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So basically I am looking to buy my first manual transmission car. I have driven a manual before but that car has long passed into car heaven 🙁 . It has been a while but i think i can still handle it. I have about $2000 saved up and about $3000 to borrow from my parents (i would like to avoid that). I am 18 years old and just got out of high school. I was looking for something easy to work on, decent aftermarket parts supply, decent power (not looking to win drag races, just something that feels a bit fast), fun to throw around corners. I was looking into getting a 1995 honda civic hatchback, but i am open to suggestions.
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Oh yea, finding a bone stock honda civic is really hard :(. and i live in a city where fast and the furious might as well be the bible. but anyways i’m still trying to up my budget. i’m now at 2500 and my dad offered to double up on me (if i put 2500 he will put another 2500). So I have found a 1999 honda civic si coupe with 98 000 original km’s. bone stock, safety and e-tested for $4500. Is that a good deal or not? and i completely forgot about the timing belt on these engines.
I did the math and that’s only about 61,000 miles on the car. That car is really young for its age. I looked at kbb.com and it says it’s a $5,000 car in my part of the world. I’m guessing you’re from Canada since the odometer is ticking in kilometers and that would mean the price I’m looking at probably doesn’t mean much to you.
The car sounds very enticing to me, but sometimes a car can suffer from a lack of driving. The car is either due for a timing belt at 60 or 80 thousand miles. It’s a fifteen year old car so plan to replace it now anyway. The thing I’d be worried about immediately is a caliper being stuck. A couple years ago I had a 99 Mustang come into my shop with 12 or 13 thousand on the odometer and the left front caliper was seized up hard. Look at the tires for weather checking & dry rot. If you can get the car up in the air for your own inspection, check out the fuel and brake lines. Especially the ones going from the front of the car to the back. Low miles won’t guarantee they’re not rusted out. Look in the air filter box too. If you find a rodent’s nest there, it might be a good cue to look the rest of the car over in the nooks & crannies for other nests. I’m not trying to scare you away from the car, but I would expect some immediate repairs or maintenance costs. It’s kinda like waking up a coma patient. It’s going to be a little stiff at first and it’s gonna take some time to loosen it up a bit. If you can find some evidence that it does get the occasional drive time on a regular basis, you can put some of my concerns to rest.
sounds pretty good as long as it runs… if that belt snapped your looking at another 2-3 grand in repairs
Thank you guys so much for the input, unfortunately the car was already sold 🙁 , and so my journey continue. And yea you are right I do live in Canada, rust is a very big issue here.
Rust is a big issue along all the Northern US States too. Perhaps you could pay a visit to Davidsfarm in Lucan, Ontario? Last i Knew his Aries Wagon was in real good shape and being its over 20 years old it dont need emissions and its a stick too. If i remember right he was willing to sell it for like $800
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