Newbie here...Honda civic 1998..help needed

Hi,
I am in the process of buying a 1998 Honda civic Ex. The car has
84K on it. It has always been serviced at an authorized Honda dealer.
But the seller is asking for more than Kelly Book Value which is ~
$6700.

I have few questions and would be thankful to anyone who could answer
:-

1) Is 84K miles on a civic too much? I want to use the car for alteast
3 years and I dont want to spend too much on it.

2) Is Kelly Book Value Price a good point to start negotiation?

3) What other cars do you recommend if fuel efficiency and reliability
are my top priorities.


Amol

 

retail KBB on my 98 hatch is $7490. you must be looking at the tradein
or private party pricing.

if its been taken care of, its not even halfway done with its useful
life. its easy to get 200k from a civic... if its been taken care of.

if youre reading from the correct column in the book.

toyota corolla, tercel, paseo... possibly the mazda protege. if i didnt
own a honda, id have a toyota.

 

A Honda with 84K miles is not broken in yet. Properly maintained Hondas
will easily see at least 200K miles, possibly 300K.

If you do buy this car, get the timing belt and water pump changed right
away if they haven't been changed yet. I think the interval for this car is
6 years or 90,000 miles, whichever comes first.

In this class, the Toyota Corolla can match the Civic for fuel economy and
long-term reliability. The Toyota Echo may get better mileage and is
equally reliable; but it is smaller, less powerful, and has less options.

 

Just a small query... how much do you think changing timing belt and
water pump would cost at an authorized honda dealer? Should i offer 100
more bucks and ask the seller to get it done for me. Would that be
advisable?
Thanks

 

I am sorry i should have mentioned the fact that i am planning to buy
it from a third party and the KBB price i quoted was for third party
deal with exact same specifications and conditons of the car.
The seller is asking for $300 more than the KBB value price. As someone
here mentioned the timing belt and water pump needs to be changed. Is
it advisable to offer some more and ask the seller to get it done for
me? If yes how much would be resonable ?
Thanks

 

Well depending on your location, a timing belt, water pump and drive
belts change would run between $400-600 at a Honda dealership. I had
mine change about 4 years ago on 95 Accord and paid about $630 at a
Honda dealership.

Nick

 

Speaking as a '98 Civic EX coupe owner, both the owner and service manuals
recommend replacing the timing belt at 105,000 miles. And I've never seen
anything in there about " ... [or] 6 years, whichever comes first."
Mine has 96,000... still lovin' it, and yeah, it's just getting broken
in...!
PC

 

page 130, owners manual.

105k mi
168k km
84 months

- whichever comes first

 

I admit I wasn't exactly sure what the interval was for that version of the
Civic. I had thought perhaps it was similar to that of my '93 Accord, which
is 6 years or 90,000 miles... whichever comes first.

 

THANKS a lot guys. I have decided to buy this car for $7K. Although its
~300 more than the KBB. Primary reasons being, the car has been taken
proper care off. The first owner had never missed a service and the
second owner (current seller) too. I called up the Honda dealer in the
town and he told me about the maintenance history of this car. Also
very recently it has been inspected for safety and emission too. I test
drove the car too and it seemed really good. The seller says she get
36/30 mpg( highway/city) which is pretty good for a cash straved
student like me, specially since i have bought a Kawasaki ninja 250R
recently.

Thanks a lot everyone for giving me the inputs. The dealer confirmed me
that the timing belt and the water pump are perfectly fine are due to
be replaced in another 20K miles. So i am not gonna worry too much abt
it.

well I would like to have some DO's and DON'Ts regarding closing the
deal. I am buying it on a loan. Any thoughts....

Thanks in advance....