1995 Honda Accord for a beater car

[Corollaman]

I've been looking for a cheap beater car and found a 95 Accord with 180,000 miles on it for $800. The car has a dent in the hood and some wear and tear (no rust) but runs well. We have no emissions testing or safety inspections where I live so you can pretty much drive your car basically forever if you wanted to. I'm going to find out about the timing belt is there any other info on this year of Accord? Thanks.

 

[skyactiv]

Dude, a running car at that price would sell within a day where I'm at unless it's poorly advertised. So I'd buy it like yesterday and not wait around for answers from us members as it might get sold very quick.

 

[mclasser]

Accords of that era had an issue with the balancer shaft seal popping out. Honda came out with a retainer kit, so check on that along with the TB & water pump. The distributor & main relay can fail, causing a no start. The dizzy also has an o-ring which gets hard and sprays oil onto the heater hose below, causing a coolant leak. Wonky idle issues can be due to a bad IACV, fast idle control valve & air in the cooling system.

Besides that, anything is really fair game to fail on a 25 yr old car.

 

[JC1]

I had a 94 accord that was a great car. There is a issue of one of the bolts that hold the exhaust manifold into the down pipe on the block can develop a hair line crack and oil will Leak from a return oil galley. You need to remove that cover where the O2 sensor is to see it. Just remove that bolt on the right side. My car had 180k miles on it when it started happening.

Only other bad design is the front brake rotors I think they are bolted in from the rear or something weird like that. Makes for longer front brake jobs.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

The 95 Accord is a great car, and any car that runs and drives is worth $800, especially if it's rust-free

Someone else mentioned the weird captive rotor design. For the timing belt, get the Aisin kit; you will also need a valve cover gasket (not included)

 

[Kira]

skyactiv's, "buy it now", point is a good one. Be happy you're not like my friend who's looking for a car "with some pizzazz for
Automatic? Weren't all the Honda autos weak back then?

 

[gregk24]

Those are rock solid cars, pick it up now! I had a 1995 with the 2.7 V6 and traded it with 225K miles. My cousin traded his 1996 I4 (same generation) with over 200K miles and it was running like a top. I miss that car on a regular basis, it was my first car.

GO FOR IT!

 

[JeffKeryk]

That's a 300K car. $800 is a steal.

 

[gregk24]

skyactiv's, "buy it now", point is a good one. Be happy you're not like my friend who's looking for a car "with some pizzazz for
Automatic? Weren't all the Honda autos weak back then?

The autos of that gen were rock solid. They went south with the 1998+ generation.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I’d totally get that those things I see all the time they will go forever

 

[miden851]

those were great cars at the time, it is capable of getting 300K and i'm sure you can put the price even lower

not long I sold our 00 Camry for $500 with 300K+ miles on it; it was a real beater but everything was in working condition; I unloaded it in less than 24hrs

 

[slacktide_bitog]

skyactiv's, "buy it now", point is a good one. Be happy you're not like my friend who's looking for a car "with some pizzazz for
Automatic? Weren't all the Honda autos weak back then?

That's the V6 staring in 98, as well as other Hondas with the V6/auto combo. That only applies to the J-series.

 

[carviewsonic]

I had a 97’ Accord 4 cyl 5 speed that I sold at 450,000 kms. Great car, just routine maintenance in 5 years of ownership.
If yours has been looked after and isn’t rusting it should last a long time yet.

 

[atikovi]

I've been looking for a cheap beater car and found a 95 Accord with 180,000 miles on it for $800.

Have you actually seen and driven it? If not, I'm guessing it has some engine or transmission issue, the brakes and suspension are shot or the paint is peeling off in numerous places. Most people don't sell a good running clear title Honda for $800. With that said, I always thought the '94-'97 body was the ugly phase for Accord. Not particularly pertinent for a beater, but still, I'd want to feel good about even my beaters.

 

[14Accent]

Have you actually seen and driven it? If not, I'm guessing it has some engine or transmission issue, the brakes and suspension are shot or the paint is peeling off in numerous places. Most people don't sell a good running clear title Honda for $800. With that said, I always thought the '94-'97 body was the ugly phase for Accord. Not particularly pertinent for a beater, but still, I'd want to feel good about even my beaters.

That's not necessarily true, Accord's aren't saught after like other models, especially 94-97 models with the 2.2 and an auto. That being said, they are great cars especially if it's rust free.

Yea, the front brakes are a pain. Yea, the balance shaft seal can pop out but by now almost ALL of them have been repaired with the retainer kit from Honda. Other than that, it's just a 25 year old japanese car with relatively low miles all things considered. Go look at it and give it a good shake down, but for $800 I'd vote yes.

 

[JeffKeryk]

You could do a heck of a lot worse...
Good luck. Post some pics or it ain't real.

 

[Bird's_Garage]

I had a 94. The speedometer has been known to fail on that body style. Very easy to replace. Mine was the F22 4 cylinder. The auto trans flare shifted every gear when cold. Did that forever and never got worse. The engine was "torquey" for a 90s 4 cylinder. I really liked the car and I personally think that body style looks good.

 

[jeepman3071]

Definitely pick it up!

A friend of mine needed to get out of a car loan, so he sold the vehicle he had and was able to break even. We scored a 2000 Honda Civic with 130k miles on it for $1500. It had a dent in the door but was rust free and otherwise clean. I helped him out by doing a timing belt service and put a new muffler on it and it has been a fantastic cheap daily driver averaging 36 mpg.

 

[Wylie6G72]

Have you actually seen and driven it? If not, I'm guessing it has some engine or transmission issue, the brakes and suspension are shot or the paint is peeling off in numerous places. Most people don't sell a good running clear title Honda for $800. With that said, I always thought the '94-'97 body was the ugly phase for Accord. Not particularly pertinent for a beater, but still, I'd want to feel good about even my beaters.

It wasn't exactly the darling of C&D's 10 best list either. It scored, but didn't have staying power.