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Hello everyone,

So my Dad decided just recently that I needed a new car... so he comes to me with one of his dealer friends (personal friend) that had a car in mind.

2002 Honda Civic EX Sedan
101K miles
Good Condition

I'm not really sure what else to put here in regards to what they really have. I have never driven a 7th Gen Civic, although I have reviewed and read about them.

FYI - I am the current owner of a '94 Acura Legend

So my question to you all is how much would you pay for this? Min/Max, ect.

Thanks!

 
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8-10k

 
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So I'd imagine that pricetag of $6,000 is a good deal? I'm just curious to see if this is a 'steal' or a good deal or what...

and wondering if I could get a better car for approx. the same amount of money.

also, a friend of mine stated that Civic's like that are generally 'bland' cars... would you agree or disagree?

thanks.

 
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6 grand is probably a decent price. All those miles is a lot for 4 years, but if you arent going to put a lot on yourself its probably not a big deal. Main concern if you want to follow hondas matianence schedule needs I timing belt at 110 along with other things I think. If this helps I got a 02 ex coupe with 45k miles on it last year about this time for 11,200 out the door.

 
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there is no way that a car with 110k miles is worth 8-10k. i'd say 5k would be a good price. but shop around dude. you cant just buy the first thing you see. you need to check out your options.

 
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Would you like an honest opinion?

You'll be REAL sorry if you trade the Legend for a 7th gen Civic.
The Legend is a MUCH , MUCH better car and will last 3 times as long as the civic.

If the EX is an Automatic, RUN AWAY!!! And even the 5speeds are questionable.
Seriously, never mind the age, it's a bad trade. I still regret giving up my old Accord (178K NO issues) up for this POS. I thought at the time that it's still a Honda, and should be a technically BETTER car being an 02.

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! The 7th Gen is a great looking car, and it's in general still reliable, but it's fragile, the suspension SUCKS and the transmissions have known major faults.

I am in fact on the hunt for an older Accord, Prelude, or Acura again.

I should add here that I don't drive much. My 02 EX has never shifted consistently since I got it. The trans tries to grind into second, even from new. I had to put moly into the gearbox to smooth it out.
The gearoil was changed at 20k and it shifted even worse. The car has good days and bad days. The front suspension is clunky. I added stiffener bars to tighten everything up. This helped a LOT, but the car should have been good off the lot. Things rattle, and I am ONLY at 28k. It's a beautiful coupe, I love it's lines. It always starts. Oh, the A/C in these things SUCKS!! Never gets cold on HOT days. Those are it's major issues. The paint is so thin, you'll chip up the whole hood in no time. The car dents just by looking at it. VERY thin steel. There are creaks and groans and thumps. Way too many for a relatively new car or those miles.

BTW, Honda claims all this is "Normal".

The civic is better (still) than many other new cars out there to be fair. But it can't touch the quality and reliability of the 90's builds. In fact, my 77 Accord ran till 02. My 84 Accord I gave away running perfectly to my friend when I thought I bought a modern "better" car.

Well, you live and learn.

Don't do it, man, you have a much better car right now, hang on to it.

 
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Yes, that is true that you must always look at other options...

What throws me off is the KBB stuff...

Trade-in value (Which is the price you get if you were to give the car to the dealer...)

Excellent: $7,900
Good: $7,205
Fair: $5,965

and Private Party (Which is what you'd get if you were to buy it off some dude...)

Excellent: $9,475
Good: $8,720
Fair: $7,695

so yeah... those are subject to interpretation I guess.

True, that it does have alot of miles. I probably won't be putting too many miles on by myself. The high milage also leads me to think that perhaps they are highway miles?

____

If I were to test-drive this car... is there anything I should look for outside of the normal things? Any trouble spots?

The Legend has 134,000 miles and had a Blown Head Gasket that was fixed when we got it. Otherwise, the guy before us (Who is a family friend) put in about 2k in new parts or whatever. It was also a southern car.

P.S. - I am not trading the two cars in for each other. If i were to buy the Civic, the Legend is in my possession.

Questions about your post: What's bad about the Automatic? Like what makes the automatic something to run from? And yes, it is an auto.

and what's the big w/ suspension and tranny? Obviously with the car being a Honda everyone is like "ooo... ah..." in terms of reliability... but this suprises me!

While we're at it. Any other good cars that I could get for around 6k?

 
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I suggest you read up on the million complaints about the Auto transmissions in the 7th gen. If it lasted this long, it's likely just about dead. You'll be spending another couple of k on a new one. The automatics have a bad clutchpack carrier. Honda knows, but they won't recall the transmissions. Your dad's buddy is car dealer? He's trying to get rid of the car. PLEASE read up on the automatics on these. Most don't last this long. It's not just on this site, it's a well known issue.

