Budget 3k which includes repairs to make it usable. Since I’m in the NE the least amount of rust wins if everything else is equal.
First up, 06 accord 4cyl 5speed 177k miles, $3200. Good body probably from the south. Clutch replaced by owner. Engine felt good shifted good until I stopped to go into reverse. Tried to go into first wouldn’t go. Owner jammed it into reverse now it would go into all gears. Said it does that at times. Texted me the next day to say he’s redoing the clutch.
99 civic 5speed 200k miles $1100 says he’ll take $800 before I even look at it. Body solid. Shifter needs rebuilt BAD. Brakes rough. Timing belt would need changed. No record of service.. ran great despite C.E. light. Shock/ strut rattles. PS pump noisy. Needs drivers window motor. I can probably get it for 500 bucks.
03 Honda element all-wheel-drive 236,000 miles automatic tranny. Slightly rustier than the other cars nothing major. Drove tight, quiet, AC and heat work . CE light on. Owner said that’s been on for year and a half. Brakes could use some minor work. Could put struts on the back but really not needed. Asking $1500 thought about offering $1000. I’m afraid of the tranny. Are these the same glass trannys from the accord from this era??? Looks like a timing chain on this engine??.
Id appreciate some opinions buy or keep looking?
GRMer Montero in Columbus
You should have bought this Sentra for $1,400 and paid $500 to have it shipped right to your front door. That $1,900 Florida car would be better than a $500 Ohio, rusty Civic
Not sure how much work that would require but I didn’t see that.
See this story of Salvage Mercury Milan.
On Monday I am going to try to go look at this GTI https://www.iaai.com/Vehicle?itemID=29552509&rowNumber=4&loadRecent=True
I can't say it will be the exact same outcome but it looks promising. Being that the GTI is a manual trans I think that will keep the bidding relatively low because car dealers (who are most likely to buy from here) are pretty shy to put manual transmissions on their lots because they take forever to sell since so few people actually know how to drive manual.
Great buy and story. I’m lost when it comes to body work. More specifically where diy is exceeded and what would require a professional would be my concern with a wreck.
$1900 Vibe GT The only expensive thing on these are the rear backing plates so make sure they're intact. (How many times have I complained about this now?)
There's a $1200 dollar one too if you want to undertake tracking down a fuel leak.
Alright, here is another suggestion.
Open up your favorite CL city. In the filter choice on the right put in a price max ($3,100) and put in a min also of $33 which will eliminate cars with no price.
Toward the bottom of the choices on the right, check the box for manual trans. This will now bring you up all the manual trans vehicles under $3,100. I can not stress enough that Non-Sporty cars with manual trans are hard to sell. As an example, so few people want a Kia Soul that has a manual trans. They sell slow because no one even calls about them. You should be able to work the price down.
'10 KIa Forte asking $2,500 says the ad is 15 days old but renewed yesterday.
'98 Accord asking $1,300
'08 Elantra asking $2,800
http://'06 Hyundai SUV asking $2,600
John Welsh said:
Alright, here is another suggestion.
Open up your favorite CL city. In the filter choice on the right put in a price max ($3,100) and put in a min also of $33 which will eliminate cars with no price.
'10 KIa Forte asking $2,500 says the ad is 15 days old but renewed yesterday.
'98 Accord asking $1,300
'08 Elantra asking $2,800
http://'06 Hyundai SUV asking $2,600
The Forte was 3k. I wasn’t sure how many miles these will go for considering it has 150k. It’s 10 miles from me and I meant to go look at it as I was looking at the others and forgot. I’ll try tomorrow. I have been searching locally since I don’t have a lot of time to do a drive and tow.
The civic in your first post should be fixable for very cheap. Shifter rebuild is easy. Buy the needed bolts ahead of time and just cut/break whatever is on there currently. It'll be very rusty. With snow tires it will be unstoppable. My 96 was a beast in winter. If it matters, the heat just doesn't tend to be strong in the small engine Hondas. I have a 2013 Fit and it's just good enough in the dead of Chicago winter.
I finally got a chance to look at the Forte. Pretty beat up inside and out. Almost undrivable with the clutch catching immediately off the floor. It ground going into reverse. I checked clutch pedal play and had maybe an inch. Not sure if adjusting would help with 150k I’m guessing it needs a clutch. Pass on this one.
In reply to rustybugkiller :
Ya gotta kiss a few frogs before finding a prince
Civic Si or the Montero in Columbus
Ready for this?
Suzuki SX4.
AWD, 6 Speed manual, 150 HP.
John Welsh said:
In reply to rustybugkiller :
Ya gotta kiss a few frogs before finding a prince
Civic Si or the Montero in Columbus
That civic is nice but working 7 days fly and drive won’t work. If this was only closer.
