Aside from my usual oil changes, here are other major maintenance and repair issues for me:
I saw a posting saying 270,000 miles at the time he posted. How long can a Honda Civic actually go without rebuilding the engine?
I got 220,000 on original engine before it got totalled. After 200K I vowed to exchange it should a repair exceed $500. Always seemded to require about $1000 -$1500 of annual work in its elder years, but never a major incident that would say "junk it". (Half of the amount was a 30K major maintenance and wear-and-tear things each year.)
Incidentally, the car was so old, it lacked air bags which would have reduced the accident injuries. Several safety features are routine on newer Hondas. But the car that crossed the median and front ended me was a larger Kia mini-van and not everyone in that one lived. So I cant complain too much.
i have an 88 dx 9d15b2) with something like 232k miles on it. Still original engine. about all that needs doing right now is the CV joint needs replacing, i've a crack in the radiator (from when I pulled the intake hoses off, having dropped a socket wrench into the resonator bottle changing the starter) and it burns a bit of oil. Every time i've driven it, its had lots of get up and go on it. If anything, the interiors the bit thats letting it down - the steel bar has worn through the drivers seat door-side support, the rearview mirror is next to useless as it wbbles everywhere, but other than that, its still going good. Of course, its barely been driven in the past year. was parked up for 5 months last summer because of a bad battery, and no need for it to be used (we had a company vehicle and a minivan to hand) and now since december because the CV joints clicking and shuddering so bad, i dare not risk it (until I sell the aforementioned minivan, i can't really afford to fix it)
battery is one of those things i never worry about, i have jumpers in the back, and often a spare battery as well (a nice one that'll easily start a semi) plus they're consumables. You don't worry about oil or air filters, do you.
>I thought the Kia Minivan earned the best pick from IIHS. Anyway, I am not falling into that kind of safety crap. I only drive Honda or Toyota.
MAY have. don't go off all the time, and sometimes do more harm than good. Reactive measures are just that, reactive. they function based on what their sensors tell them. Don't forget there's quite a few people 9mainly front passengers) that have gotten serious injuries off airbags, including, I seem to recal, at least one ocurance where the deployment caused the passing in front or similar to drop down onto the passengers legs, this later caused a blod clot which luckily stayed in the leg, so it only had to be amputated.
Fun things systems aren't they.
Almost bought one in november - 'eugh' sums it up I guess. after driving it for 10 minutes we weren't gog to buy it, even without the hard sell the guy was giving us.
Have you considered the effects of simple age (in years) on a car? That is, the acids in the exhaust gases doing their thing over years, for one?
I know a fellow who is a courier in the middle U.S. (plenty of snow and rain, but not as bad as the northern U.S.). He has a 2001 Toyota Echo, automatic transmission. It has over
500,000 miles on it, much of this is I think highway miles but he scoots around in the city and 'burbs, too, quite a lot. He has independent shops and franchises maintain the car. The car has had no serious problems.I think you want to pay attention to driving habits (miles per year put on the vehicle; city vs. highway driving; cycling from cold engine to hot engine) and maybe locale when guesstimating how long an engine will last.
"warlock162" wrote
Have you considered the effects of simple age (in years) on a car? That is, the acids in the exhaust gases doing their thing over years, for one?
I know a fellow who is a courier in the middle U.S. (plenty of snow and rain, but not as bad as the northern U.S.). He has a 2001 Toyota Echo, automatic transmission. It has over
500,000 miles on it, much of this is I think highway miles but he scoots around in the city and 'burbs, too, quite a lot. He has independent shops and franchises maintain the car. The car has had no serious problems.I think you want to pay attention to driving habits (miles per year put on the vehicle; city vs. highway driving; cycling from cold engine to hot engine) and maybe locale when guesstimating how long an engine will last.
"warlock162" wrote
Many years ago I had the experience of working on a CRX Si with 325,000 miles on it. Hondas seem to keep going if you maintain them and fix what breaks or wears out. My '88 Civic DX 4Dr has 244,000 miles on it. I'm hoping make it to at least 300,000 - 350,000 or more.
Eric
Thats 250 miles a day, every day, for five and a half years.
Why is someone using the "T"-word in this newsgroup? :-)
"rick++" wrote
Yes. The guy had a picture of his Echo and him appear in a local paper, advertising for a quick change oil shop. The ad documented the 500k miles. He works very hard. Six or seven days a week, often in excess of eight hours a day.
Because here among friends, it goes without saying that a Honda will last longer than a Toyota? :-)
I have been refurbishing a long idle 1983 Honda Civic FE and had the fortunate experience to "borrow" an '82 model to use as a basis to hook up the rats nest of vacuum lines etc. The borrowed car's odometer failed at 324,000 miles and the A/C quit when the owner put in a can of "stop leak." No major engine or transmission work other than consumables along with water pumps, starter rebuilds, alternators and a new carburetor. An enviable record that would give GM, Ford etc. nightmares...
My FE project has 110K and I intend to drive it until the wheels are square...
JT
Great site!
"Robert Mozeleski" wrote
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