whizkid
New Member
I'm getting scared ...What have I done? I was looking for a used Honda Civic for so-oooo long (first time Honda owner) that I could barely stand it ... and I did not have that much money to spend. Two days ago someone advertised a 1999 Honda Civic LS for only $2200 with 187000 miles. I drove two hours one way just to see it. (I had looked at a lot of Hondas in the past four weeks.) I decided I would almost buy anything at this point as I'd seen some very old rust-buckets.
This one looked especially beautiful; good body, shiny robin blue color, very clean interior, nice cold air conditioning, looked great and ran perfect. However, I noticed the odometer reading did not say 187K, but rather 330,000! The owner was a young kid who only had it 6 months and was (I believe) honest, but the owner before him said the engine was rebuilt and the actual (engine) mileage is 187 miles (no papers to prove it).
On impulse I bought it. I've had it for exactly two days. Now the "Malfunction Indicator Lamp" engine light is on (at first intermittedly, but now constantly) and the AutoZone fellow said the code is PO741 "air sensor."
Today, I checked the oil and (if I'm reading it properly) it's already about 3 quarters low and the transmission fluid looks more red-brownish than red.
Should I sell this car ASAP and get another Honda Civic (and will I get any money at all for this high mileage car???) ... Or, should I give it a chance? I don't have much money right now to spend on lots of repairs.
It is still running absolutely perfect (except for the Malfunction Indicator Lamp light and a possible oil problem - although there are no leaks, no burning smells, and nothing blows out of exhaust pipe. The front right of car does make loud sounds over bumps on road, other wise a very smooth, easy, and rather luxurious ride. Car "acts happy" is very peppy, very strong, and gets such amazing gas mileage, too! In fact, it used hardly any gas on the long drive home (I thought the gas gage HAD to be broken (it's not).
Any advice from anyone out there? Thanks
This one looked especially beautiful; good body, shiny robin blue color, very clean interior, nice cold air conditioning, looked great and ran perfect. However, I noticed the odometer reading did not say 187K, but rather 330,000! The owner was a young kid who only had it 6 months and was (I believe) honest, but the owner before him said the engine was rebuilt and the actual (engine) mileage is 187 miles (no papers to prove it).
On impulse I bought it. I've had it for exactly two days. Now the "Malfunction Indicator Lamp" engine light is on (at first intermittedly, but now constantly) and the AutoZone fellow said the code is PO741 "air sensor."
Today, I checked the oil and (if I'm reading it properly) it's already about 3 quarters low and the transmission fluid looks more red-brownish than red.
Should I sell this car ASAP and get another Honda Civic (and will I get any money at all for this high mileage car???) ... Or, should I give it a chance? I don't have much money right now to spend on lots of repairs.
It is still running absolutely perfect (except for the Malfunction Indicator Lamp light and a possible oil problem - although there are no leaks, no burning smells, and nothing blows out of exhaust pipe. The front right of car does make loud sounds over bumps on road, other wise a very smooth, easy, and rather luxurious ride. Car "acts happy" is very peppy, very strong, and gets such amazing gas mileage, too! In fact, it used hardly any gas on the long drive home (I thought the gas gage HAD to be broken (it's not).
Any advice from anyone out there? Thanks
I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful help and (especially) the moral support! I thought I'd be horribly chastized for buying such a high-mileage vehicle, and instead, every one of you gave such great advice. Thanks, thanks, thanks! This is a very caring forum! Good news today is I rechecked the oil and re-read the owner's manual; I was actually reading the dip-stick wrong (I think)! (It looked different than dip-sticks in cars I've had before, which tend to have a longer range showing the oil line). So, I don't believe this car is leaking or burning any oil. What a relief. Maybe it really does have a rebuilt engine after all! And the transmission oil is probably browninsh (as one of you mentioned) because it probably was not drained recently. I've heard conflicting views on flushing old transmissions, though ... I've heard some people who claim it's better to just leave them alone in old cars and others who say the contrary. Confusing .... As far as putting in a new engine, I'm a gal and not a guy, and do not know how to do that. However, I will talk to my mechanic and see how much he'd charge to do that. It would be better for the resale value someday. Thanks again so-oooo much, I feel a lot better now ... And the car still runs beautifully!