1999 Honda Civic?

My son is looking at a 1999 Honda Civic for a car for college. I think it has about 50K miles on it. That is all that I know.

Does this car have a good reliability record? What would an average cost be ?

Thanks for any comments !!

James

Reply to
James
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has a used car appraiser that seems useful, IMO.

Some suggestions for used Honda purchases appear at:

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"James" wrote

Reply to
Elle

A 99 Honda with only 55K mi is probably a reliable car. The only thing that you need to do that might not be obvious is make sure that the timing belt and oil get changed.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Thanks Jeff and Elle for these replies. I will look for further responses as well.

Thanks again !!

James

Reply to
James

Jeff wrote in news:q0dhj.3762$Z61.597@trnddc07:

50K miles is very low for that old a car. a 10 yr old car should have around 120K miles or more on it.(99's were sold in 1998,too) (12,000 mi. per yr....,15K/yr is average) is it a "rust belt" car?? flood damage? (Carfax may help finding out,you need the car's VIN,and it ocsts $40 for a month's access to Carfax.) It's possible the mileage was altered.Carfax will help there,too.

Auto or stick shift? Check tires for odd wear patterns indicating an alignment problem or bad ball joints. Take it to a mechanic or Honda dealer for complete eval.

Does it have the immobilizer ignition key system? Important for anti-theft.

I've read that 1996-2000 Civics have a high theft rate(popular with auto "tuners"/modifiers),and it's easy to get inside them thru the side windows;that little plastic window guide (at the top front of the door frame)acts as a lever to flip out the top of the window to be able to force it down and gain entry.

I'm not trying to be negative,you just need to really check out a used car these days. (personal experience!)

Reply to
Jim Yanik

I'm the original owner of a 98 Civic with less than 50k miles. I take the bus to work which helps to keep mileage low. I should hit 100k some time in 2020 :D

Reply to
ident

"ident" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

do you think you are the exception or the norm?

I also had a low mileage 94 Integra;only 59K original miles on it when it was stolen last June.(stripped,and torched...) :-(

Reply to
Jim Yanik

I'm obviously not normal! This is my only car and given how much thieves like Civics, it is a miracle the car hasn't been stolen.

Reply to
ident

Can't help you with the cost, but I have a 99 Civic CX bought new. It's got 209,000 miles on it, and it's been pretty good. Due for it's second timing belt, but still on the original clutch. Two things have broken in the past year or two. The blower motor has stopped working, and the glove compartment is locked shut. Being in California, I can live without the internal fans, and there's not much of importance in the glove compartment except for the owner's manual. Otherwise, everything is original except for battery, headlights, tires and brakes. I've done the oil changes myself for the last 150k miles or so, except for a few trips to the dealer or (gasp!) Jiffy Lube-type places due to unavoidable circumstances. I lose a quart of oil about every 2000-3000 miles, which I understand is no big deal.

But of course, my car is pretty basic (no AC, no power anything), so there's not much to break. As always, look carefully before you buy used. Take it to a trusted mechanic for a thorough check-up before you consider buying.

BT

Reply to
BT

"ident" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

I suggest you install a well-hidden fuel pump cutoff switch. Then they will not be able to start the car and drive it off like they did my Integra GS-R. (despite an alarm with starter disable) Gone in 60 Seconds....very accurate,in my case.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

The blower motor has stopped working,

Hey, BT,

Unplug the connector and remove three screws. The fan falls on the passenger's floormat. Your part numbers and diagrams are at

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It's -15 outside this morning, and I can't conceive of driving any vehicle without a blower fan :-(

'Curly'

Reply to
motsco_

It all depends on how far the car was driven and if there was another vehicle in the household. I have a 1997 Civic that only has 74k on the odometer. It was driven by my late wife to and from work which was only an 8 mile round trip. I took over driving it in 2005, when she could no longer drive, and put a LOT more miles on it.

After my wife died in 2007, her car sat there for 10 months while going through the process of getting the vehicle re-titled, and I finally took over driving it again in October. After I get the timing belt changed, I plan to make the '97 Civic my daily driver and keep my sports car at home! Oh yeah, and I also need to get the AC looked at before summer time. I had the coil changed in 2005, but all the refrigerant has managed to escape from the system. Refrigerant leaks suck and my prior experience with them is that they rarely ever get tracked down.

Now for an AC horror story: I always clown a friend who has a 2002 Tahoe and has spent over 6k on his AC that still doesn't work properly! He was bitching about one of his credit cards being maxed out, and I said that the bulk of his charges were probably from his AC alone last year. He said I was right and then started bitching about his Tahoe being a money pit.

Reply to
DJ NoMore

I have a 99 Civic EX 5spd that I bought used in 1999 with 10,000 miles on it.

I now have 155,000 miles. About 95% of my maintenance has been performed by Honda Dealerships.

So far, I've replaced the timing belt, the a/c compressor, and the catalytic converter. That's it! I'm still on the original clutch with no evidence it will need replacing soon. The timing belt package was almost $800. I probably spent about $500 getting the compressor replaced, about about $250 on the cat. On the compressor, I did aftermarket and had a friend who's a mechanic replace it. He did a great job, but this compressor is crap. In hindsight, I should have bought Honda OEM parts (rather than aftermarket) and had the friend install those.

I had to replace the CD player too. The radio worked, but the CD player stopped working. I bought a $200 aftermarket unit and installed it myself.

My oil pan has issues, the car drips a little oil, probably from dealer oil changes where they may have overtightened the dealie? My A/c blower motor has, at times, made noise for the past 50,000 miles. But still blows and hasn't made crazy noises in a long time.

All in all, I'm happy with the car. It's still my primary means... rather only means... of transportation on the 50mile daily roundtrip to work.

I would recommend the car based on my experience. YMMV.

Reply to
the phelper

Snips...

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't realize it was quite that easy. The fuses all look OK, so I'm pretty sure it's the motor. I looked at replacing it a while ago when it first broke, and went to the dealership in San Jose to get the motor. But they told me they wouldn't take it back if that didn't fix the problem. It was $140 at that dealership. I balked, and have lived with(out) it since. I know, I'm cheap! When it's warm I open the windows, and when it's cold I wear a jacket. I've now moved to SoCal, where I need it even less. The other advantage is I get to park in the garage because of this. Gotta have a warm car in the morning to drop the kids off at school. ;)

BT

Reply to
BT

Thanks. I found instructions on the web, but will wait until it is warmer outside before installing.

Reply to
ident

i second that. very effective.

Reply to
jim beam

"ident" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Heh,I waited,too......

Reply to
Jim Yanik

Hi,

Maybe a bit late now to repy to you .... I have a Honda 1999 Civic which I have owned from new. It has 67,435 miles on the clock. It was our only car that my wife drove to go shopping. I got to work via the bus. Then we bought a second car and now I have the Honda as my main commute to work car. The low milage is because when she had she would only drive it to go shopping maybe once or twice a week.

The honda has been reliable and I have changed the timing belt on it at a Honda dealer. That is an expensive change, about $US 700. They do the alternator and radiator liquid at the same time.

Problems have been the Check engine light came on a few times. Once I took to the dealer who charge me $US 105 and had no idea why. The next two times was (1) for a loose wire that came out of a clip (I found and fixed myself with the help of an ODBII reader) and (2) the other unforseen repair was for the primary oxgen sensor which I replaced myself a week ago.

Other replacements have been battery, brake pads, tires. It has always been Honda dealer serviced.

The car drives good and has never had me or my wife stranded.

Best, Mike.

Reply to
hobbes

Very nice reply Mike, and many thanks !!

James

Reply to
James

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