94 Honda Accord Ex

I've bought this car for $2,400 (price was 2,995 for sale) and has/was 175
thousand miles on it since Nov. 19th, 05 till now sitting on 181,000 now
....I had pretty much change alot of new parts in it worth about another
1,500 which is new Monroe struts in the back, new rotors and brakes-all
(ceramic pad), arm in the back passenger side with ball joint and bushing,
ball joint in the front passenger side, CV drive axle, front right ball
joint, half shft core, the moogs, new moon roof, new front tires and which
the labor is along out of the 1,500 estimated about 500 dollars of labor
for all that with tax ....what do you think????
And i just had my AC recharged for 85 dollars 2 weeks ago, now that i
hear slightly wheezing when I accelerate ....what would that be now??????
I open the hood up I kinda suspect it's somewhere by one of the belts
because before about 2 or less month ago it was screeching (could it be
just maybe it's lose now??? or is it hoping it's not the "timing belt"
!!!!!????

 

I think one really should use genuine Honda brake pads. Less
dust, less noise, less wear on the rotor. The various "high
life" pads available on the market are said to simply be
made of harder material, increasing brake pad life but
reducing brake rotor life.

OTOH reports are that maintaining (= taking cuts on and even
replacing periodically) brake rotors is not as big a deal as
it may once perhaps used to have been.

If you're trying to learn something about buying used
cars, I would check the used car appraisers at www.kbb.com
and www.edmunds.com .

I think $1500 for parts and labor at a dealer's is in the
ball park of what all you list should have cost. Just
guesstimating, but figure maybe: $150 for each ball joint
(parts and labor); $200 for the CV joint; moogs (shock
absorbers?) $150; $300 for the tires; I dunno for the moon
roof but ISTM $200 to $500 seems fair; $100 for the brake
pads. This gets you in that $1500 range. You can provide a
more exact breakdown of charges and people can comment more
intelligently.

Did you have the work done at the dealer's?

Re the suspension work you had done: ISTM Honda suspensions
are the one area that could stand major upgrading about
mid-life. I recently developed, for the first time, a tire
wear problem on my 91 Civic, 178k miles. I suspect it was
due to worn suspension parts, many of which I replaced. I
did it myself, but to have a shop do it would have run
around $1000 I figure. (I had no ball joints replaced; just
did all the front lower arm bushings; the front springs; all
the rear bushings.)

Screeching tends to be a sign of a loose belt.

See the free online maintenance schedule at www.autozone.com
for your 94 Accord, and follow it. If you have no idea when
the timing belt was last changed, then bite the bullet and
change it as soon as possible. Figure $500 to $700. Get a
quote with the details of what will be replaced and post it
here, if you want help shopping around. The belt is due at
90k miles or six years, whichever comes first, for normal
driving; more often for severe driving (see the maintenance
schedule... ). If it breaks, you risk damaging the engine to
the tune of thousands of dollars of repairs /if/ it can be
repaired. They do break. This newsgroup does see reports of
failed belts.