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hi guys. I'm looking at buying a '98 Honda Civic (called a Ballade here where I am in South Africa). It's a 1.5i model, totally stock except for the sound system. It looks very good in the pics, haven't seen it in person yet (it's an hour away), only thing is it has very high mileage (at least for a car here in South Africa). Mileage is 386000km so roughly 240 000 miles. The owner has had it a few years and says he has serviced it regularly.

I want to buy a Civic because of their reputation for quality, fuel economy and reliability, and I like late 90s vehicles. I'm not into modding cars at all, I would keep it totally stock and pretty much drive it like an old man, lol. It is rare to find one of this age in original condition here, most of them have been wrecked by now (driving standards are terrible here).

My question to you guys, the Civic experts. is do you think it's a wise buy with this mileage, if all the necessary maintenance has been done? Are these cars good for, say, 300, 000 miles - that's about how much I'd expect to put on it in the next 5 or 6 years.

I can post a link to the ad if that is allowed.

Thanks in advance for whatever advice you guys can give me.

 
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for the 1.5 i'm not sure but regularly for 1.6s in canada 386,000km is a little bit high... if it's got a clean frame with minimal rust i'd only say buy it if you have the money for an engine swap further down the line. it could do you pretty good for another few years. of course, all this depends on price. how much are we looking at for it?

 
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I wouldn't necessarily rely on it being a good car in the next 5 years. That's a cheap in-between beater from the looks of it.