rad_reabster

hi everyone, Honda newbie here. so our family decided to buy an 05' Civic LX coupe with a 5 speed around May last year from one of those used car lots. i was in desperate need of a vehicle at the time, and naturally a clean, shiny car with 120k priced at $4995 with matching numbers on Kelley Blue Book and CARFAX seemed like a bargain. after my parents looked at it, they agreed it would be a great addition. so we bought it, and so far we've put about 10k on the odo. it has run reliably with no issues whatsoever since. last week I had the airbags replaced in Phoenix for free due to a recall, and being a resident of Show Low I had to journey over 100 miles across the mountains. the certified Honda service center that replaced the bags also did an inspection while it was in, and they found a lot wrong with it.

the invoice lists: oil pump seals with timing and outer belts priced at $960, power steering suction hose priced at $70, power steering pump assembly priced at $736, a cam end plug priced at $218, vavle adjust and spark plugs priced at $395, a front mount (engine mount, engine vibrates under heavy RPMs) priced at $264, compliance bushings priced at $485, and rear struts priced at $850


now obviously this was a shock to me.

how could a car that was so clean have so much wrong with it? did we get ripped off? is this certain service center trying to make a quick buck? is it even worth the time, struggle and money to fix this car? or should i just sell it and avoid wasting my time?

also, I did try selling it last year in August on Craigslist to get a new motor for my truck but eventually gave up. I learned through a potential buyer that this particular car was actually a rental in California for almost 10 years, then it found its way up in Washington for a while, and the rest is all secret. does anyone know if this Civ has restricting emissions controls? should I be worried about any damage or harm done by careless idiots who drove it back in the day during a vacation?

thanks in advance to anyone who can help me make a smart choice here. I don't want to get screwed out of a deal on a car that's just going to fall apart in the next few years even though I've heard that some Honda's can survive to well over 400k under proper maintenance and care before becoming scrap metal.

cheers, Daniel

ezone

Welcome to the forum!
Hang on to your seat....

Didn't this report reveal the history of the car, being a rental and all?


Did you have a pre-purchase inspection completed by a competent and observant mechanic before committing to this car purchase?


That's not much.

Timing belt job along with the front seals, (and a tensioner and a water pump) is pretty standard maintenance. If you have no clue if this maintenance was ever completed on schedule, it's pretty damn important that it gets done. The life of the engine is at stake.


Steering suction hose and a pump....why? Are there leaks? Is the fluid full?

Cam end plug, that's a common oil leakage spot....maybe a $10 part from any decent dealer and a simple DIY if there is not an EGR valve in the way. If there is an EGR valve it has to be removed for access.


Valve adjustment and plugs are also basic maintenance.
Plugs are simple DIY, valve adjust is a bit more involved.


Engine mount....bolt on parts. Got tools?
Verify which one(s) are bad, purchase new, replace.

Compliance bushings...yea, that's typical. Probably moreso in the desert, the heat cooks rubber parts.

Rear struts...are they bad? Leaking? Soft?

I didn't see transmission fluid service on the list, nor brake fluid service.... Was someone asleep?

Inspect and verify everything on their list is actually needed for yourself.
If you don't know enough about them to make decisions, get help from someone who does. If no, then take it to a trusted, competent, local mechanic for a second opinion on the serious and expensive stuff. Maybe 3rd opinion from somewhere else.


You can search the forum for info on a lot of this stuff too.

Prices vary.
Almost everything can be DIY if you have enough time and equipment LOL

Sure. Nobody ever suspected a 12 year old car with a pile of miles would ever need any repairs, services or maintenance.

Are you one of those people who believes that as long as the car is able to move down the road under its own power, everything must be fine?

It could be on fire, but as long as nobody tells you it's on fire and it keeps moving it must be ok?


'Clean' visually is never the same as 'clean' mechanically.
Any decent detailer can polish a turd, and helium balloons tied to the wipers make people want to buy it.
Nope. You bought a USED CAR at a fair price.
You own all the issues that come along with it.
You've driven it 10k without serious trouble, which is good.
It's time to start actually caring for the car now.

Or, you know, keep on driving and ignoring the car, then act real surprised when it falls on its face and leaves you stranded in the middle of BFE.

(FYI even brand new cars can have problems.)

No, it's our job to inspect the cars that come in.
JizzyLube isn't inspecting the cars, sometimes we are the only people that actually do.
Not all inspections are equal, that's going to vary greatly depending on the individual doing the inspection.

Some people actually try to find real needs on the cars, other people might only want to make a list of stuff that makes their paycheck bigger (flushes).

I am not going to agree that all of their shopping list is truly needed, I can't see the car and I can't see what someone else saw on your car.

Some needs will be much higher priority than others.....(The timing belt related maintenance and the cam plug oil leak fix would be of higher priority IMO)

And I'll tell you that a free inspection can't reveal all possible problems either.

Depends.


proper maintenance and care begins on day one. No car makes it that far by itself.

mikey1

don't judge a book by the cover,

a car that doesn't even run can look great....Lol