High mile Civic Si?

Shopping for a Kazoo Jr. car, I've located a 2000 Civic Si. Not one of the primo colors (Milano Red), but it appears relatively clean and well maintained. The catch is its over 200K miles on an original engine. Its priced $800.00-1,000 over KBB, but given what I'm seeing elsewhere, seems these are selling at somewhat/a lot of a premium. The timing belt/water pump is up to date. Assuming no clouds of blue smoke from the tailpipe, any reason to be afraid of the miles?

Significantly, SWMBO is on board and Jr. is pretty stoked. Oh, and, in the event its a good deal, don't steal from children you vultures.

Only thing i have seen from my Craigslist trolling is an unusually high number of them seem to have head gasket issues. Don't know if this is typical or not.

I would be worried that in 20-30K, the compression may start to drop to where you would need to buy a remanufactured engine.

How much could a 15 yo civic possibly blue book for? Point is, even if it 'only' lasts 30k more miles its still a great value for 30k miles. I would wager it will go 100k more with diligent maintenance.

If properly maintained, I see no reason not to go for it (other than it maybe being a bit fast for a young male driver).

As long as you don't live in California you can drop in a low mileage JDM engine for under $1500 if that engine pukes.

Also, a great car to introduce Jr. to Autocross with. Inexpensive, but still competitive in HS and STS at the local level.

I put a crv block in one of those but kept the si head. That thing was awesome!

rcutclif wrote: How much could a 15 yo civic possibly blue book for? Point is, even if it 'only' lasts 30k more miles its still a great value for 30k miles. I would wager it will go 100k more with diligent maintenance. If properly maintained, I see no reason not to go for it (other than it maybe being a bit fast for a young male driver).

Blue books for a flat 3K. Owner wants more, but seems willing to negotiate on price. Going to look at it tomorrow if all goes according to plan.

I've not seen any worth having for around $3k. Out here, those are still $5k-$6k cars even with high-ish mileage if they're in good condition.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

This one looks pretty clean in the Craigslist pictures, but that means little. We went to look at a Del Sol a while ago that looked really clean/straight in the pictures, but in person, it looked like the Bondo over the wheel wells had been applied by a monkey with a spatula.

The good news is the owner seems to know a lot about the car and didn't call me "dude" or "bro" once in a twenty minute conversation.

The coupes seem like a pretty solid deal. In my neck of the woods a lot of them have really terrible modifications, but I think that's par for the course on Civics.

Some really smoking deals in sedans too, especially if you get a "low resale value" colour like green or red. Same price as a coupe for 70k+ fewer km.

ssswitch wrote: The coupes seem like a pretty solid deal. In my neck of the woods a lot of them have really terrible modifications, but I think that's par for the course on Civics. Some really smoking deals in sedans too, especially if you get a "low resale value" colour like green or red. Same price as a coupe for 70k+ fewer km.

No such thing as a '99-'00 SI sedan. Nor were there any green SI's.

Unless you live in Canada, then your SI is the US's EX and your SI-R is the US's SI.

just get a normal civic? Accord? Cavalier? Cam Cam for a first DD?

If its a well maintained example then expect to pay over "blue book" value, the Honda tax lol. Lot's of crap out there so when there are good examples out there for sale that are stock or mildly modded, they are quickly snatched up

I bought my integra at 120k that was well maintained, unfortunately within the last year around 135k probably due to all the autocrosses I've done on it has started burning more oil and slight smoke. But higher mileage Hondas do tend to smoke if driven hard.

A year ago we sold my wife's 2000 Civic Si with about 100,000 on the clock. The drivetrain felt as good as new. I though that it had picked up a few rattles, although the new owner seems to be digging it.

In reply to kazoospec:

They bottomed out a year or so ago. The good ones are appreciating now, seemingly rising with the tide of climbing Integra type R and S2000 values. The ones that are left now full under "raped" or "garage queen", with very few of them being garage queens.

Case in point, a couple of weeks ago, a dude came over to me while I was filling it up and the first thing he said was "you never see these anymore!"

So here's the post inspection report. Price is at least a little bit negotiable, I'm thinking I'll get it home close to blue book value, which, as mentioned above, appears to be under market value. Realistically, I could probably do a reman'd engine replacement and still not have more into the car than its "worth", but would have more into the car than I planned for a 1st time driver. The good: The "shell", at least the metal part, is pretty clean. There's an average amount of scratches and other minor blemishes, but no apparent rust anywhere on the shell. (For you southerners, that's a big deal up here) It needs a new bumper cover with the attending "will the paint match?" question. It seems to have the "right" number of little projects that need to be done to immerse Kazoo Jr. without frustrating him. The underside is also very clean. No need for the PB blaster, torch, breaker bar and rolodex of curse words every time a bolt needs to be removed. The interior is pretty much showroom. It runs smoothly, idles well, and kicks over to VTEC reliably and when expected.

Now the bad: A little bit of valve tap. About what I'd expect of a Honda of this vintage, but there none-the-less. Same with the oil burning. Very slight smudge around the tailpipe. The owner says 1/2 quart per oil change. I usually mentally double whatever the seller is willing to admit. As mentioned above, it has 200K+ on the clock.

So, what say ye?

If junior can be diligent about maintenance, checking the oil, and limiting his use of VTec, go for it.

I would be more concerned about rust issues if the has spent its whole life in Michigan road salt.

I had a 1990 Civic DX with 95,000 miles on it, that I upgraded the head to Si spec. I then beat it mercilessly for a few years as a race car. I could not break that thing...and I tried. Hondas can run forever, and, swaps are easy. If you have to put $1500 into it, but it drives for another few years, is it still a good deal to you? If so, then do it.

Have you checked insurance rates on the SI? Sounds like a pretty solid high mile Honda.

I think they burned a quart every oil change brand new, so.... i wouldn't worry about that.

Ticking/tap, probably just needs a lash job.

Swank Force One wrote: I think they burned a quart every oil change brand new, so.... i wouldn't worry about that. Ticking/tap, probably just needs a lash job.

Ours never had an issue with oil consumption. It didn't use a quart between oil changes, either. The B16A in my CRX was equally solid.

I think what i'm trying to say is that i believe the 90s B engines had a factory spec that a quart in an oil change was acceptable or something. Or maybe that was just lore being passed around in my Honda days.

Swank Force One wrote: I think what i'm trying to say is that i believe the 90s B engines had a factory spec that a quart in an oil change was acceptable or something. Or maybe that was just lore being passed around in my Honda days.

As far as I know, every manufacturer uses that spec, even today.

David S. Wallens wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: I think they burned a quart every oil change brand new, so.... i wouldn't worry about that. Ticking/tap, probably just needs a lash job.

Ours never had an issue with oil consumption. It didn't use a quart between oil changes, either. The B16A in my CRX was equally solid.

Mine will guzzle Mobil 1 at a quart every 1000 miles. Did that since new--only with Mobil 1. Valvoline synthetic gets consumed way less.

BTW, kazoospec--get theft insurance on it. They are still theft magnets, regardless of condition.

We ran Mobil 1 in ours, too. Never had an issue. Weird.