FYI: NEVER buy a car without service history!

[2o2y]

Just a FYI for all u noobs out there like me! Do not buy a car unless you know its service history! I recently bought a 94 VTi-R :thumbsup: with < 150,000kms on the odometer for $9000:thumbsup: . I gave it a thorough check over when inspecting and test driving the vehicle. At the time I thought I was getting a bargain! :D

Got it serviced today at the Honda dealer; check out the list of repairs which need to be carried out, in addition to repairs I had already approved. They quoted me prices for most items which need replacement:

Head gasket leaking, suggest replace: > $600

Brake master cylinder leaking suggest replace: $340

Clutch master cylinder requires o/haul: $488

Power steering pump leaking requires o/haul: $220

Cam end plug and distributor o-ring leaking oil, suggest replace: > $300

Rear trailer arm arm bushes cracked suggest replace: $460

Drive belts cracked, require replace *urgent*: $180

Rear engine mount broken suggest replace.

R/H gearbox mount broken suggest replace.

AWESOME! That adds up to more than $2500! :eek:

So please, before you get excited and buy a car, ensure you know exactly what condition it is in. Looks can be deceiving. Don't get burnt like me.

Feel free to reply with an offer for a car trade...

[Dell99]

when did u buy the car, i think if it has a safety cert with it you can take it back to the place. And either they fix it or u can complain to some dept?

thats what i always thought

[m3ntAL_l2]

9000 + 2500 = vitr
still pretty good i say.... atlest after the service u will know the car will run fine for a while

[2o2y]

Oh i bought it privately. So no comeback. I'm out of pocket. And yeah, once I have shelled out for repairs, i will have a vtir for $12000ish in good mechanical condition. Just wanted to remind people of the importance of checking a vehicle's history when buying a car. :thumbsup:

[EKVTIR-T]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck.You don't need Honda to do those repairs.
Try and find a reputable independent mechanic and it will save you $$$.
Good luck

[Bludger]

the log books mean jack shit.
i service my car myself.
you can have a friend machanic stamp the book for you and not have the car serviced.
i rely on my own knowledge of cars to make a decision to buy or not

[Bludger]

i dount the car would need everytrhing on the list.
if you don't know much about it, they could just say about anything, how do you know for real the things need fixing, or they just want to fix it to make more money?

[dsp26]

It is still a pretty good price if general aesthetics are in good nick however... check the points commented below...


Just a FYI for all u noobs out there like me! Do not buy a car unless you know its service history! I recently bought a 94 VTi-R :thumbsup: with < 150,000kms on the odometer for $9000:thumbsup: . I gave it a thorough check over when inspecting and test driving the vehicle. At the time I thought I was getting a bargain! :D

Got it serviced today at the Honda dealer; check out the list of repairs which need to be carried out, in addition to repairs I had already approved. They quoted me prices for most items which need replacement:

Head gasket leaking, suggest replace: > $600
- If leaking outside easily detected
- If "blown" and leaking internally can be checked in a few places. compression testing also reveals that if any 2 adjacent cylinders are the only 2 that are lower than the rest it is a blown gasket. check for oil in rad fluid, check for water out exhaust and near oil cap.

Brake master cylinder leaking suggest replace: $340
- visually inspected
- brake feel

Clutch master cylinder requires o/haul: $488
- depends why?

Power steering pump leaking requires o/haul: $220
- start the engine and full lock the car. it WILL leak somewhere and make a noise as it gets air into the system.
- if it's just a blown hose which is the most common, take it out yourself and get pirtek to make you a new high pressure one for ~$100 with all fittings

Cam end plug and distributor o-ring leaking oil, suggest replace: > $300
- can be seen visually and is dead obvious.
- both are very cheap items as that price you quoted is all labour.
- i bought a metal cam plug with a triple o-ring off eBay for like US$20 delivered and is easy to change. Same as the skunk2 item which costs quite a bit.

Rear trailer arm arm bushes cracked suggest replace: $460
- easy to replace especially if you have a rattle gun
- PM destrukshn as he can probably get it for you a lot cheaper.
- alternatively, take it off and solid fill it with sikaflex 252 for $20 and you have something for superior to the factory item in terms of rigidity.

Drive belts cracked, require replace *urgent*: $180
- as in the timing one inside the engine? order a Gates racing one from the states through eBay as it's real cheap. A lot stronger and cheaper than oem and will not stretch. Same people that make the greddy/grex ones
- if you meant the accessory belts their cheap as chips at auto stores.


Rear engine mount broken suggest replace.
- If it was that bad you would have noticed crunchy shifting
- also with the engine on, if you pull the throttle cable to rev the car and the engine moves back too much then it is rooted.
- labour is a bitch for this as it's hard to get to.
- in terms of replacing it, do it right once and get a full solid polyurethane kit which is cheaper than oem
- you can do the sikaflex 252 solid fill trick but suffer the 24hr drying time in downtime

R/H gearbox mount broken suggest replace.
- If it was that bad you would have noticed crunchy shifting
- in terms of replacing it, do it right once and get a full solid polyurethane kit which is cheaper than oem
- you can do the sikaflex 252 solid fill trick but suffer the 24hr drying time in downtime

AWESOME! That adds up to more than $2500! :eek:

So please, before you get excited and buy a car, ensure you know exactly what condition it is in. Looks can be deceiving. Don't get burnt like me.

Feel free to reply with an offer for a car trade...

[CIGXM]

That's very bad luck.

I agree with Bludger. I've even seen a logbook with a fraudulent dealer stamp made up. New owner took it to the dealer thinking they'd seen the vehicle before and told the guy "Who stamped your book? Cos that's not our stamp."

