Urgent Questions On Buying a 1995 VTI-S

[activeflush]

Hi everyone, not sure if this is suppose to go here on in another part of the forum but I really need some urgent advice.

My friend just put a deposit down on a 1995 VTI-S today and apparently it only has 50,000km on the clock which is very suspicious considering the age of the car and it was originally priced at $11,000 but they managed to get it down to $8900 in the end. Now i did not see the car yet but I will go with her first thing tomorrow morning because they also made a typo on the name of the deposit slip.

So I was wandering if a REVS check would help in this situation or any other checks that you can recommend, bearing in mind it is from a dealer, to either confirm odo reading or record of previous accidents etc? Is there anything major that I should look out for in this model? Engine, tranny, etc?

Should I be worried?


The exact car advertised on carsales link (http://www.carsales.com.au/used-cars/dealer/HONDA/ACCORD/details.aspx?R=8224623&__Dx=mode%20matchany&__Ntk=CarRego&State=All%20States&__Nne=20&rego=be46rd&__D=be46rd&silo=1000&seot=1&__sid=126250A83516&state_id=0&__N=0%20834%20285%20258%20287%201216&__Ns=pCar_StatusSort_Int32|1||pCar_Price_Decimal|0&__Qpb=true&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&distance=25&Cr=0&__Ntt=be46rd&trecs=1)

[activeflush]

Ok if anyone wants to know, I went and had a look with her today and the car seems to be in reasonable condition.

The only things to catch my eye is the ABS warning light coming up on the dash once I start the car and the dealer said he would fix this before pickup. Did not get a chance to look at the log book as he said that it would take him a while to find but again, it will be ready by pick up.

The leather is a bit worn, only 2 marks on the front arm centre arm rest, but it does look like its done more than 50,000km or that could be the age of the car? Otherwise the doors etc are very well kept. I said 50,000km doesnt sound right for the car but according to him the previous owner did not drive it much and afterwards I ran an rta check on the car and it only shows one owner from 1995 till 14/01/10 so at least that was true.

There are also wheel weights one the alloys so I assume they are balanced which is a good thing i guess. The only thing is the ABS, what could it be? Good to trust his word that it will be fixed or is there a big chance he'll just patch it up ready for sale?

[Troy]

One of my old cars (non Honda) was playing up with the air bag light coming on, I don't know what it was but the dealer fixed it for free, this was no warranty or anything. I just asked them what the problem was and if they could quote it first (I was uni student at the time) and they rang and said it was fixed, easy fix and so no charge, I was like "sweet".

It never came back. So if it's anything like whatever that was, it's nothing to worry about but double check everything just to be sure. $8900 sounds a bit expensive, I just picked up a 95 VTI not too long ago for $5000 from the dealer, talked him down a couple of hundred, but the k's are quite different. I have to admit I think 50,000 kays is a joke but then again, you never know.

[FAT VTI]

the air bag light is not hard to fix. it probably just needs to be reset but it might be on because it was in a crash.

U should open up the bonnet and look at all the welding throughout the engine bay and look for any rewelded spots. particularly check the seems are neat and match from both side of the engine bay. e.g. do the right side seams look different to the left? if so, don't buy it.

Also, look at the bolts in the engine bay, make sure they are all similar/same. If there is 1 random bolt which is gold and the rest are the colour of the car, it could mean there is something suspiscious going on.
check all the moulding bolts as well, along the inner fender (black peice inside wheel arches) for any bolts/tabs which have been taken off, this is a pretty good indicatior as many repairers break these when they get them off.
make sure these tabs are all the same.

look at all the gaps between panels for good alignment. Look at the rubber surrounding the doors, make sure its all tight and well in place. look for obvious blemishes in the paint. Make sure the rego sticker matches the vin number on the car. check for leaks, and if all else fails and theres anything u think is suspiscious then leave it.

at the end of the day, Honda engines are known to last. A car with 50xxxkms is good, but a car with 150,000kms isn't THAT much worse if it is well looked after in its previous 15+ years. PLus, the amount of wear and tear isn't that much on these cars, and they will have similar service patterns ie. 50xxx will need major service at 100xxx, where 150xxx will need it at 200xxx - normally earlier but u get the drift.

