much they were it made more sense to me to get an lsi or esi with good bodywork and get a B16 fitted(vti engine).my 94 lsi hatch cost me £900,ok its done 116k miles but im putting in a b16 later so mechanically im not that bothered,as long as it runs ok.you can get a low mile b16 fitted by jakan honda which is blue printed and gas flowed for about £3000.then you got a sweet civic with a good engine and good bodywork that hasnt been thrashed for about £4000.

wilsel

Main relays were a common problem on 88-91 model civics, and accords of the same era. I've never heard of anyone with a 92-95 model have a problem with one. You should be able to find a pretty nice car with $5K, one that will last for a few yrs. Try to find one that's been maintained well. Maintenance is more important than mileage in my opinion.

Ex:

I've seen some engines with 200K miles that are in better condition than the same engine with only 60K miles. If you take the oil cap off, and look at the valvetrain you can get a good idea of how often the oil has been changed. While it's nice to have receipts for proving every oil change, not many people keep them. So there are other ways to tell.

Look for leaks from underneath. You might find a car with 60K miles, and say wow that's low mileage. However, that could mean the car has sit for a number of years. You do not want a car that's sat for a long period of time. Even if it's been driven recently. Good luck.

1995Civic

The most common thing that your going to find is rust over the back wheel wells, just make sure that it's not horribly bad.


sorry but main relays go a lot quicker than rust over the back wheel wells. 4 kids i know including me have had problems with the main relay within the last 6 months all of us at different times. now there is a problem there. ive also heard of more.

1995Civic

i also agree with what alpha said: it depends very much on the climate your in. heat will play a big part in the main relay problem.