gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Car: Honda Civic LX (with EX-L wheels)
Mileage: 130k
Extras:
2nd set of steelies with Conti snow tires with > 7-8/32" tread depth left
Weathertech floor mats
custom sun shade
Who: Sister in-law and husband. They have one car (family of four) and the husband could really use a cheap 2nd car to get to work. I honestly don't know how they do it with one car now!
Objective: Get rid of car for more than free, but a great deal for them. I don't want to make any sort of profit. I gave my last old car to my sister (she had no money) and want to sell this to them for a reasonably low price.
The good:
1. Gets great gas mileage
2. Price: $2500. I'm not sure how much I could get selling it on my own, but I feel like $2500 is at least a grand less than I could get for it (we don't need to rush and sell it)
The Issues:
1. Rattle from engine compartment: MAY BE the tensioner --> I replaced the hydraulic mount that failed with a new OEM one. The tensioner and pulley seemed to operate fine by hand, when I replaced near the same time. The rattle has not changed or gotten worse in the past several years and is only prominent while cold.
I don't know if its related, but the belt squeals for 1-3 seconds after startup occasionally. It did it this afternoon.
2. Slow tire leak: One of the alloy wheels/all-season tires has a slow leak (34-->~26# in a few weeks) that doesn't show up with soap bubble test and isn't
3. Hard start: I don't know the reason, but the car for the past yera begun taking a little longer to start (dut dut dut dut vroom instead of dut dut vroom, if that makes sense.) In the winter, it will also struggle to start ONLY on occasion. It ALWAYS starts and runs really well.
4. Vibration @ hot idle in gear: reading the forums, this seems to be a pretty common problem, without any obvious cause (some say clean throttle body, some say it's the electronic load detector and reduced voltage, etc.). Occurs after warmed up, in summer mostly, and while stopped and in gear. It's not bone rattling, but it's a noticeable vibration. Voltage indicates high 12's after the car has warmed and without much load; turning on my lights or any other load will trip the ELD, raise voltage to 13-14VDC, and reduce vibration, though it still remains.
5. Battery: not really a problem, but it's ~ 4 years old. It was drained to the point where it would not start once in its life, but that was a while ago. I also use a smart charger ~ every month to keep the battery topped up. Change it?
6. Hazy headlight: I'm listing this, but I have the 3M kit I plan to use to clean this up a bit.
7. Previous damage: car was side swiped by a truck at low speeds while the previous owner owned it. The paint job is not noticeable by most, but when you look close you can tell it was a hack job. No rust or unevenness, but it's not great.
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Except for the vibration and occasional hard-start (which would likely be attributable to the extreme cold weather when it occurs), I doubt the majority of owners out there notice the small things I notice and make a big deal of.
Question: What would you have taken care of, do yourself, etc. before selling a vehicle to a family member who would rely on its dependability? I'll reiterate that this car has never failed to start, has never run poorly, and does not have any issue I would feel needs to be fixed immediately.
I work a lot of hours and don't have the time I used to to fix things on my own. My sister in-law has a family friend who can give them a good deal if any works pops up in the future.