If you see a good deal, it's probably too good to be true...and if it really is a good deal, spending $100 on a mechanic to independently check it out for you is money well spent. Unfortunately, NRMA don't do vehicle inspections anymore.

But definitely consider other options than Honda to fix up your ride....you'd definitely do better than that. $220 for an overhaul p/steer pump!?! You could get a new aftermarket p/steer rack for that probably.

[2o2y]

Cheers dsp26 I'm onto it.. I am actually a bit suspicious about some items especially the head gasket, I saw no evidence of a leak, and I did check the radiator fluid and engine oil for discolouration. I'll get a compression test done. I will make my way down the list.. Haha.

[dsp26]

Yeah it does help to bring a mech.. and one always overlooked to bring along is a body repair specialist...

It is also preferable if you bring a non "trade mechanic" such as an experience forum member who has worked on the car inside out.

MOST mechanics still do things by the book and do not think outside the sqaure and only know disassembly and putting things back together. They GENERALLY know how parts work as that's what they learn.
I would rather take a "Performance Shop mechanic" who actually know what each part does and what the result/consequence is off modifying/changing/adjusting a part in certain ways.

2o2y: post up of ur findings and location if you need a 2nd opinion from someone who maybe in your area.

[Mr_will]

as has been suggested, most of that stuff you could have picked up yourself.

obviously this is easy to say in hindsight, but imo, if i dont feel comfortable looking over the whole car myself, i will get help.

and if a seller doesnt want to allow me the time i need to do that, which can take quite a while, then im not longer interested in the car.

[Mr_will]

Yeah it does help to bring a mech.. and one always overlooked to bring along is a body repair specialist...

It is also preferable if you bring a non "trade mechanic" such as an experience forum member who has worked on the car inside out.

MOST mechanics still do things by the book and do not think outside the sqaure and only know disassembly and putting things back together. They GENERALLY know how parts work as that's what they learn.
I would rather take a "Performance Shop mechanic" who actually know what each part does and what the result/consequence is off modifying/changing/adjusting a part in certain ways.

2o2y: post up of ur findings and location if you need a 2nd opinion from someone who maybe in your area.

this post and your post above are both bloody good. everyone should read them. twice. or alternatively call you when they are buying a car :thumbsup:

[dsp26]

as has been suggested, most of that stuff you could have picked up yourself.

obviously this is easy to say in hindsight, but imo, if i dont feel comfortable looking over the whole car myself, i will get help.

and if a seller doesnt want to allow me the time i need to do that, which can take quite a while, then im not longer interested in the car.

that is the correct attitude... but yeah like i said.. body is important too... my crx was a good buy but there was an acco repair that was so hard to spot coz it was so well repaired & hidden. i was too ecstatic that everything else was in perfect condition!!

[2o2y]

I agree with what you guys have said and i will get an independent mechanic i know to investigate it. Unfortunately my knowledge of cars is not intimate, so, for example, a little movement in the gearstick when accelerating and decelerating (indicating broken engine and gearbox mounts) seemed ok, as my old civic did the same thing. I've obviously sold my old car with broken mounts too! As most of these items are not absolutely urgent, i should be able to work through the list and repair one item per month. Keep the advice coming through, it's worth reading for all people here!

[jeffske]

Unfortunately, NRMA don't do vehicle inspections anymore.


anyone who is buying a used car should get it inspected by State Roads. they do the most comprehensive pre purchase inspections, mate of mine just had a EM1 inspected and they do all kinds of shit like depth guage tests on the paint (make sure no resprays for accidents)
costs $250 i think but they only do in the sydney metro area (as in they wont go to wagga wagga) lol

[steve88]

you still got a pretty good deal. i got my car about $3k cheaper (at best) and prob $4k-5k if we compare too a dealer. with that money saved my car had chips of paint it needed a respray, was about too do it 'till some kind lady smashed into the back of my civic so that was done for me. (would of cost me about $700, family friend panelbeater who doesnt do dodgy jobs)

any other problems? at worst my gearbox is ****ed and i am looking at $450 too get it supply/replaced (thanks to benson). i cant think of much else wrong with it, some in the engine are having surface rust (radiator clamp) because owner used too live at cronulla

still think u got a decent deal, usually people compensate lack of service history with a low price (they cant be assed fixing it, not everyone has time)

[Vinnie]

tough luck mate.

ide personally never buy a car without first gettin it looked over by RACQ (RACV etc.) or an independant mechanic coz i know i dont know enough to spot all the possible issues.

and as previously suggested, depending on how much of that work actually needs to be done, take it to an independant mechanic rather than a honda dealer and that bill will most likely drop considerably...

[defect]

also lads, why take it to a honda to get it serviced, a local mechanic or someone could of fix it for much cheaper.

[steve88]

you can generally over-estimate how much it'd cost too fix with honda (they'd wanna find as many problems as possible, and know how since they work with honda's)

[aimre]

Should have gotten atleast an nrma inspection.

But n e way.

I bought a brand new master clutch cylinder for <100 from desrtuktion and installed it myself AND lucky for u i did a DIY. Its VERY VERY easy to change. There u go i already saved you $400

[aimre]

Here u go:

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54438

[muhhan]

I know you would have felt hard done by but a VTi-R for $11500 is still pretty good. Are we talking Integra or Civic?

You could do most of the repairs yourself and you would learn a hell of a lot. I'm sure there are DIY tutorials for most of those tasks and the guys on this forum will be able to help you out.

Mind you, you would have only paid stamp duty and transfer fees on $9000 instead of the $11500!

[2o2y]

its a 94 integra vti-r. i agree, once i get everything fixed it will be all good. i just wasn't expecting to have to shell out so much $$ on it so soon. i had big plans.. stereo, lowering, rims etc.. that's been put off for at least a year now! ahh, the joys of being a poor uni student. thanks for your help guys. big love.