Chandra25

Hi,

I am the original owner of a Civic LX with 195,000 miles. I have maintained it very well and driven it with care. It is in great shape and runs well.

I just bought a new car and am selling this one. The issue is that it burns some oil. I am not exactly sure how much oil it burns. Maybe about 1/2 quart in 400 or 500 miles when traveling at highway speeds. My mechanic told me I don't need to disclose this to potential buyers because 1 quart in 1000 miles is considered acceptable for a car this age. Still, I find myself feeling guilty not telling potential buyers. Then again, if I tell them, I think it will discourage them from buying it.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

Chandra

ezone

You aren't in Kalifornia are you?


You ain't selling a brand-freeking-new car.
They ain't buying a brand-freeking-new car.

Telling the buyer it uses a lot of oil might give the wrong impression.
A quart per 1000 miles is perfectly acceptable consumption, especially for that many miles.
But they ain't buying a brand-freeking-new car.
Telling the buyer to open the hood and check the fluids with every fill up, maybe. I think any owners manual will say something real similar.


Don't sell it to anyone you personally know.
Both of you meet at the DMV to get the title transferred.
Once that title is signed and done, they own the car and all of its problems.



They ain't buying a brand-freeking-new car.
Anyone buying a car with 200k should learn really quick that it needs regular care. If the buyer can't grasp and understand that, they need to be "taxed".

T-Bohn

Yeah the oil usage for miles is not bad. If your worried tell them it uses a bit of oil, but it is 195k, shrug and keep going really not that big of a deal.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

put some auto-rx.com in there, will fix it right up or at least greatly reduce the burning by over 50% or more. the only catch is for the best results you gotta do an oil change, run the additive for 5k miles, then change oil again and drive another 5k miles without additive. then change oil again. just be sure to use regular dino oil for the process. after that, i recommend using valvoline maxlife oil. will feel like a new car and burn much less oil. but it takes a while for the whole process.

rollondad

Its a used car with nearly 200k miles...some oil burning is expected. I wouldn't worry about disclosing it.

Lordsin

It's a used car and the oil consumption is normal even in a newer car. Some times it's an umbrella valve or a valve problem. I would buy the car with that many miles. As a new project or to learn about cars.

lswartz

If you are not comfortable, take it to an auto auction. At 210,000 I still do not have to check oil between oil changes (at 5,000), so I would definitely disclose using 4+ quarts before an oil change. Since it is in good shape & runs well, it still is a good car for someone who needs low cost transportation.

danwat12345

I would disclose that information. 1qt per 1000 miles is on the heavy side imo. Don't use additives, try first to just up the viscosity a bit. Tell the buyer to use 10w30 or 10w40 and may reduce oil consumption significantly.

To put the oil consumption in perspective, my Civic has 226,000 on it (mostly hwy) and burns 1 quart for every ~3500 miles

Zeferint

iTrader: (2)

^^ Not a bad idea, but I gotta say there is nothing run with additives. I've used everything from sea foam to injector cleaner and I've seen noticeably improved results.

Also, make sure you aren't using synthetic oil. At almost 150k miles my civic doesn't lose a drop of oil per change, but one time I tried using synthetic and by the time I was 1,000 miles in I lost 2 quarts. Went back to regular 5w-30 castrol syntec and went back to 0 oil consumption.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah i noticed i tend to burn synthetic a bit more than usual, but still not bad. usually a year on dino oil i barely lose any, but with synthetic its down to the middle of the dipstick.

Lordsin

My 1997 civic lx burns oil when I go past 4k rpms and what not and it has 105579 miles

Chandra25

Thanks everyone for your advice. I didn't subscribe to this forum (by accident) so didn't see your replies till today when my email reminded me I haven't logged in lately.

Long story short: I sold the car for a very good price. I DID disclose the oil situation. I said that it uses more oil now that it has more miles on it, but mainly when traveling at highway speeds. It doesn't use extra oil driving around town. The person who bought it was totally fine with that as it meets his needs for transportation. So, all is well!

Thanks again for everybody's input!
Chandra