buying used - how many miles?

I'm looking into buying a 1990 Accord with 193K, asking price is $1650. I know Accords are great cars and you can generally get a lot of miles out of them, but this does seem high to me. It seems to be well-maintained, has had regular maintenance, new alternator, CVs, brake pads, etc. It looks good inside and out, and everything but the AC works. Good deal?

Would hurt to check www.kbb.com to get an idea of what they go for in your area. Also carfax is always a must in my book when buying used. But these cars are great. The one I sold had 160k on the motor and it was still running strong even after multiple owners and tons of abuse.

There are general things that do go over time. The motor mounts, TCU, vehicle speed sensor, valve seals, taillight seals, etc, prone parts that do show their age and usually go bad/need to be replaced somewhere after the 100k mark, but in general if it has been well maintained, 200k wouldn't sway me on a 90 Accord.

Ditto. I have friends with Accords going over into the 300,000 range and still strong, at that point they do tend to think up some bizzarre electrical issues and such, but the point is, IT STILL IS INTERNALLY SOUND....and can therefore always be fixed, just may take some patience (if you do your own work) or some money (if someone else does your work).

I'd go $1200 with the A/C inop...but that's me....sounds like the car has been a money pit lately, had a lot of stuff replaced, now the A/C broke and they are saying "Nope...that's it, no more...":shakehead

From extensive experience with older high mile cars, I can tell you problems seem to come in clumps...things break one after another until you think it's never going to end, and then suddenly it'll be fine for 40-50 thousand miles...

See if you can find out about the last timing belt and water pump job, that runs in 60-80 thousand mile cycles in those...if it was done last year, great...if it was back at 120,000 miles.....figure on having to do that pretty soon too, and offer price accordingly...

If memory serves me correctly, the belts+ water pump are good for 90k/5 years.

If memory serves me correctly, the belts+ water pump are good for 90k/5 years.

You'd know better than me on these...I was just assuming industry standard (60,000) on the belt + 20,000 mile typical consumer "it ain't broke yet...I'll get to it" pushing their luck, and a pump while your doing the job....

Those older motors didn't have the issue with the oil seal in the front under the cover that would blow and sling oil all over, did they? I don't remember seeing it in that generation....

These are seeming to fetch a pretty good price these days with gas prices being absolutlely obscene. If the one you're looking has been maintained well (regular oil, coolant changes shocks brakes, timing belt, etc) the milage should not be of major concern. I've seen that generation accords with 350,000 miles on them.

My 90 Accord has 230k on it. Everything works, including the AC. I did the timing belt and water pump last year. And, no, the seals typically do not blow out on these, but I installed the keeper on the seal when I did the timing belt, just in case. It still runs fantastic, and I would not hesitate to take it anywhere. IT has a cracked windshield, some dents here and there, the fabric on the interior of one door is coming loose, and I would not consider taking less than $1600 for it!! I know I could not replace it for that!!

yeah i'd buy it.. my 91 accord has 206k i bought it 6 yrs ago with 107k it does have cosmetic blemishes but mechanically flawless. Only thing i had to replace have been the cv axles.