 
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Gosh... I wouldn't have imagined there to be this many problems with such a car with such a track record. With all of what you are all saying, why don't you sell yours?

 
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I plan to. Once I find a replacement. A good lude doesn't grow on trees lately, nor a 90's legend or integra. But I'm looking.
No, no... not planning on keeping the vic too long. I've had regrets ever since I got it. But it does buy me time to find a really nice older honda/acura.

 
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tinman is right. it's an auto, don't get it.

 
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You know, the sad thing is that the 7th gen with it's relatively few quirks is still a great car. I'd take it over a new ford (anything ford) in a heartbeat. But to be fair, if you do some reading, Honda has had some pretty serious issues with a whole slew of transmissions lately. We (honda fans) just don't expect or accept such a flaw from what used to be a practically bullet-proof car.

The 7th gen civics have junk autos, and some manual problems. Though not everyone will have problems. The RSX and RSX-S has transmission issues, see the grinding petitions. The SI had the same problems. Again, not all, but more than acceptable for "HONDA QUALITY".

Then see the last generation Accord and others that used THAT automatic. Lots of problems, in fact soo many that Honda actually HAD to extend warranty coverage on these. ALL cars have their problems, but Honda was always known as being exceptionally reliable until recently. I'm sure like anyone else, they are looking to shave a buck here and there. But quality always suffers.

So a 5speed is not too bad. Many people use redline fluid with much better results. I run Moly additives that helped tremendously. But the gearbox still feels like it's on the edge of grinding when I shift. My Mom has an 01 EX sedan, automatic. It's at 60K and runs absolutely perfectly. Not ONE problem with it. We take it for service to Honda, had the tranny flushed twice so it has a good service record. I doubt it'll last 100K when the warranty expires. So I want to make sure they can't easely get out of replacing it.

Anyway, as to the other problems.... the 7th gen civic is a complete departure from Honda's double wishbone suspension. This car has a weird hybrid setup. This turns out to be a step backwards as far as many (including myself) are concerned. They did it to get a more compact front and bigger cab. This suspension being new, has issues. Theycan be overcome, but you shouldn't have bad struts and torn bushings in a 2-4 year old car.

If you must have a 7th gen, consider an 04-05 instead. Honda worked out most of the "new model" problems by then, and maybe stay away from the automatics. For what it's worth, the 8th generation crowd is already having even worse problems. (never buy a first year model) We'll see where that goes. Oh yeah, the A/C still sucks. Well, they always did in civics. They are just very small systems for an econo car. Not a fault, really.

I like my coupe, it's a sharp looking car, dependable, (so far) and gets good mileage. But I really do miss my old Accord. It's still running trouble free with over 200k on the clock with the original auto trans. I had new car fever.....

The civic will be sold at the first sign of transmission failure. Most people throw a used one in, and dump the car. Many with less than 100k. That's just bad.

My advice, keep what you have, and shop carefully.
Do lot's of reading on the forums on what you might want. I should have done this.

Then make a decision. BEWARE OF DEALER "FRIENDS". NO car dealer is your "friend".

 
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YOu are going to run into problems if you are not the first owner of this vehicle. You don't know if they kept up with all the srvices and maintainance. If the person has a reocrd of everything, then that's good. If they don't well, you will find out within a couple of months how good of a car it really is.

I don't know how many people bought their civics brand new, but I think if you were to buy it new and follow the service manual, you won't run into any problems.

 
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I would stay away from anything w/ more than 100k. thats just asking for problems.

 
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Oh, btw, at 101K the car is out of ANY warranty. Also, the timing belt and waterpump will be due. YOU would be stuck with all the mandatory service at 110K. See... he can't sell the car anymore as Honda certified. So he can't get a good price for it. Pretty slick....

 
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They did fix it and will fix old ones if you complain right and prove it to them. They just didnt want to do recall. I wasnt aware the Si had the problem since they fixed it in time I thought.

Very small compared to the leap backwards many manufactures took on their economy cars by switching to beams in the rear.

Overall still the best economy car thats 3 or 4 years old, but if you are looking in the 6k range you might as well get a 6th gen civic with low miles if you buy something. Considering the legend is a good car, just save your money up for something else unless you come accross a great deal for a manual.

 
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i agree, newer cars weren't made to last.

 
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I;ve never had any problems with my 04... and it's now on 42k miles. But then again, the car had been out for 3 years and has had all the kinks fixed out.

I'd recommend buying one of these (04-05), or, if you're like many and like the older design better (01-03), I recommend you get an 03. Very true.

And tinman, you're getting some +rep for being such great helper.

 
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give me some +rep for supporting tinman

 
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LOL!! Suckup!!