Dear all:

Here are the four cars that I have owned in my short 32 years of
life: 81 toyota corrola station wagon; 88 toyota corrolla station
wagon; 96 Honda Accord LX Station Wagon; and now a 91 Honda Accord EX
four door sedan.

I love this 1991 Accord EX. It is the first car with a
sun-roof/moon roof that I have ever owned. I love it. I bought the
car for $900. It has 123,000 miles. For a Honda Accord, that should
be nothing in terms of miles.

I have gotten a tune up which included an oil change and spark
plug change. The car runs great when it is on the road. However, I
do feel a shake when the car is stopped at the stop light. When I am
at a complete stop and I have my foot on the brake, the engine shakes
and the dash board shakes at a frequency of about 120 Hertz. But if I
put the car in neutral, the shake goes away. Does anyone know what I
can do to get rid of the shake. More important, is it something I
need to worry about? Is it going to shorten the life of the car if I
don't get it taken care of? One person said that it may be that the
cylinders don't have equal compression and the only way to get rid of
the shake is to buy a new engine--NOT. . . not going to buy a new
engine!

Other than this little short coming of the shaking at idle, the
car runs like a champ. It is steady and just hums at 80 mph on the
highway. I love this purchase.

This car was bought as is and I don't know if the car has ever
had a timing belt or a water pump changed at all. I am tempted to
tempt fate and just say that this is a $900 car that I am going to
take a risk and see how long it will go for without throwing the $$$$
to change the timing belt and water pump. I figure that the chances
of the belt going out on me is slim and I am hoping that I will get
some sort of warning signs if the belt is about to go. In terms of
risk and benefit, I figure that spending $600 to change the belt vs
the risk of the belt going at an inopportune time and blowing the
engine are about equal. What I mean is the the benefit of throwing
$600 into a this car may not be cost effective. What does everyone
think of my thinking? Is it sound or is it kinda foolish? I am
asking about honest opinions and I would like to hear input on this.
I guess the question is: is it worth it to spend $600 to change the
belt on a $900 car when maybe the belt it has on it can go for the
rest of the life of the car as is?

sorry for the long post. I appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.