An introduction (and a story) :)
 

Hello Civicforums! This is my first post on the site. I've been a lurker for a couple of month's now.

I'd like to introduce myself (and tell a little story)!

I bought my first car back in November 2013 after searching a while on Craigslist. I kept looking back and forth between Honda's and Toyota's, but I ultimately decided on buying a 1994 Honda Accord EX. It needed some work, but I loved the car and had no regrets buying it!

Fast forward to September 2014, and a tragedy occurred: my lovely Honda was stolen while I was at a McDonald's. Even worse, it was the ONE time I didn't put my wheel lock on! I was devastated, torn even, and I felt like I would never see my Accord again. I began to look online at stolen car stories. There were some good ones, some bad ones, but I ultimately felt like I would never see it again.

I needed a new car within the week because school was about to start for me, so my parents, sister and I began to look around for cars to find. We originally met up with a guy selling his 1995 Civic EX for $2200, but it had a lot of issues he didn't mention in his posting (such as an ABS light, which he said didn't matter because the car was too slow - BS!), even more than my stolen Accord. While my dad and I were test driving it, we told the seller how we felt about the car, and told him we were no longer interested. He insisted that we wouldn't find a great car at that price, but I knew he was wrong. We kept searching.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a very clean and nice looking Honda Civic, a 2004 EX sedan model to be exact. It was in a nice burgundy color too! I saw a "For Sale" sign taped to it, and when I got up closer to see the price, I couldn't believe it: it was being sold for $2500! I thought this price was too good to be true.

We knock on the seller's door and meet him. He was a very nice guy, and he even showed us his 2015 Civic, a beauty I must say! He also invited us into his house and we learned a bit about him. We discussed the car with him, and the only flaws were a minor coolant and oil leak (which hasn't impacted the car in any way even to this day), and the mileage: 270,000 miles, which I was initially shocked by, but my dad insisted it wasn't a problem (and it wasn't!).

We told the man about our situation (how my car got stolen, how I needed a new one ASAP) and he was very understanding about it. My mom, being the negotiator she is, convinced the man to sell it to us for $2300, and at the end of it all, I was sold on the car. It turns out that the man had a lot of history in it: he traveled to Berkeley often and had to go through a divorce with his wife, and used the car to visit his kids. He seemed sad to see the car go, but I know he will be pleased to know the car is in good hands. :)

After buying the car, we said our goodbyes. On the way home, I received a phone call from the Long Beach PD; I wasn't sure why they were calling me. I answered the phone, and they told me some amazing news: My Accord was found! I wasn't annoyed either, because I just wanted to know my car was safe and sound, which it was!

This post is getting lengthy, but I'll make a long story short: the Accord was damaged, but still drivable. I drove it home (the poor thing was super loud :( ) and thankfully made it.

Today, I am now the proud owner of two awesome Honda's. I definitely consider myself a Honda guy, and I'm actually on the eye out for a new one.

Thank you for reading my post! Honda for life! :rockon:

Re: An introduction (and a story) :)
 

Welcome.

That's great that your Accord was found. Hopefully they catch the people that did it. Your Civic has a chipped key so it should be more difficult to steal. I think you will enjoy the Civic, should be a little more nimble then the Accord.

Re: An introduction (and a story) :)
 

cool story, welcome to the site!

Re: An introduction (and a story) :)
 

glad you got it back - sometimes it's hard to part, especially if it's not planned...

welcome and take a look around if you find any kind of issues - there's lots of stuff already covered in the site (14 years in the market means most of the things that could happen to a civic already happened and it's recorded somewhere here...)

also, at every 100k, look for the timing belt to be changed.

Overheating? look into the sticky in the mechanical Issues/problems section...

check also for the compliance bushing in the front suspension...

Re: An introduction (and a story) :)
 

It's been a while, but yeah, I hope they're been caught. It was a terrible week leading up to it being found. Thank you! :)

Thank you! :)

Yeah, I was quickly accepting that I might have never seen it again. I'm so glad it was found. It still has some issues (like terrible MPG, and it shakes a lot), but it's my first car and it has performed reliably otherwise.

Excellent tips, by the way! Thank you for the welcome! :)