2002 Civic EX coupe
 

I'm considering a 2002 EX coupe that has a recent JDM D17a engine in it. The engine runs fine and the tranny nicely snicks into each gear.

I'm comfy with the guy selling the car and don't think he'd do me wrong, but I'm still a bit iffy about the vehicle. The main purpose of this vehicle is to have a 3rd car (beater vehicle - but still nothing that will nickel and dime me to death) that a couple of teens can learn how to drive a manual tranny and get some good, reliable usage out of it.

It's had a recent paint job (likely because it's black and came out of south FL). The paint is reasonable. The interior is probably 7/10. Clutch pedal is noisy.. not squeaky but creaky. Brakes work fine (new pads in front), rear linings reported to be fine. Ebrake works fine. The alternator does whine a bit, especially when a load (like the AC) is turned on.

The D17A engine has 48k on it, the car has 126k. New struts, front and rear. New timing belt, water pump, rear main seal, new clutch, etc. Overall, I'm pretty comfy with the mechanical aspects. Although new, the clutch still seems a bit grabby at low rpm (under 1000 rpm) when starting from a stop.

But I'm a bit iffy because it just seems a bit rough around the edges... lots of road noise (tires are pretty well worn with 3 different tire types installed). Sounds possibly like some drive train noise may be there. Doesn't sound like input bearing noise:

The engine seems pretty loud too. I drove another 2002 LX Civic with about 230k on the clock and it seemed quieter in general than this EX I'm looking at.

I have a couple of Hondas in the family already... a Pilot and a Ridgeline, so am familiar with Honda in general and I DIY for all routine servicing including brake pads, brake bleeding, tranny fluid changes, VTM-4 fluid changes,etc.

But I'm on the fence on this particular Civic. And it may simply be my lack of exposure and experience with the Civic in general.

Any thoughts from the collective Civic wisdom here? Think I'm being too critical and expecting too much from a 13 year old, 126k mile vehicle?

In contrast, my 2006 Pilot has 121k on it and runs like a champ. It's much more refined than the Civic. But I suppose that's to be expected.