I am buying a 98 Accord tommorrow. The only concern I have for it is, that when my dad checked the oil, it was way below the bottom line!

The car has 140,000km (Canada) on it, 3 yrs warrenty on engine. What would cause the oil engine to be reduced to be soo low? I will be doing a compression test on the car tomrrow. Anything else I should do to make sure that it doens't burn oil?

 

Check the exhaust for smoke when the car starts, and while it's running.

What's worse, check for oil in the coolant to make sure nothing's cracked (head, head gasket, block, etc.).

It could be something as simple as a loose valve cover - make sure everything is properly tightened. When I bought my old 92 Integra GSR, the oil was low...and I noticed oil around the valve cover. They tightened it before I even left the lot, and it never leaked a drop again.

 

Just beware of any cars with low oil, as it usually indicates neglect by the previous owner, as a car will normally use a little oil between changes. That's in the case of a private sale.

If you are getting it from a car lot, it may have been sitting and leaking for a while and the source of the leak may be wiped off. If that is the case, fix the leak and you'll be fine. If the oil is chunky, however, stay far away.

If the engine has a three year warranty, it doesn't really matter unless it has to completely die first. Check the conditions of the warranty, and if it's good enough and the rest of the car is fine, you should be ok.

 

What tests should I look into? Only thing on my list is compression test. What other tests should be done before buying?

 

Why is this here?? I put it in engine form....

 

Good question.... :thumbup: