Honda Car Forum

Hi, Folks.

I've got a 97 Civic LX, 4 Dr, Stick/Air/ABS, in Toronto, ON, Canada.
It's got 160KKms on it. (about 100,00 miles)

I'd like to hear your opinions - about keep it for a couple more years
and maintain it vs. trade it in.. (probbably for an accord)..


I purchased it new, in 97, because I knew it'd last without incurring
stupid high maintenance costs later in its' life. I'm now in the
process of trying to decide about maintenance costs vs. trading it in
for a new Honda.

Really, it's been a great little car. Totally reliable. Meets my needs
in all respects. I'd love to put it in a time capsule for 50 years and
see it again when I'm 83 years old.

I've treated it well -- done regular oil changes at roughly 5KKm
intervals, timing belt at 100KKms, water pump, plug wires, etc..


My problems with this one have been:

1) A little electrical problem that probbably resulted from driving over
an ice-bank up here in Canada.. shorting of something. Gauges all went
nuts.

2) I think the Exhaust manifold has cracked again (first replaced under
warranty).. Is this a common defect? The car has had no crashes, other
than typical canadian winter snow-bank bunking.

3) It seems to eat windshields at an abhorrant rate (about to put my 3rd
on it..).

4) Alternator went insane recently. Out-ed close to 19.5V, which cooked
the battery.


The current problems are:

A) The air conditioning is weak. I have no idea what that'll cost to
get fixed.

B) I own two sets of tires (winter, summer).. but only one set of rims.

C) Windshield needs to be replaced.

D) Pads on front rotors got done around 75KKms, I assume, now, at
160KKMs, there's significant cost about to be discovered regarding
brakes. (What's typical for this vehicle? -- rotors at this point? How
about the rear drums&pads?)




Thanks for taking the time to read this, everyone!

Replies cc'd to the (valid) email address included would be VM appreciated.

Cheers,
Scott.

Scott Davis wrote:
> Hi, Folks.
>
> I've got a 97 Civic LX, 4 Dr, Stick/Air/ABS, in Toronto, ON, Canada.
> It's got 160KKms on it. (about 100,00 miles)
>
> I'd like to hear your opinions - about keep it for a couple more years
> and maintain it vs. trade it in.. (probbably for an accord)..

ALWAYS better to clean it up and sell it private party. ALWAYS! ive had
2 salesmen tell me this, when i brought my 1998 civic hatch in to the
toyota dealers. checkin out the scion xA

in fact, one of the salesmen took my info and says he might be
interested in it for himself. i told him im in no hurry to sell, car
runs fine, etc.
>
>
> I purchased it new, in 97, because I knew it'd last without incurring
> stupid high maintenance costs later in its' life. I'm now in the
> process of trying to decide about maintenance costs vs. trading it in
> for a new Honda.
>
> Really, it's been a great little car. Totally reliable. Meets my needs
> in all respects. I'd love to put it in a time capsule for 50 years and
> see it again when I'm 83 years old.
>
> I've treated it well -- done regular oil changes at roughly 5KKm
> intervals, timing belt at 100KKms, water pump, plug wires, etc..
>
>
> My problems with this one have been:
>
> 1) A little electrical problem that probbably resulted from driving over
> an ice-bank up here in Canada.. shorting of something. Gauges all went
> nuts.

did you get the prob fixed? might be a loose connector or ground?
>
> 2) I think the Exhaust manifold has cracked again (first replaced under
> warranty).. Is this a common defect? The car has had no crashes, other
> than typical canadian winter snow-bank bunking.
>
> 3) It seems to eat windshields at an abhorrant rate (about to put my 3rd
> on it..).

im still on my first, though its sand-pitted.
>
> 4) Alternator went insane recently. Out-ed close to 19.5V, which cooked
> the battery.

you got it fixed, though... right?
>
>
> The current problems are:
>
> A) The air conditioning is weak. I have no idea what that'll cost to
> get fixed.

might just need a charge of 134.
>
> B) I own two sets of tires (winter, summer).. but only one set of rims.
>
> C) Windshield needs to be replaced.
>
> D) Pads on front rotors got done around 75KKms, I assume, now, at
> 160KKMs, there's significant cost about to be discovered regarding
> brakes. (What's typical for this vehicle? -- rotors at this point? How
> about the rear drums&pads?)

all that work is STILL going to be way less than payments on an accord.

SoCalMike <Mikein562athotmail@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:HZ-dnajq6Na47h_ZnZ2dnUVZ_t-dnZ2d@comcast.com:

> Scott Davis wrote:
>> Hi, Folks.
>>
>> I've got a 97 Civic LX, 4 Dr, Stick/Air/ABS, in Toronto, ON, Canada.
>> It's got 160KKms on it. (about 100,00 miles)
>>
>> I'd like to hear your opinions - about keep it for a couple more
>> years and maintain it vs. trade it in.. (probbably for an accord)..
>
> ALWAYS better to clean it up and sell it private party. ALWAYS!



Not in Ontario, Canada. Tax laws here heavily favor dealer trade-in. That's
why the private market here has totally dried up.

--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

SoCalMike wrote:
> Scott Davis wrote:

> you got it fixed, though... right?

Sorry, Mike. I should have stated that the numeric things have been
fixed. The "lettered" list is the outstanding (unresolved) issues.

>> A) The air conditioning is weak. I have no idea what that'll cost to
>> get fixed.
> might just need a charge of 134.

Any hints about what I might expect to spend for that, even in your
local currency?


>> B) I own two sets of tires (winter, summer).. but only one set of rims.

I guess I should just get off my lazy butt and call a few shops to see
what they'd charge me for a second set of rims, right?

>> D) Pads on front rotors got done around 75KKms, I assume, now, at
>> 160KKMs, there's significant cost about to be discovered regarding
>> brakes. (What's typical for this vehicle? -- rotors at this point?
>> How about the rear drums&pads?)
>
> all that work is STILL going to be way less than payments on an accord.

Mike, thanks for the advice -- but do you (or anyone reading this?) have
any clue what typical pad/rotor/drum lifetimes are like, roughly? I
mean -- I have NO CLUE what's typical.


Thanks, Mike!

-- Scott.

"Scott Davis" <sdavis@esctech.ca> wrote in message
news:z%Jgg.24923$43.19382@nnrp.ca.mci.com!nnrp1.uu net.ca...
> >> D) Pads on front rotors got done around 75KKms, I assume, now, at
> >> 160KKMs, there's significant cost about to be discovered regarding
> >> brakes. (What's typical for this vehicle? -- rotors at this point?
> >> How about the rear drums&pads?)
> >
> > all that work is STILL going to be way less than payments on an accord.
>
> Mike, thanks for the advice -- but do you (or anyone reading this?) have
> any clue what typical pad/rotor/drum lifetimes are like, roughly? I
> mean -- I have NO CLUE what's typical.
>
They could be anything. My '96 Civic with 160k miles still has about 30%
of the original pads and about 50% of the original shoes. But my friends go
through pads every other years. It all depends on how one drives, traffic,
etc...