Bunch o' newbie questions...

[MTBguy]

OK, last friday I bought my first car. I am 19 and have never owned a car before. I was able to get a 1999 Honda Civic CX HatchBack. It has 150,000 miles, but had one owner, an older couple and it was mostly highway miles. They took very good care of it, the interior is in perfect condition. I got it for $6,900 from a Honda dealer in town. The car is basicly stock but it has had tinting, CD player, wheels, cruise, and side graphics added. My first question is, did I make a good choice buying this car?

Now, having never owned a Honda (or any other cars) I don't know a thing. I have read several people talking about 6th gen, 5th gen, etc, does that mean, and what is mine? On the same topic, what is the HP of it?

The car has places to put speakers in the rear, (it's got the covers and the hole in some plastic on both sides pointing up at the rear window) but there are no speakers or wiring in there. Whats up with that? Also, whats the best way to put a couple of subs in there, and not have it take up a bunch of space?

What is the average milage lifespan of a car live this (how many more miles can I expect to get out of it?)

I'm sure I have other questions, but I can't think if any right now. Yeah, I know some of these questions are stupid, but I know nothing other than the fact that it is an awesome car. Thanks guys, Todd

[Civic_D16Y5]

i think you couldve got an older car with less miles on it, beause i think the average life of a car is about 200,000 miles, but as for horse i think it has about 120-125 hp, and your car is a 5th gen 96-00


as for the speakers in back, they are 6x9, but its getting them out thats the hard part, u have to pretty much dismantle the entire back seat and paneling (atleast in my coupe they did) it could be differant in a hatchback

[GScivic7]

Hate to tell you this, but you got ripped paying 6900 for a 99 with 150k miles on it. However, if you treat her right, I can almost guarantee another 100k of that motor.

When people talk about 6th gen, 5th gen. We are referring to each generation of the Civic. 4th gen = 88-91; 5th gen = 92-95; 6th gen = 96-00 and so on. So your's would be a 6th gen. I believe that the CX's have 106 hp.

The speaker mounts in the rear should have wires back there. Do a little searching. When I bought my 4th gen civic EX, there weren't even holes cut out on the rear deck for the speakers, the rear speakers were an option back then. However, the wires were neatly tied out of the way with some electrical tape, so it took a little searching to find them.

I would say the best way to put some subs in there is to make a false floor. If you want to keep your spare, build the sub box around the spare. My friend's uncle owns a 4th gen hatchback with one Crossfire 12" sub. He built his box so that the bottom of it sits on top of his spare tire and he has a false floor over it. Very clean and leaves you some space in the hatch.

Hope that helps you out.

[Civic_D16Y5]

dang, i guess i know jack about civics, but dont worry, im learning

[jdmcivic04]

civics, well all hondas in general have a longer lifespan than most other cars, that is if u treat it right. is a a 5-speed or automatic? if its a 5-speed you'll have more luck keeping it for longer if u dont abuse it. also, thats more than twice the mileage the usuall '99 car has on it just to let you know.

[MTBguy]

It's a 5-speed

[PoisonFangs]

Nice, just do some work to her, maybe an engine swap and turbo or something and post some pics. Or better yet time slips.

[GScivic7]

Originally Posted by Civic_D16Y5

dang, i guess i know jack about civics, but dont worry, im learning

don't worry about it, i have been trolling Nissan boards for the last 3 months taking in information about my Sentra, I know exactly how you feel.

[MTBguy]

Originally Posted by PoisonFangs

Nice, just do some work to her, maybe an engine swap and turbo or something and post some pics. Or better yet time slips.

That reminds me of one other question, since it is a high milage car, would an engine swap down the road (50,000-75,000 miles from now?) be a good idea? And without getting into the tech. stuff, what would it cost to put something a little better in there?

Like I said earlier, I don't know anything, what would time slips be?

[tibby01]

he wants you to go to the quarter mile dragstrip and run your car...then you would get a "slip" for your time. its a way of showing a cars performance.

if you want a great site to learn about cars in general, go to www.howstuffworks.com and click on the automotive section.

[defmusik]

Originally Posted by Civic_D16Y5

as for the speakers in back, they are 6x9, but its getting them out thats the hard part, u have to pretty much dismantle the entire back seat and paneling (atleast in my coupe they did) it could be differant in a hatchback

Dude I just went through that two days ago. Took me and a friend over an hour just to replace my rear speakers....sucked ass man..I dont know why they didn't just make the speaker covers detatchable so you wouldn't have to go through all of that just to replace them.

(This is on a coupe btw, I don't know if the hatch is different, but it probably is)

[MTBguy]

Originally Posted by MTBguy

That reminds me of one other question, since it is a high milage car, would an engine swap down the road (50,000-75,000 miles from now?) be a good idea? And without getting into the tech. stuff, what would it cost to put something a little better in there?

Well, anybody have an idea?

[steve8091]

To give you a range, without getting technical, let's say $2000 - $4000 for an engine swap. I have done a number of bolt on's on a 98 hatch - let me know if you've got any specific questions.

[moleodonuts]

On the topic of speakers, I have a 5th gen hatch (92-95) and they have that grille deal you described, but there's no mounts for them at all back there. I'm not sure if that's the case with the 6th gens (your car), but for mine because they're not there, and because its not the current body style, honda doesn't even have the mounts to sell me so that I could install speakers back there .

As for an engine swap, if you want to end up tuning that thing and getting some speed out of it (which it doesn't seem like from your posts), then now's the time to do it, just get it done and outta the way so that you don't have to be replacing parts you put on the old engine. If you just want a reliable car that gets a gob of miles to the gallon, then I say just wait until stuff starts to go wrong before you even worry about it because then you'll better be able to assess your financial situation and weigh the cost of a swap against the cost of another car that would suit your tastes

[MrCrazy]

wow you paid $6000+ for a 99 cx with 150,000 miles, that seems expensive for me.

i have 95 ex and i only have 91,000 miles on it.

but civics make really reliable cars in my opinion.