I've been looking for a Honda Civic VX for a while now, and I just found this listing on Ebay motors. The car has had a lot of modifications and new parts, from the description of it. I'm not very knowledgable about these things, so could someone please tell me what all of this means?

"a 1995 Honda Civic hatchback VX standard not automatic with a new clutch,brakes,master cylinder,battery,ngk split fire spark plugs and moroso 8mm wires,cap and rotors it also has Takiio 5 way adjustable strutes,ractive headers,ractive headers,ractive coil overs,ractive racing gages,ractive short shift kit,AEM cold air intake,tenzo strut bars,tenzo exhaust,17" NICHI SYNCROS with brand new michellin tires,momo carbon fiber shifter,carbon fiber dash&peddles,alpine alarm with perimitter,interior vibrationsensors with led screen in car,alpine 7965 compition cd player,boston acoustics pro services 5.4 and 6.4 mids & tweets,3 orion nt2 with custom box and vinyle bolted to the frame,3 full ferrriet capasitators,orion hcca 225r amp,adcom amp with cooling fan,orian crossover,24k monsters cable rca the only thing wrong with this car is a little cosmedic work on the hood the car will do 38 in frist 65 in second and will go 110 in third gear this is a 5 speed i have had to put it in forth gear about 2 times"

There are pictures: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-Civic-VX_W0QQitemZ4572721302QQcategoryZ6256QQssPageNameZ WDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Could someone tell me what all of that means? Should I keep looking for one that is all stock, instead? Does all of that modification have any effect on the reliability or durability of the car?

Thanks.

It would take forever if I had to explain to you what every single part was, but basically he has a few engine and suspension mods with a nice sound system and some very ugly rims. Well if the suspension is tuned right then yes it will be nice to drive, but from the last part of his description it sounds like he has pushed it pretty hard. So if he has the motor might be very weak even though it was to start. Now lets say you bought this car and took good care of it then it should be reliable but with the sound system in there you just MIGHT become a victim of theft. Overall nice exterior (except the rims) and the motor seems decent enough for a daily driver. If later you want to do more modifications then this can be a good project car too.

It would take forever if I had to explain to you what every single part was, but basically he has a few engine and suspension mods with a nice sound system and some very ugly rims. Well if the suspension is tuned right then yes it will be nice to drive, but from the last part of his description it sounds like he has pushed it pretty hard. So if he has the motor might be very weak even though it was to start. Now lets say you bought this car and took good care of it then it should be reliable but with the sound system in there you just MIGHT become a victim of theft. Overall nice exterior (except the rims) and the motor seems decent enough for a daily driver. If later you want to do more modifications then this can be a good project car too.

Thanks, that is very helpful. And I agree about the rims. :)

What ought I to do before buying this car? Should I try to arrange to have it inspected?

And are all of those engine mods good? Or do any of them sound suspect.. would I worry about reliability for any of these things?

Ractive "performance" parts suck, they are basically a little better than generic parts. Not saying they will break down or anything, just cheap parts. You should definently get it inspected before hand and make sure it's running properly. And clearly he admits that he's been reving the shit out of that thing "will do 38 in frist 65 in second and will go 110 in third gear this is a 5 speed i have had to put it in forth gear about 2 times". I can do more than that in my CX (even longer gears), but I'd personally never do that to my car. Also keep in mind that that's an economy engine in there, and not ment for performance. So even with those upgrades, it's still not going to that fast at all.

I don't if it's just me but that did say he only had to go in 4th gear about 2 times..so basically he would always keep the engine at redline on the highway just because he was a lazy bastard and didn't fell like putting it in 4th and then 5th...I know honda engines last long but damn, don't be surprised if you have to change that motor soon!!( and those mags really don't go with the car at all)

Yea really if he has only put it in fourth twice im guessing he means he was in third cruising down the highway. This guy is crazy and he clearly doesn't know anything about cars and even how to drive one for that matter.

I don't think he would be that retarded. But maybe I'm wrong, ask him and find out.

Well that's what he wrote himself. I know there are people out there that are that stupid, I just wouldn't buy a car from them :D

I'm not normally too judgemental about rims, but- DEAR GODS those are some ugly rims.

They could be worse, though... they could have spinners.

those were some nice rims back in the day before imports were being tuned up but now, i think we could do without them.

YES those rims are hideous, but that shouldnt keep you from buying a car. There are reasons why companies make rims. As for this car he is offering $4000 which to me sounds a bit too pricy. The most I would ever pay for this is $3000 if even that much.

don't buy premodded cars ESP rice that was beat on.

Ractive sucks...so the ractive header and coilovers....those have got to go...especially the coilovers...DO NOT go cheap with suspension!!! The fact he says it will do "110 in 3rd" tells you he beat on it....why? It's a VX...thats a 92hp car tuned for emissions and great gas mileage, not power. It's the 92-95 civic version of the CRX HF...with a rated MPG EPA rating of around 47 city and 46 highway. Sure, it is less in reality, but the point is this car was not ment to be strong or fast...it was ment to get great MPG. Not all pre-modded cars are bad. If it's built right and take care of, and you are looking for one and it's in your price range, then that may be fine. However, if the cars been beat on, pre-moded or just plain stock...stay away. Staying "it will do 65 on 2nd and 110 in 3rd" clues you in he verl likly beat in it. Also, 3 farriad caps? Thats WAAAY to much. Caps are a band aid, not a fix. In fact, that many caps just serves to kill the alternator and weaken it.

If the system needs more juice, a high output alternator would be the propet way to go. The batteries job is to start the car...thats it...the alternators job is toe keep the car running and power it while running...and to maintain the battery. If the system pulls too much power and the alternator can not keep up, it drains the battery. A battery doesn't like to give up power and is slow to recharge. Now, a cap reloads and unloads VERY QUICK...so poeple think it solves the issue. No, you STILL don't have enough amps from the alternator to run the system. All the cap does it recharge off the alternator quicker than the battery and discharge quick...meaning it slows the discharge rate of the battery cased by the taxing system. This means your lights may not dim, but the car still can't put out enough amps to run the system and maintain the battery...it taxes the alternator and can lead to pre-mature altenraotr issues. If he seriously thinks he needed 3 caps, then the system pulls too much for the stock alternator and he used the 3 farrad caps to try and fix it. The car would need a good high output alternator then, like Ohio Generator. They install easy enough, but a good quilty high output amp ins't cheap.

It sounds like this car may have been beat on, and it has some things that weren't done right that need fixing. If this doesn't bother you thats fine, but if it does, look elsewhere for a car. :2cents: