Put one in the hands of a 16 year old female with no 5th gear At 200k, this one is dead.

 

Get a 90 Civic Si

 

If your looking at something that old make sure you get a motor thats fuel injected, not carbureted.

 

not sure why someone bumped this thread...but yea, the 86-89 offer the LX-i motor which is fuel injected.

 

I have an 88 Accord LX-I and had it since 90 and its been a great car for me it has 265,000 miles on it and still going strong. But to find a car that old in good condition will be a challenge for you good luck though.

 

Actually the 90 lx-dx had a 125hp F22A1 and the ex had 130hp F22A4. The 140hp engine was the F22A6 which didnt come out untill 1991 and was only avalible in the SE model. The 92 ex had 140 but 90-93 all lx and dx had the f22a1 125hp.

 

That's the A20A.
Once again, the A20A. I have to say it's the most reliable Honda engine EVER, and I've owned a few. I've witnessed the lifespan of quite a few others, too. Even the B and D series can't quite compete with the good old A20A yet.
The D16A6 has nothing on the A20A.

 

I cant agree with you there. I know of at least 7 86-91 civics(three are crx's) with 400,000 + miles on them with original engines and trannys. They had regular maintinance and a couple of clutches. But nothing that wasnt normal wear and tear. I think the "D" series engine was much better than the "A". My factual basis for this opinon is that they stopped making the "A" series in 89(the 90 year model)and they made the "D" series until 03 when they stopped making the "D" series in favor of the "K" series. Maybe honda knew somthing everyone else didnt and thats why the "A" series got dropped so soon and the "D" series had such a long run.

 

The A-series was discontinued after a good run, it was used since the early 80's under the code "ET," in the days before the new standardized coding system. The ET became the A18A, which then evolved into the A20A. It had a good long run.

The D-series survived because it was more flexible as a production engine. It's been bored, stroked, and reworked too many times to count... today's D17A is a completely different engine then, say, the EW/D15A of days past.

Honda decided it would be easier to scrap the A-series and design a new engine, the F-series. It's a production issue, not a this-is-better-then-that issue. That's the same reason why so many Honda vehicles use either J-series 6's or K-series 4's instead of the alphabet soup of engines they used to.

I've seen my fair share of 300k+ and 400k+ 3G Accords, not to mention the older A18A accords and Preludes.

 

I would recommend a 89 Accord LX-i. I had one as my second car. RELIABLE, efficient, comfortable, decent room, and just a good all round old car with suprising punch. Locksmith in Coral Spring