PLay it safe mate, if ur not happy then walk away.

[tru3_k177]

i bought my 95 accord 2 years ago and only need to change the clutch and spark plugs, oil, and coolant. (plugs, oil, and coolant is just to be safe). and after that, its been good... just installed a custom made speaker (planning to wire them end of next week) and planning for spoiler and muffler as well. thinking of turbo and nitros but heard that the engine cant take them. is that true?

[FAT VTI]

can take a turbo, a few people have done it.

nitros is another story.

[nickasse]

with kms like that as far as i know it's very hard to guarantee them
i mean, at 50k it wouldn't have had many services, so in between services he may have wound back the clock, let alone after the last service (say the last service was at 45k, back in 2004, if he then wound it back to zero it's not that hard to do 45k in 6 years...). unless it's serviced every year...
but this is coming from very little experience on my part, so yeh, take it or leave it.

[activeflush]

Update, the car was picked up with abs light fixed on thurs but today it came back on today, what should she do? Is the dealer still responsible for it since he promised it would be repaired beforehand? Either way I'm going to give him a ring tomorow about it.

Looked at the engine bay, when you have the hood up and look down, below the engine there is this metal plate not sure what it links to (exhaust?) there are 1-2 small patchs of rust there, any issues? Don't think there was any welding that I could see but I'll double check. Maybe I'll post up a pic next time

[Troy]

Make him fix it properly.

[FAT VTI]

if its the exhaust its fine, i'd be surprised if it wasn't rusted. Take off your headers cover and you'll probably be seeing alot of rust. So long as it's not a hole then its fine...

just have ur car running and try to hear the exhaust leak (hissing sound) .

I doubt a dealership would give a fk about a small patch of rust on an older car's header/downpipe.

[namtaro]

50,000kms? thats nice. just put a deposit on a 96 accord with a h22a, buying it for 8.5k wif approx. 140,000kms on the clock. hopefully pick it up tmr. getting it wif rwc, 6 months rego. reakon it was a good buy?

[Troy]

what model is it? EXI? VTI? VTI-S? What else has been done to it along with the engine swap?

[namtaro]

vti i believe, just has jasma muffler, hids, d2 adjustable coilovers, black housing lights, amber corners, and sound system(sub, amp, dvd hu, tweeters etc...)

[onlinewarrior40]

OP: Does it make this kind of noise? My ABS light also comes on sometimes when starting and then stays on. Took it down to Honda and they said it was the ABS Relay System (I think)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOq_5CYE270

They also said that the ABS should be functioning OK when the light is OFF though, which is good news as the light is OFF more than it is ON :-)

[activeflush]

OP: Does it make this kind of noise? My ABS light also comes on sometimes when starting and then stays on. Took it down to Honda and they said it was the ABS Relay System (I think)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOq_5CYE270

They also said that the ABS should be functioning OK when the light is OFF though, which is good news as the light is OFF more than it is ON :-)

Sorry for the late reply, but no it doesnt make a noise (definately not the one on the vid from 0:06-0:08).

So sitrep, brought it back to him and he manage to mend it (mend, see below) and said that the unit wasnt fitted back properly the first time and leaked abs fluid hence the light came on, assured us that it has been fitted correctly and topped up abs fluid.

So surprise surprise, a week after that on 14/02 the abs warning light came back on AGAIN. Called him and he said bring it back...again, so we have to make another trip on tuesday and see what happens... Quite tired of this now... Im guessing its either a slow leak from some where or he just cbb to replace whatever part of the abs thats not working ><

[Troy]

Keep on him, I don't think it's a matter of he couldn't be bothered 'cause you're gonna keep taking it back to him to fix it. And if it is... well he'll get the idea soon enough!