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Hello all,

I'm planning on going to look at a '93 Si tomorrow, but it sounds like the owner might be asking a pretty substantial price for the work it needs. I talked to him and he tells me the last time he took it to a mechanic they said the car needed trailing arm bushings, control arm bushings, tie rod (ends?) and power steering boots. The car has 200k miles on it and it might need another timing belt coming up pretty soon here. So my question is, is it worth it? I hate working on cars and I'm not really ready to put $1000 into the car in bushings alone (if it needs them), so are they important? Are these bushing problems and such common to Civics and are they important enough that they need to be addressed immediately?

I'm wondering if it's even worth it to bother checking the car out if it needs all these things fixed, as if it does, I'm sure the owner wouldn't be willing to drop the price $800 or more if it's the case.

Thanks

 
Rep Power: 811

bushings are rubber and wear out/crack over time. it affects cornering and alignment alot and should be changed. its not safe to drive if theyre badly damaged. how much is the car? $1.5k? i would really do a long inspection cause it sounds like youre gonna be throwing alot of money into it. seems like already its a neglected car.

 
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He's asking $2200, which seems quite high to me considering the work the car needs.

I figured as much. I'm not a stranger to cars, but I figured I'd double check anyway, since I'm pretty unfamiliar with suspension components.

From the looks of it, I may not even bother with the car. It quite easily needs $1000 or more worth of work and I'm doubting the seller is willing to negotiate down to $1000 or so, because there's always a sucker out there who isn't going to be as thorough as I might be.

Just your asking me how much he's asking immediately turns me off to the car. I figured the car definitely needed quite a bit of work, which is just not what I'm looking for. I just want a simple hatchback for gas mileage and easy parking with minimal work needed. Thanks for the bit of info, I'm going to keep looking.

 
Rep Power: 811

no problem. if the bushings are shot, chances are alot of other things are bad like shocks, endlinks, motor mounts, etc. and who knows what condition the engine is in and if it was maintained at all. or if it was raced. thats the problem with used cars i guess.

 
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i got an 89 HB and love it! , thing had work done to it before i got it, suspsension work and new brake pads and Halfshafts, if this guy is askign that high of a price and the car needs that substantial amount of work to make it road worthy, tell him to get it fixed first, if he says no , negotiate price, if he still says no, tell him good luck selling it then, and to have a nice day.

course.. bushings aren't really all that expensive as parts, it's the labor that kills ya so if you learn how to do it yourself, you'll probably actually only spend about .... MAYBE 300 to 400