Looking at a third vehicle

pektel

pektel

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I was at a customers house yesterday to to a jobsite inspection/measure. I was waiting for my custom cabinet guy to get out of his car when I noticed an accord in the driveway that looked like it'd been sitting through the fall/winter. The pass rear tire was flat. The owner saw me looking at it, so he opens up the door and says, "I'll give you a hell of a deal on it."

So we get to talking. 95 Honda Accord EX. 130K. 4 door. 2.2l 4 banger with the variable valve timing. Kinda rusty. Brand new snow tires on it. Needs brakes and a used gas tank (It will leak if more than 3 gallons go in at a time).

$500 to get it out of his driveway.

The way I was looking at it is: 30+mpg vs the 17 I average in the LS. it wouldn't take long for it to pay for itself.

But I've never owned a foreign vehicle before. The honda should get to over 250K, so still lots of life left in it.

What would you guys do?
 
Well, I don't know about a 95 but my wife has a 2003 v6, I would have never bought one but it was a package deal!

I do a lot of driving for work so there were a couple years I drove it a lot. It now has 153,000 miles and all I've done to it is oil changes, tires and brakes. Its a 6-speed and I can still cherp 3rd gear with the stock clutch. I get 33+ mpg on the highway. I've never had an issue with it and am extremly impressed on how nice the car really is.

I know its not really the same but I really wouldn't be suprised to get 250,000 out of it. With that said, I'm actually putting it up for sale this weekend....too many cars at the house. I do most of my work for Ford so I can't drive it to work and I just got my wife a trailblazer.

The nice thing is blue book is still at $6,500! I'm sure I won't get that but even if I get $5,000 that would be great.
 
pektel said:
I was at a customers house yesterday to to a jobsite inspection/measure. I was waiting for my custom cabinet guy to get out of his car when I noticed an accord in the driveway that looked like it'd been sitting through the fall/winter. The pass rear tire was flat. The owner saw me looking at it, so he opens up the door and says, "I'll give you a hell of a deal on it."

So we get to talking. 95 Honda Accord EX. 130K. 4 door. 2.2l 4 banger with VTACH!!!!! Kinda rusty. Brand new snow tires on it. Needs brakes and a used gas tank (It will leak if more than 3 gallons go in at a time).

$500 to get it out of his driveway.

The way I was looking at it is: 30+mpg vs the 17 I average in the LS. it wouldn't take long for it to pay for itself.

But I've never owned a foreign vehicle before. The honda should get to over 250K, so still lots of life left in it.

What would you guys do?
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Fixed it for ya and Id pick it up, just give it a good once over to make sure thats all it needs.
 
I would jump on it like white on rice. You can't go wrong with Honda or Toyotas. My first car was an 86 Toyota Corolla GTS given to me by my mother when I was in high school. It had 248,000 miles on it when I stopped driving it. Before I joined the military, I had an 98 Honda Civic that I bought new. I gave it to my mother after I joined. Twelve years later and a little over 200,000 miles, it's still going strong. These cars are pretty much easy to maintain. Just like with any other car, there are going to be things mechanically that you will have to replace and they tend to wear out. Hopes this helps.
 
You can go fast with Toyotas. Even if you don't want to.
 
LeaSr77 said:
You can't go wrong Toyotas.
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the 52 people that have died before they would issue a recall would beg to differ (well actually the families of the 52 people would beg to differ)


sorry the way i look at it is, i'm an American, i live in America, i will only drive American cars. we used to be a great country that produced so much, now we are a struggling country that now would rather buy everything from somewhere else instead of building it ourselves. almost half of the cars in America are foreign, about 10% of cars is Japan are foreign (foreign to them) they understand loyalty. again sorry for the rant (quietly steps down from soapbox)
 
I would get it.
I have heard gas will be anywhere between $3 to $4 bucks this summer.

If nothing else buy....fix when gas goes up in summer.
 
1LoudLS said:
the 52 people that have died before they would issue a recall would beg to differ (well actually the families of the 52 people would beg to differ)


sorry the way i look at it is, i'm an American, i live in America, i will only drive American cars. we used to be a great country that produced so much, now we are a struggling country that now would rather buy everything from somewhere else instead of building it ourselves. almost half of the cars in America are foreign, about 10% of cars is Japan are foreign (foreign to them) they understand loyalty. again sorry for the rant (quietly steps down from soapbox)
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in all honesty, this car was purchased 15yrs ago, so we weren't struggling then...lol.
 
go for it pete! that hoopty is worth at least $1500-$2000 - im constantly looking for those! buy it for $500 and u could fix it for less than $350. [pads n rotors would run you $150 max for front n rear, and check some junk yards for used gas tanks] Then you could A. keep it or B. sell it - for a profit of a couple hundred :D ....either way its a steal - especially since the EX models usually have power everything, the Vtech and power sunroof! :eek:

...i got my hands on a $300 93 civic with my buddy, some simple repairs and we sold that b*tch for $1300... like i said go for it.
 
Long_Island_LS said:
go for it pete! that hoopty is worth at least $1500-$2000 - im constantly looking for those! buy it for $500 and u could fix it for less than $350. [pads n rotors would run you $150 max for front n rear, and check some junk yards for used gas tanks] Then you could A. keep it or B. sell it - for a profit of a couple hundred :D ....either way its a steal - especially since the EX models usually have power everything, the Vtech and power sunroof! :eek:

...i got my hands on a $300 93 civic with my buddy, some simple repairs and we sold that b*tch for $1300... like i said go for it.
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Thanks for the input. Looks like you guys are making up my mind for me!
 
lol. it's beyond fixing. detail-wise, anyways.
 
it cant be worse then the jun ker i bought for 500 bucks if you can recall the thread about winter beaters we made a while back.. a lot has changed since i bought it..

it was a 90 accord with primer paint...2 diff sets of wheels and an engine with more then 200k on it...couple months later and the list is looking like this...

94-97 honda accord 2.2l I4 engine swap with dohc
new clutch
new slave clutch
new pressure plate
new timing belt
new water pump
new black housing headlights
new oem red/white tail lights
4 black steel rims until i purchase a nice set of stock rims...
all fluids replaced
new plugs
new plug wires
new fuel pump
new gas lines
new brakes and slotted and drilled rotors
new remote start alarm system
new steering wheel
new mirrors
new front and rear bumpers
shuriken bt-35 battery
new hi output alternator
new grille
new type r shift knob
new short shifter

it came with:
an aem intake
tokico blue shocks and lowering springs
dc sports cat back exhaust

then only thing i have to do now is paint it black...and finish my audio install and a few things here and there and it shifts like butter with the new clutch...i know i cud have spent the money on a reg decent running car but i wanted sunthin that i cud bring back to life and have it run better then most of these little ricer cars out here.
do it...it will last you forever and it makes for an awesome project car...
 
1LoudLS said:
sorry the way i look at it is, i'm an American, i live in America, i will only drive American cars. we used to be a great country that produced so much, now we are a struggling country that now would rather buy everything from somewhere else instead of building it ourselves. almost half of the cars in America are foreign, about 10% of cars is Japan are foreign (foreign to them) they understand loyalty. again sorry for the rant (quietly steps down from soapbox)
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Most Toyotas sold in the US are produced in the US by 33,400 US workers. Using $22.3 billion in US sourced parts in facilities that they invested $18.3 billion to build. http://www.toyota.com/about/our_business/our_numbers/ Honda's numbers while smaller are still amazing. Bottom line, Americans build Toyotas in America. Just a thought. For the record, I've never owned a vehicle other than Fords, GMs and Chryslers.


Pete, you must really be hard-up to consider buying a beater like that. You have too much time on your hands.
 
I definitely wasn't looking for a beater. The opportunity just presented itself. I thought he was going to say 1500 or something. I was hoping to lowball at 500. Then he just straight out said 5-600 to get it out of his driveway. He just wants it to be gone.
 
1LoudLS said:
the 52 people that have died before they would issue a recall would beg to differ (well actually the families of the 52 people would beg to differ)


sorry the way i look at it is, i'm an American, i live in America, i will only drive American cars. we used to be a great country that produced so much, now we are a struggling country that now would rather buy everything from somewhere else instead of building it ourselves. almost half of the cars in America are foreign, about 10% of cars is Japan are foreign (foreign to them) they understand loyalty. again sorry for the rant (quietly steps down from soapbox)
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To sum something up for you guys. Maybe now Toyota has a bad name because of the problems they are having but I'm not talking about one of these new electronics gear boxes out on the road today. I'm mainly referring to cars from back in the day before any of this technology sh$t was even thought of. I highly doubt he will buy a new car for an back up car. Just needed to clear that up before everybody starting taking it out of context.
 
Sweet. In my experience if the car runs you can get at least $1000 bucks for it. Put a little money and elbow grease in and I bet you can make a solid profiit from the car not even considering the savings on gas and wear and tear on your LS
 
My point was that I only manage around 15mpg city, and I drive VERY light footed.
 
I would definitely buy it if i were you! i had the same deal. i bought a 94 with 245k for 300 bucks. it had a blown head gasket but my roommate works at a honda dealership and he gets parts at cost. so 300 for the car and another 300 to cover his labor and parts...i have i 94 civic coupe WITHOUT the usual rear fender rust, a new head gasket, radiator, timing belt, and water pump. so i'm good to go for another 250k :) and like you said it's waaaay better on gas!
 
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