How many miles is too many?

[jennesy]

I'm looking into a 92 Civic with 172k. It has had a lot of work done recently (new timing belt, radiator, water pump, and many other new parts.) Is this too many miles? It works out to about 13k/year, which isn't too bad. How long do these cars usually run?

[AudioGuy93DelSol]

172k is fine. If properly maintained and not abused, I've seen Hondas with over 300k.

[elementskater15]

Too many miles is when the wheels fall off...my 92 civic has 210k on it and runs like a dream

[CRXperiment]

Originally Posted by jennesy

How long do these cars usually run?

They will run forever if you want them to and treat them accordingly. The fact that it just had a timing belt job is good. If the car manual or auto? If it is a manual, your transmission should last a lot longer. Just to show you 172k isnt that bad:
http://www.hondabeat.com/highmiles.php

[alphalanos]

Just make sure to give it a really good look over. Or take it to a mechanic that you know. As long as there arent any major problems, it should be fine. Make sure they havent tried to cover anything up. I thought my trans. was going out on my 96 Lx at 105,000, but I changed the fluid and its been perfect since.

[jennesy]

Thanks for the replies, I feel much more confident in the car now, especially after checking out some of the stories on that website!

It's an automatic transmission (I don't know how to drive stick). I'm going to look at it tomorrow morning and take it into a shop, maybe I'll finally have a new car tomorrow!

[95civicsedan]

does it start? does it go? Well it don't sound like too many if it runs!

[CivicSpoon]

I have 191,000+ miles on my car, and I just broke it in at around 188,000 miles. As long as you take care of it (regular maintenance) it will last for a long time.

[jennesy]

I got it! I'm paying $2000 for it. The car (mechanically) is in great shape - the owner has all of the receipts for the work (water pump, exhaust, timing belt, etc. etc. etc.) and all have been replaced in the past year. The mechanic I went to (Tires Plus, a chain, I know, but it's Sunday, best I could do!) said it needed new ball joints and a new CV joint. The seller alerted me to both of these problems before I took it to the mechanic. He's the second owner and appears to have taken excellent care of the car (regular maintenance, oil changes, etc.). Plus, new tires were put on last week!

It's a great car, I'm very excited about it. I think I *may* have paid a bit too much for it (the mechanic said he wouldn't have paid more than $1500) but I'm very confident in my decision and happy with my purchase!

btw - it runs great, and the seller just returned from a cross-country trip, which is a good sign!

[polacek]

I have 249,000+ on my 92 DX.

[Pavlo]

Congrats, if the car is an EX then you got a great car for the money, if it is a lower model, but greatly maintained and is good looking all around then it's still a pretty good deal for so much done to it. I got my car for 1500 with all the service records, and I am glad I have them, otherwise I would have to replace the timing belt and waterpump, but thanks to the records, I still have about 50k miles on them.
And about milage, mine is at 152k right now, I put catrol GTX 10w-40 every 2500k miles and a K&N oil filter. I drive the car really hard and it burns/ leaks only about 3mm on the dipstick every 1k miles. I think it is too early to put it on 20w-50.
Good luck with the car, I love these things.

[jennesy]

It's a DX, so nothing fancy. The stereo is kind of busted up (see my other post) and the driver's side door can only be locked with a key from the outside, but other than that everything is great.

What's the difference between 10w-40 and 20w-40? (I don't know too much about this!) Should I be using 20 since I have 177K?

On another note, the car is fabulous. I drove it down to Chicago yesterday (about 3 hours each way) and drove about 80mph the whole way with no problems. It handled great in the city, too, and squeezed into tiny parking spaces! I love it!!

[Greenblurr93]

use what honda recommends.. after all, they did design the car... which i know for my ex is 5w-30

[89civicRicer]

Originally Posted by jennesy

...and the driver's side door can only be locked with a key from the outside, but other than that everything is great.

my car does the same. i always just figured it was so u couldnt lock ur keys in ur car. i dont care if its not suppose to be like that tho cuz i dont have to call someone for locking my keys in it

[CivicSpoon]

It is a safelty feature, so you don't lock your keys in the car. If you pull the door handle open a little while you push the lock tab down, it will lock without having to lock it from the outside. And I have infact locked the door with my keys inside, luckily I had the passenger door unlocked both times. I don't even have a spare key, so I'd be screwed (have to stop getting high).