NFrances

Hi,

I am looking into buying a 2001 Honda Civic LX. It was offered to me at $6000 including taxes and fees at a dealership (taxes and fees are about 800). It has 188,000 miles, which is A LOT but Civics are known for lasting well into 200k miles and even 300k. Cosmetically the car is in excellent condition for a used car and the carfax looks really good. It has had one owner who it seemed to have taken really good car of the car (changing oil frequently and servicing it when needed). The Kelly Blue book value is $5250.

I do plan on taking the car to a mechanic but I wanted to get as many thoughts on the topic as I could.

Thank you!

jsmithe2010

"it seems" not good enough. If they show me detail records of all past services I would be interested. At 188, ur looking at a "project."

From 100-188, I wanna see timing belt (if it has one) done, water pump, all hoses, AC serviced, several tune-ups, I wanna see a clean engine, no hint sign whatsover of oil leaks, ALL fluid replaced. Pinch all hoses/cable bundles, they should not feel as they are about to disintegrate/soft, should feel firm but supple. All shocks replaced. Brakes serviced and fluid bled. That's the minimum list, if he had more things done to it, even better.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

even if the engine will last 500k miles, many other parts on the car will begin to fail with that mileage. and there is no way to tell what has been done until you see some records or buy the car and realize it needs another $5k put in to fix all the problems. and these are not things you would notice right away. ball joints, shocks, brakes, tires, bushings, links, exhaust, sensors, wheel bearings, cooling system, etc may all have parts that need replacing now or in the near future. so yeah a good service record sheet is essential. i keep a word doc of all the maint i do on the car mostly for my reference but it would also help a ton if i were to sell the car.

gmb2000

I got a 02 EX for 6450 with 109000 miles on it. The car is very clean. I will get the timing belt service real soon. I have already changed the plugs and put K & N filter in it. I also changed the cabin filters that are located behind the glove box. They looked like the orginal ones that came with the car. Very very dirty. I would be patience and keep looking. I was looking for over 6 weeks. Good Luck

jsmithe2010

My last car was 10 years old too when I bought it, with 89K and $5,500. At that time I thought I had purchased an high mileage car, little did I know it went for another 10 years and finally gave out on me at 240K.

herrerag92

i got my 2003 lx for 1780 with 104k milege

01civiclx94

That's not a good deal. 6 grand is way to much for it. I got my 01 civic lx for 4,000 cash and only 78,000 miles on it

honda1996

i think you should keep looking for a better deal and with lower mileage, just take your time a good deal will come along,

cchiang12

I agree with other readers here: $6000 are way to much for 190,000-mile civic.
The owner probably did A LOT of fix before hand and expect you to pay for it.
I have a 01 civic at 180,000-miles, engine is running just fine, but other parts, like suspension clicks over bumps... heater core with minor leak...

MikeWarrior

I hope the car that you were looking for turned out alright...I wish peeps would do follow ups to see if they did buy and a summary of their ownership which may help others in the future.

Here is my take on the Honda Civic, you have to be able to look at what's been done to the car, never think a car is good based on appearance only. When you buy a car with that many miles on your going to be paying a lot more to fix it up. If this car had new shocks, timing belt was replaced sometime after 140,000 miles along with water pump, it might be worth it to a certain degree but there are other things...Look under the car, not just the hood, and see if you can spot any leaks. Sometimes rods will rust enough to leak which means a transmission leak or a radiator leak or both.

And another thing which may help other peeps in the future, when you go to a dealer, make sure you look at the car's history and see what was done to it, if it was in any accidents and if the car was taken care of. I recommend with all those miles is to take the car to another shop for evaluation.

Engines last a long time but many other things on the car wear out at that stage which will cost more than a tune up. This is generally a short term investment, usually 3-4 years, depending how much you drive it. You also have to consider how many miles you drive, cars at this stage are no longer work horses but secondary options for travel.

My ford escort 2002, lasted 191,000 miles, I didn't get rid of it because of the engine in fact the engine was in great shape, but other parts of the car needed replacement. I think that car would have lasted 230,000 miles easily if other parts of the car were more durable. Now I have a Honda Civic and it's by far the best car I have ever had!

Wankenstein

There is no way a 2001 with 188K miles is worth $6000. $5000 and probably not even half that amount realistically. If that has an automatic transmission just run away from it. 2001 through 2003 automatic transmissions are known to be crappy (made by Mitsubishi). Check out 6th gens: 1996-2000 with manual transmissions. Ones with 125k miles can be had for $2000 to $3000 and they are better looking with seemingly less issues (debateable) than 7th gens.

Four years ago I helped my mom find a car and she ended up buying a 2004 Civic Value Sedan automatic with 50K miles for $6700. Currently has 72k miles and only issue since purchase was a valve cover gasket and end cap oil leak that fixed last year.

RustyShackle

WAY too expensive for a high mileage car that is 15 years old. Also don't get sucked in to paying a dealers "documentation fee".

Stock 99

you guys realize this thread is 7 years old
. right?

RustyShackle

No .

Wankenstein

Better late than never..LOL

:w ookie::lightsa ber:

Madonna4977

I bought a 2004 civic 5 years ago for $1.00, i have that bill of sale, had only 82k miles now im up to almost 150k

RIPSAW

Sure it's been said but if I was sort on cash and it ran OK, it may be worth 2K at most. That would allow for the 2.5-3K you may need to drop in it. Look around. A dealer it the worst place you can buy a used car.