OBD considerations when buying a car

[skate1968]

Hi,

I am looking to buy another used Honda Civic.

Are they're advantages to buying a "pre OBD" vs OBD1 vs OBD2A vs OBD2B civic? Is there an OBD setup that i should avoid?

Are the OBD1 OR OBD2A OR OBD2B civics more difficult to get past inspection? more difficult to fix? do any of them cause problems?

Am i overanalyzing this? being overly concerned?

I am NOT interested in building a race car.

Civics that are 91 and prior appeal to me as they are pre OBD and sound simplier. Another 91 civic sounds good as the one i owned was easy to fix -- pre OBD. But i want to make an informed decision. And want to take advantage of the best buying option that i find.

In my home state of Pennsylvania my 91 civic had lots of wiggle room when trying to get by emissions. Meanwhile i know that my mechanic had loads of trouble with newer OBD2 models (an engine light that went off 3 moths ago would create problems when trying to pass inspection).

Thanks very much for reading and for providing lots of great money saving advice over the years. Excellent forum.

[speediva]

I won't hold it against you that you're from the "wrong" side of PA. LOL j/k j/k

At any rate, I would say the biggest downfall of going pre-OBD is simply the age and mileage of those vehicles. They're going to have a TON of miles, have had a number of owners which may/may not include "ricer boys" who attempted to race (read: beat upon) the older/cheaper cars just because they could afford them.

My 97 Civic came to me with 186k on the clock and now has 202k on the clock (I've owned it just over a year) and it's OBD I as I recall. Never had a problem with it passing emissions (although I'm now in TN which has looser emissions standards than PA does). It's just a right solid car - and in buying it from a private party I was able to get every maintenance record he had done to it while in his possession.

Ultimately, I'd say that any Civic other than the newest generation (I just had a brand-shiny new 2012 Civic for the last month with all kinds of fun gadgets, but I assure you I would NOT want to have to fix anything on it) will be fairly hands-off as long as its been maintained through its lifetime.

Keep us updated on what you decide!

[skate1968]

thanks speediva!

[speediva]

Absolutely! Don't forget to check out the Civic forums (sorted by "generation") to see the details on each iteration.

[skate1968]

Originally Posted by speediva

Absolutely! Don't forget to check out the Civic forums (sorted by "generation") to see the details on each iteration.

I won't.

Someone on the EF forum advised me to dump 20w-50 into my smoker and it served me very well for years. I really ought to go back and thank him -- very simple yet very effective, money saving advice. Especially when starting it up in the summer!