Honda 1.6L D16Y8 opinions?

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Hi all,

My next door neighbor is retiring back to the UK and has offered to sell his 2000 Honda Civic EX to us as he knows my daughter will be going away to college and needs a reliable car. He showed us all the PM paperwork, printed out his excel spreadsheet that shows his MPG (30-33 MPG) along with a carfax (no accidents). He's only asking for $1,500.

Your opinions on this car? It has approx. 140,000 miles and he just replaced the spark plugs, wires, cap & rotor, fuel filter and coolant. The timing belt was done about two years/40k ago. He says the only issue he has is a squeeling noise when it first starts up in the morning that appears to be coming from a belt near the alternator (he says when he sprayed water on the belt, it made the noise louder but didn't know what that meant).

My daughter will be attending college about 3 hours away and will have a daily commute of about 20 minutes from her apartment to campus, all freeway. Theoretically, she'll drive home on the weekends.

Seems like a good deal but I thought I'd ask for opinions on this car and the engine.
 
Is it an auto or a 5 speed manual? Really, as long as you don't overheat them or forget to do the timing belt/waterpump/belt tensioners, these engines are bulletproof and Civics are legendary for reliability given proper maintenance. For that price, given the history of the car, if you don't buy it, I might!

The squealing is likely just a loose belt. Should be really easy to snug it up and tighten the tension on the belt.
 
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With that many miles on a Honda I'd teach your daughter to check the oil at least once a week. All three of my used Honda's leaked and consumed a bit of oil, some worse than others.
 
I had a 1997 Civic EX (generally the same as the 2000... same engine at least).

It was a great car. I routinely got 31 mpg in daily driving without driving any special way. It would also do 80+ on the highway with the AC on and still get 34 mpg.

Some things to look out for (these may not all apply to a 2000, they are for my 1997, but still worth looking into):
1. There was an issue with the window regulators on these where the windows would come out of their tracks and get stuck about 3 inches down.

2. There was some kind of problem with the emissions controls that ended up with Honda paying a fee. I don't know what this might mean for CA emissions (probably nothing).

3. The keyless entry on the EX is incorporated into the factory head unit, so if the factory head unit [censored] out or gets replaced for another reason, it will no longer work.

I had mine from 1997-2005, traded it in with 137,000 miles on it, and have regretted getting rid of it pretty much every day since. I have no doubt that I could still be driving it today.

Oh yeah, mine never used any oil. YMMV.
 
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We had a 03, I think it might be one gen newer since it had a D17, not a D16.

Good cars, a good choice IMO.

We sold ours at 80,000 miles because it was a 2 door. It didn't burn oil, but I changed every 5000 with decent oil.
 
That sounds like an unbelievably good deal - hard to get a decent car for under $3k these days.

Like c502 said, keep an eye on the oil level. From my experience, most 1.6 Honda's tend to use a lot of oil. When i worked at WM, almost all of them that came in had very low, or no, oil showing on the dipstick. but, as always, it depends on the care the car got....
 
Yes, I thought it was a good deal too. He's said if we don't buy it, he'd just donate it to his grandson but he'd rather give my daughter first dibs.

He did mention it uses about .5 quart every 3k miles and that the belt noise goes away after the car warms up and only on the first start of the day.

And yes, we taught our daughter how to check the fluids and change a flat.
 
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I've got a '99 EX that is rock solid. I'd buy it without hesitation at that price. I run PP on a 10K mile OCI and don't worry a thing. I've never had problems with burning oil on these engines (I had an '88 at one point), but since so many people seem to have issues with it, there must be some truth to it. At least, that's the way internet logic works!

Buy it before you regret it!

Clark
 
It'll probably run another 100k miles if it was cared for. The honda d-series motors are very reliable.
 
I had a 99 Accord 4cyl with 166k before I sold it. The 2.3 was known to use oil also esp with highway miles. I noticed on a few occasions I was a quart low.

First thing I did was change out the pcv valve with a new oem one. Yes they are more expensive but a friend who is a Honda tech said the spring inside isn't as prone to break as the cheap aftermarket ones. http://www.collegehillshonda.com has a decent price compared to the local dealers.

The other thing I did was top off the oil with a high mileage oil(Valvoline MaxLife syn-blend). After doing these two simple things I never noticed any more oil burning. Its crucial to do these things asap because if they are ignored for too long then its too late and a full ring job will prob. be needed.
 
Buy it today...right now!

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That is something I would purchase.

Then I would review the paperwork to ensure ALL the maintenance is up-to-date.

Then I would drive it around for a while both town and highway to see if I noticed anything... and get those things fixed.

Then I would start the cleanup.

After that... just do the regular maintenance and drive it until at least 200,000 miles or when the next great deal rolled around.

Do be prepared to spend a few dollars on it but from the sounds of it you won't need to spend much.

EDIT: At the very least please show the daughter how to do fluid checks/top ups and how to check and correct tire inflation.
 
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Drove it around town and on the freeway, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. There are some interior creaking noises from the plastic trim but that was about it.

Reviewed all the paperwork and he had all the routine stuff done recently, including the timing belt and water pump. Someone mentioned the window motor and the passenger side was replaced already. Honda even replaced the exhaust manifold as he said that was done under warranty. Tires have about 20k on them. He said he ran a bottle of Chevron cleaner every January too, for whatever thats worth. Oh and the battery is a year old.

And again the only issue he says he notices is a squeeling when it first starts up that lasts a few minutes and a little bit of oil use, which he can't explain or find.

Oh...and we just gave him the cash, got the pink slip and its sitting in the driveway.
 
Sound like a steal of a deal. Those Hondas eat exhaust manifolds. Since u got one replaced already u should be good for a while. The belts probabaly need to tighten up a little.
 
I'm hoping thats all it is as he said they only make noise first thing in the morning and then are quiet the rest of the day. Or at least just a belt and not a pulley or tensioner (?).


And yes, my daughter has AAA roadside but just in case can change a flat/spare, check oil and can identify most stuff under the hood.
 
Originally Posted By: Michelle_B
a little bit of oil use, which he can't explain or find.


^^^see my comments above.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Originally Posted By: Michelle_B
a little bit of oil use, which he can't explain or find.


^^^see my comments above.


Thanks for the insight. The PCV valve was changed at a Honda dealership in January and I'd assume they used an OEM PCV valve.

He just changed the oil with Platinum this past weekend so I'm guessing I'll let this one go for 3K and then have her try MaxLife for a few changes and see if it helps.
 
Ok good on the pcv valve.

I would top off with Penzoil high mileage oil if the car is ever low on oil. The HM oil should help condition the seals and help prevent them from becoming dried out.

3000 sounds way too early to change the oil. Unless your daughter is only putting 3k on per year. Changing the oil too often can hurt the cat. converter which is megabucks to replace. Below is link to another forum I'm on discussing what I just mentioned. Read closely what "Fredsvt" says since he's very knowledgeable on Hondas.

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?p=469799#post469799

Oh yeah post up some pics of the new Civic if you can.
 
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