used civic?

[blingbling121]

hey guys almost ready to purchase a civic, been for a test drive and it seems all good.

1996 gli civic
125000
alloy 15s
other than that all stock

6500 ( trying to get down even lower)

would have prefered to get it to our mechanic but it cant be arranged so looks like we'll probly forget about it. Any other basic things i should be checking (not very mechanically minded, me and dad)

also regarding parts, are honda parts really that much more expenisve, anyone got any examples of parts compared to toyota etc?

cheers guys!

[Lukey]

check for rust

signs of different shades of paint on front + rear bumbers, couldve been in an accident.

[mattchuej8]

Whats your budget?
i mean for another 3000 you can land your self a sweet vtec.
probably with more kms.
but it goes baaaahhh. lol.

Yeah, i from personal experience honda parts are quite more deer compared to toyota.

But yeah 6500 sounds alright for a 1996 gli.
its clean right?

[MikeyG]

dude get a rev check if u can mate

check for colours bumpers fenders everything possible,

inside must be very good condition if not it can tell u how the car has been treated

[kapten]

Honda parts are more expensive than other cars, but u have to check out the packaging, its massive.
If the car has got an alarm and central locking, make sure u test it, before buying, i copped a boggy central locking on my car when i bought it. If its not in proper order try dropping the price down a bit more, its things like that can drop the price. Also check all the lights.

[b4dnuf]

Honda parts are expensive.
Check for oil leaks, smoke from exhaust, rust, feel the clutch (press it a couple of time) if not auto to see if it feels notchy or grindy, get under dash to see if the clutch master cylinder leaks, test all electrical, check the bumpers are aligned, check the exhaust to see if it has a black tip if so it may be running rich, obviously the rest is the interior colour, wear n tear etc.
ask how often it got service and check the dipstick to check oil colouration
Good luck.
At least get a rev check.

[Simmo2302]

how i do a FULL inspection


first look over exterior of the car. dont kick the car over yet, leave it on a cold engine.


look for rust on panels, around wheel arches and guards, edges of doors and long bottom of inside of doors. pop the boot & bonnet and check along edges where water runs along (if car had been under trees leaves will collect and decompose causing rust)

crouch beside the front of car looking parallel to the car and look for dents on the panels, stand up and look for hail damage on roof, bonnet and boot.

look or feel for brake pad thickness on all for wheels and look at disc brake to deep marks/gouges.

look at exhaust for excessive soot, run finger along inside of exhaust and see how much soot comes off, may indocate running too rich (or running on shell fuel)

check outside wall of tires for tire tread wear mark will look like an arrow ^ , once found, inline with this mark, put your fingers into the deep part of the tread (usually the deep line in the middle of the tread) and find a 5mm wide raised lump, this is the tread wear mark it is 1.6mm off the bottom of the tread. if tread is worn down close to this mark u will have to replace the tires sooner rather then later.

also look for faded or msimatched colour in panels. ie. front side fender is brighter or has more lustre than other panels indicating newer panel and maybe an accident.

on the top corner of the front doors under the side view mirror look for "feathering" or a small dent. (it will be right on the very top edge of the corner) this will indicate a front on collision as the front fender (panel over the front wheel) has been pushed back and up onto the door.


next look in the interior. look for


faded or cracked panels, especially since most cars are more plastic these days. if has a dash mat look underneath for the same.

look at the upholstery, and tears or stains on the seats, carpet, roof lining, or door trims.

look at the seat belts for fraying, tears, and general wear.

look at the window tint, any tear, scratches or "worn away marks" (little circles that appear in spost from too much rubbing when cleaning or from old age)

turn on the ignition but do not start the car, check all lights, indicators, etc. also check the speedo (more cars have electronic speedos these days).

check the speakers on the radio, find a station u like or bring ur own cd with alot of deep bass, play it and turn up to 80% volume and see if anything rattles in panels or if there is distrortion in the speakers (speaker coil is on way out) do this with windows up and all doors closed.

check ash tray for any sign or cigarette ash, check the "hot end" of the cigarette lighter for staining, this will tell u if smokers have been in the car. if the roof lining is slightly stained above the drivers window that will also tell if smokers have been in the car.


