1997 Honda Civic LX Buying Advice

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marc cooper - 15 Jan 2005 16:10 GMT

I am considering buying my friend's mothers 1997 Honda Civic LX. It has
only 67,000mi on it and was wondering if someone could tell me what
scheduled maintenance should have been performed on the vehicle as well
as any thoughts on any problem areas to look out for.

I think that I am going to have to replace the tires and was wondering
if anyone has any recommendations in that area as well.

Finally, I noticed that if I stop at a the top of a hill in drive and
let off the brake, the car starts to roll backward (this is an automatic
tranny), does that indidcate a transmission going / gone bad?

All responses and advice appreciated.

Oh...btw I can probably get the car for $4500.00

Thanks In Advance.

Marc

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motsco_ _ - 15 Jan 2005 21:21 GMT

> I am considering buying my friend's mothers 1997 Honda Civic LX. It has
> only 67,000mi on it and was wondering if someone could tell me what
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> let off the brake, the car starts to roll backward (this is an automatic
> tranny), does that indidcate a transmission going / gone bad?

---------------------
It's perfectly normal with honda trannies. Make sure to get the owner's
manual with the car, since your questions are all answered in there.
Just as a preventative measure, drain and fill the tranny yourself, but
make sure it's Honda Z1 fluid that gets used.
-------------------

> All responses and advice appreciated.
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Marc

'curly'

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draarc - 16 Jan 2005 04:22 GMT

Check for bubbles in the radiator or in the coolent recovery tank, as this
is a sign of a faulty head gasket which is an expensive repair. Otherwise
these are great cars and last well over 100,000 miles.

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Albert - 17 Jan 2005 14:56 GMT

>I am considering buying my friend's mothers 1997 Honda Civic LX. It has
>only 67,000mi on it and was wondering if someone could tell me what
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> Marc

Be sure to check when you have to replace the timing belt. About $400, but
you have no choice.

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Orick - 17 Jan 2005 20:30 GMT

> I am considering buying my friend's mothers 1997 Honda Civic LX. It has
> only 67,000mi on it and was wondering if someone could tell me what
> scheduled maintenance should have been performed on the vehicle as well
> as any thoughts on any problem areas to look out for.

As someone said before, the timing belt would cost a bit but it's
necessary since the car is more than 7 years old.

Also check the CV boot, rubber ages, my 97 civic EX had a torn boot
recently. It only cost me $95 to have the half shaft w/new boot
replaced though so it's not a big worry.

Other scheduled maintenance to look for in his record is:

valve clearance every 30 k miles
spark plugs
transmission fluid flushed with real Honda stuff
brake fluid replaced every 30 k miles

due to the Honda extended emmission warranty, once you hit 75k miles
you can get a bunch of free stuff like distributor caps, rotors, spark
plugs, iginition wire, oil change and so on. Just take it to any
dealer. I am looking forward to that myself.

> I think that I am going to have to replace the tires and was wondering
> if anyone has any recommendations in that area as well.

go with tirerack.com. I replace my tires last year. It made a huge
difference. The ones I got are.

Yokohama Avid Touring
185/65SR14
Blackwall Price: $44 ea

> Oh...btw I can probably get the car for $4500.00

That's a good price if the title is clean.

Also, the LX and the EX shared the same radio in that year with a built
in keyless entry system. That means to get keyless entry, all you have
to do is get an original EX remote. The programming is easy as long as
you have the stock radio.

And wouldn't you know it you know where I am getting at right:), I
upgrade my radio and got an alarm system so I have 2 perfectly good
remotes around for sale, 1 of them still looks brand new since it's
never been used. If you are interested, send me an email to ron_xu at
hotmail.

Good luck with the car and have fun.

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Thecarman - 03 Jan 2006 01:01 GMT

I don't know much about the scheduled maintenance or the problem areas but
I do know about the question about the transmission. There is not a
problem about the transmission. Most newwer vehicles have transmission
that let the car role back or down on hills to save on gas mileage.

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