marshall1982

I can't get financed anywhere so I had to buy something with cash. I just purchased a black, 4 door, 1997 Honda Accord LX. It had 195,000 miles on it from 1 owner. I'd rate it's condition a 7 out of 10 based on the fact that the interior, driver-side door handle was broken, the paint had minor scratches, there were a couple of baseball sized scuffs, and the interior had tiny cola stains on them. After taxes and fees... I drove it off the lot for $4,100. Is that reasonable?

I have a few questions that I'd like to ask.

1. I have a Pioneer DEH-P4100 from a previous car and wanted to install it into this one. I noticed that the plug in for the Honda 6 CD changer isn't the same as the back of the Pioneer deck. Is there some kind of converter or would I just have to replace the Honda 6 CD changer with a Pioneer CD changer?

2. The "Check Engine" light is on in my dash. It was like this when I purchased, but I my father told me that it "probably" is nothing to worry about. I've searched the net and found out that 1997 Accords had a recall; apparently it's common for the EGR system to fail. Is this expensive to replace? Is it necessary?

3. Where should I start? As soon as I get the money... I want to take it to a mechanic to look for any major problems. After that... what should I modify? I really want to start with performance, but work on the appearance at the same time. I won't be doing any extremely large upgrades until tax time 2006, but I want to know where I could start now.

Any suggestions would be more than welcomed. I will be on this site regularly... so I look forward to discussing things with all of you!

azianstylez

4,100 for 195,000 miles and those conditions is a rip off in my opinion. On average, a car gain 15000 miles a year, but your car almost double that amount. It proves that owner must've drove the heck out of it. I just recently purchased a Beige 1997 Honda Accord Lx too, 105000, 1 owner, paint is brand new from well-kept not from repainting, Excellent condition both interior and exterior for 3,600. Here are the pix:

wbread99

Wow... you got boned. Sorry. Agree with posts above. 195K is what I would expect out of both my accords, but I'd never pay that amount for them. Kelly blue book says $2,300! I'd be concerned with the check engine light.... why in the world would you drive a car of the lot with the CEL on ?? That means there's something wrong with engine / emissions.... and a prob like that could easily run into the range of what that car is really worth.... My 95 is pretty beat up, like yours, but I make damn sure it is mechanically sound and safe to drive all the time, with my wife and two kids in the car on a 90 mph + german autobahn all the time. If your state has a lemon law, recommend you immediately take it back to the stealer to get the engine running right!! Other than that, it IS and accord which means it SHOULD run forever (when its running right), so enjoy!

Sean
Ramstein Air Base, Germany

1994 Accord LX- 94K Revived from the junkyard
1995 Accord LX- 146K, 6 years of autobahn speeds
2003 BMW 525i- omg... cruise control set at 130. Need I say more?

http://community.webshots.com/user/wbread99

accordsir86

yea u got ripped off. and u said the check engine light is on, the dealer is supposed to fix that before u drove it off the lot, but then what state are you in, here in cali u cant sell a used car if the chek engine light is on, specially from a dealer. i bought my 97 lx for 4000 in excellent condition wit 101,347 miles.

wbread99

Sorry... looking back, you did ask. 1st issue on my list would be scan the OBD-II and get the code for the faults. Find out that that is and fix. Reason is, is that problems tend to snowball...
Example: I had a car drop a cylinder because of a bad plug wire ($10 fix). Computer triggered a misfire code, and we found and fixed, but in the time that it took me to do that much, that cylinder was essentially pouring raw gas down the tube, which got into the catalytic converter, which in turn ruined the converter... That was a $400 fix.
Moral of the story is dont BS with the comp unless you know for a fact its not a huge issue, but from your post, I dont think you can say that for sure. After that, do the normal stuff that the good people in the board do, which is check everything.... tires, steering, brakes, suspension, belts, fluids...etc...

Sean
Ramstein Air Base, Germany

1994 Accord LX- 94K Revived from the junkyard
1995 Accord LX- 146K, 6 years of autobahn speeds
2003 BMW 525i- omg... cruise control set at 130. Need I say more?

marshall1982

Ha! Everybody is a critic. I never said my car was beat up. It's in almost perfect condition. Yes it's high mileage, but the owner apparently traveled a lot; it was mostly highway miles. The tires were brand new, the brakes were new, and the oil was changed before I purchased it. Desperate times can cause you to settle, but I think I still came out on top. It was an "as is" deal. I had been searching for a car for the last 6 weeks and this was the best deal here in my area of Tennessee.

Also... You might want to second check your input on the Kelley Blue Book value. You have to take in consideration that I might live in a different area than you and that I bought it from a dealership; thus the prices might not reflect what you are used to seeing. They were asking $5,900 for it, but I got it down to $3,500. They applied taxes and fees to make it $4,100. The catch is... I only had to pay 70% to drive it off the lot. They collect the rest in 30 days.

This is the information directly off the Kelley Blue Book website.

1997 Honda Accord LX Sedan 4D

Area Code: 38004

Engine: 4-Cylinder 2.2 Liter
Transmission: Automatic
Drive: Front Wheel Drive
Mileage: 195,000

Equipment
Air Conditioning
Power Steering
Power Windows
Power Door Locks
Tilt Wheel
Cruise Control
AM/FM Stereo
Cassette
Multi Compact Disc
Dual Front Air Bags

Retail Value: $6,500

Point in case... I don't think I did too shabby. My brother drives a 1990 Accord LX and it still runs with over 300,000 miles. My previous car was a 1987 Nissan Stanza. It still runs, but there is a problem with computer causing the fuel, air, and water to mix wrong; therefore it's inconsistent and I needed something "better" for my job.

I have SOME knowledge about cars so I don't need to know the basics. The kind of things I wanted to know were performance modifications. Where should I start? Cold air intake? Exhaust? I don't know much about modding imports. Anyone that has any knowledge of it... your assistance is more than welcome.

wbread99

lol...well.... dont know about the economy on tennesee... you're right on that one. and you're correct, I may have been looking at trade in mileage, I cant remember... but retail certainly doesnt double. Doesnt matter... not my money...

You still havent addressed the more important issues with your car... mainly, why your CEL is on. Do you have a get well plan for that? Recommend you fix your engine probs before you do the add-ons ...

And I apologize if you mistook.... my beat up 95 really isnt that beat up.... more just the normal wife-driving, parking lot battle scars you'd expect to see on a 10 year old car.

owen996

People gave opinions that you asked for, don't get all pissy if we say that you got ripped off. As for performance mods, get a turbo, only way you will see any sort of performance gain, or like other people have said, use the search function, has been covered numerous times in the past...

Intrepid241

I think you got served.

sherwood

bottom line, you overpaid.
suttin aint right with your KBB calculation, it didnt do the miles correctly, try edmunds TMV, you should have paid at most 5 grand AT MOST

esspecially with a CEL on

i got my 5th gen 96' for 5k with 91k miles with leather, this is in a salt infested road-conditioned conneticut....