next look in the engine bay.


while the engine is still cold. check the battery connections for acid build-up. if u can (bring ur own screwdriver is necessary) open the cells in the battery and check the acid level. will help indicae an old battery, also check for date on battery.

check radiator fuild in radiator and resivor tank. should be nice and green.

check oil level on dip stick. should be golden colour to light brown. not dark brown or black. (black indicates poor maintenance and need oil change & filter)

if auto, check dipstick for colour and smell. should be red not brown and should not have a "burnt smell". brown indicates need fluid change. burnt smell indicates old fluid, overheating, or gearbox on way out. cannot check fluid level on cold engine.

if manual check operaton of clutch pedal. should be smooth and not hard to press or jerky.

take oil cap off top of engine. look for any white in oil. white will indicate water getting into the engine. (if so walk away now)

check ignition leads for rub/wear marks and cracks.

check around the dizzy for oil leaks

check around rocker cover (top cover on the engine) for oil leaks around the gasket.

check for oil leaks underneath the car on the road/cement and alo around the oil sump.

check brake fluid, should be light and golden in colour if new or borwn if old. black is bad.

check cv joint boots and steering boots.

if u can get far enough underneath check steering rack for leaks.

check clutch fluid (if applicable) same as above applies.

if carberated open air cleaner and check for oil blown onto underside of the top cover or into and around the air box. may indicate running too rich or oil ring on pistion buggered.


now start car,


should start first time with no need to press accelerator. should idle nice and smooth without too much shuddering (may indocate worn or cracked engine mount if excessive shudder)

before the engine gets too hot take off radiator cap slowly. look for bubbles comming up in fluid. there should be no bubbling, if there is it will mean a crack or leak somewhere. replace cap.

take off oil cap from top of engine again, you will see fumes etc coming up, thats normal put hand over the hole making a seal there should be very little to NO pressure, if there is pressure valves may be not working properly indicatng exhaust gasses leaking into cover. replace cap.

have someone look at exhaust when first starting the car, any smoke is bad, blue smoke = burning oil. white smoke= burning water/radiator fluid (or oil & water). black smoke = running too rich.

put food on accelerator, red-line car for 10seconds and re-check for oil leaks.
this will make and "cleaned up" oil leaks visible by putting engine under high load.


take car for test drive.


test steering, brakes, etc.

if possible slowly drive car in slow circles (right then left), full steering wheel lock, listen for clicks, cv joints may need replacing is so.

when you get back, pop bonnet open (while car is running), turn off car then quickly (under 10 seconds) remove auto fluid dip stick and check fluid level.

other than that, trust your gut feeling, if seller is pushy or you think car is dodgy walk away. gut feelings are 9/10 times correct.

as a last thought get a mechanic or RACQ (RACV, etc) to go over the car aswell.

if dealer is unhappy when u mention this ie. if he says something like, "they will only pick the car to bits, etc" walk away he is hiding somthing.

Oh and get a REV's check, can be done online from their website ( .gov site ??) only costs minimal, most dealers will supply a BASIC REVs certificate when purchasing a car.

Also the average car does 20,000kms a year, so times that with the age of the car you want to get will give the amount of kms the average car that age should have and give you an idea how hard a life the car has had. ie. 20,000kms + 10years = 200,000kms. if the car you want is 10yrs and has only 150,000kms it has have a pretty good life. :-)


if i m wrong on any of this plz someone correct me.

better for people to think your a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt. :-)

this is all that comes to mind at the moment will put in more if i think of it.



P.S. a rep point wouldnt go astray *wink wink*


P.P.S. genuine parts r expensive $78 of an 02 civic air filter grrrr

[NightKids]

Holy moly, mods plz sticky the above post

[rayb3na_]

+1 for stickying that!

[blingbling121]

yeh we did a pretty thorough check and dad gave the rta a call to check if the owner was telling the truth regrading the amount of owners. RTA couldnt give excact details but tol us theres been 4 OWNERS IN THE LAST YEAR! owner told us he'd had it for 5 years. Strange thing is the services have all been done in the mostly the same place and 2 others local places

Going to give the owner another ring to see what he says.