1998 Honda Civic DX questions

[Scooby]

Thinking about buying a 1998 Honda CIvic DX sedan. Never owned a Honda before, so need some info. The car has about 137k miles, one owner, maintenance records for every oil change, tming belt/water pump, etc. The car is basic with no power windows/locks, cruise, etc. It looks pretty good for an 8 year old/female owned car. It is a 5 speed, and has been hard to find one. Clutch seems good, CV's don't pop or anything. Only thing that concerns me is that the oil seemed a little low, but car was sitting at a slight incline, with back of car lower.

Any tips, or areas that need attention? Thinking about pulling the trigger this weekend.

Thanks

 

[rpn453]

Sounds good. I know a couple of people that have owned Civic sedans of that generation for a long time and they have been very good cars. It's also difficult to find cars with maintenance records, so that's a huge bonus.

 

[Hermann]

Sounds like a good one. Just curious about the asking price. Dealer or private party.? If a dealer ask them if you can take it for the weekend and give it a through evaluation. A legit dealer should have no problem with this.

 

[Mr Nice]

What about the fuel filter, PCV valve, cap & rotor, maybe a set of new spark plug wires (depending on the condition of the old ones). How are the brake pads/ shocks/struts ? You can use an oversized Purolator L-20073 for this car.

These cars are very trouble free and run forever, the only thing I don't like about our 1998 Civic is the road noise between 75-95 miles per hour.

 

[TurboJim]

I would at the very least pull the valve cover and have a look see.

 

[Scooby]

It is private party. Asking price was $5k, got them to $4600. She is taking it to her mechanic and she said they are gonna have a "tune-up" done. They seem very honest, but who knows. She is selling because they bought a new Accord.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Ask them for $4100. That's what KBB.com says it's worth in Good condition with those miles on it. Although if everything's been done already and it looks and runs good, I guess another $500 for peace of mind is worth it.