1992 Civic VX with 134,600 miles in New Castle, DE

[aronhk_md]

$1800 cash, and would consider trades/partial trades for firearms, LED TV, aluminum boats with outboard (nothing too old on the engines), rigid inflatable boat with outboard, fiberglass or composite canoes, dual sport or street motorcycle.........and maybe other things. Cant hurt to ask.

NEW:
clutch master cylinder
rear drums & shoes
5 wire O2 sensor
clutch/flywheel
transaxles/boots

I picked up this civic last year with the intent to use as a daily driver. I ignored the dented front fenders, hood, cracked windshield and crappy attempt to fix the rust around the rear wheel wells in favor of a low mileage VX with a new 5 wire O2 sensor that ran very well. The car seems to be lowered slightly, and I know it has aftermarket coil springs and I believe A arms.

I had the new clutch installed, and was on the search for new fenders and hood. On ebay they are cheap enough...$70 shipped for each fender and a little more for the hood......with shipping included.

Thats when someone stole the carbon fiber rear spoiler from it, the carbon fiber shift knob, aftermarket headlights/turn signals and aftermarket rear light, and the alpine stereo.

I now have a stock spoiler and stock headlights ready to install, but have not gotten around to it. I started it frequently until about 6 weeks ago, and when I went out to start it the other day the alternator is frozen and it burned off the belt before I realized it.

Interior is decent, with non-original front seats in it. They look ok but have a couple of small holes...maybe cigarette burns. Otherwise the interior is pretty nice. So here is what it needs:

hood
fenders (they are dented and you could drive with them for a while, but...)
tail lights
shift knob
alternator
windshield
rear brake cylinder (leaks a little...they are like $8 at Napa)

All told I figure about $350 and she could be on the road in a day.

The headlights and spoiler I now have, but need to be installed. I have 6 other cars, 2 of which are muscle car projects, and I just have not gotten around to this one again. The alternator was the last straw from sitting the past 6 weeks.....so I decided to find her a home that needs her. There are very few left with low mileage.

Be aware...pictures make it look prettier body/paint wise than it actually appears, and they were taken before the spoiler, headlights, tail lights, radio and shifter knob were stolen.

[aronhk_md]

lowered to $1700

[VX_Arky]

hood
fenders (they are dented and you could drive with them for a while, but...)
tail lights
shift knob
alternator
windshield
rear brake cylinder (leaks a little...they are like $8 at Napa)

All told I figure about $350 and she could be on the road in a day.


Not trying to be a jerk, but let's be realistic. For someone that is NOT a mechanic such as myself, there is no way in the WORLD that all this gets done for $350. You might want to consider lowering your price again because you'll be hardpressed to get your price with this many issues. GLWS

[aronhk_md]

Hmmm...where to start with this one. I dont know what you paid for your VX, but most of them today generally are in the $2200-$3500 range, yes....often with some rust and a few issues that most used cars this age have. Are there any steals out there.....incredible cars for $900? I'm sure there are. But not many.

Most of the cars I've mentioned have between 200,000 to 250,000 miles on them too.

Its quite obvious my sales ad was aimed at someone not afraid to pick up a wrench and a screwdriver. There is nothing here a mechanic should really be needed for.

BUT.....lets just say you have no clue about the difference between a LEFT and RIGHT handed screwdriver.....and you were interested in a low mileage VX like the one I have. Someone such as yourself. What to do?

How about keeping an eye on the classifieds, as I have done, and picking up for $50 a hood, one fender, a good alternator with belt, tail lamps, shift knob.......oh and all the components for air conditioning just in case it would be something cool (pun intended) to add later.

It took me one hour to install it all, including the alternator AND the headlights which I'd already had, the rear spoiler which I already had, etc.

But as you mentioned YOU dont know how to put these items in, so any qualified mechanic or even handyman could have equaled my trained hobbyist capabilities and done it in an hr too. Shop rate around here is $65 an hr. Adjust that if you dont live near me.....but if you dont live near me, why were you commenting or even bothering to look at my ad?

So now, YOU (so to speak) have spent $50 in parts and $65 to have someone install them. Throw in an $8 brake cylinder and lets just say THAT 10 minute job took YOUR mechanic another hr to do. So another $65 (I really wouldnt recommend you go back to him at this point because he is ripping you off). Add to that the $175 a local shop here will charge for a windshield installed, and another $20 to have a set of wiper blades installed that you could have installed yourself for $10......but I KNOW if you cant figure out that left handed screwdriver that wiper blades are a pipe dream...so having them installed at Pep Boys (or your equivalent, but I know now you live near me and you must have Pep Boys too!) is the way to go.

Since you hired someone to do the work, it cost you $385. And it took 2 hrs, not a whole day. Thats $35 more than I estimated, and true it doesnt include installing the one fender I got, or the price of another fender and installation, but it does get the car driveable and presentable and it also includes a set of wiper blades installed. So total cost for your LOW MILEAGE VX would now be $2100 (I rounded up a bit), which I think isnt too bad.

I spent $58 doing it myself, plus the $175 I havent spent yet on the windshield for a total of $233..........which ANYONE who knows how to use that left and right handed screwdriver could have duplicated. "this many issues" as you stated were mostly pretty minor things like turning the shifter knob clockwise on the shifter shaft until it was tight, and installing head and tail lamps. I was not degreeing a cam or checking bearing clearances.

Not trying to be a jerk, but let's be realistic.....if you dont have any mechanical skills at all perhaps you shouldnt be looking at 21 year old cars for sale, or owning one for that matter. A car with a warranty would be best. Or if you do buy used and older, expect to pay to have someone work on it.

As for my price....its all done except the windshield. I havent decided if I'm going to raise the price yet or not.

The car has a new clutch, 134,600 miles, a few small cosmetic issues and a windshield with a crack near the bottom that many states would allow through inspection as is.

P.S. - on most forums, commenting negatively about someone's "for sale" ad, whether regarding the price, the product or anything...is considered bad manners and not usually acceptable. Had you felt my price was high and wanted to make an offer the usual way to do it is to PM someone with an offer or suggestion.

[IndyFetch]

Originally Posted by aronhk_md

Hmmm...where to start with this one. I dont know what you paid for your VX, but most of them today generally are in the $2200-$3500 range, yes....often with some rust and a few issues that most used cars this age have. Are there any steals out there.....incredible cars for $900? I'm sure there are. But not many.

Most of the cars I've mentioned have between 200,000 to 250,000 miles on them too.

Its quite obvious my sales ad was aimed at someone not afraid to pick up a wrench and a screwdriver. There is nothing here a mechanic should really be needed for.

BUT.....lets just say you have no clue about the difference between a LEFT and RIGHT handed screwdriver.....and you were interested in a low mileage VX like the one I have. Someone such as yourself. What to do?

How about keeping an eye on the classifieds, as I have done, and picking up for $50 a hood, one fender, a good alternator with belt, tail lamps, shift knob.......oh and all the components for air conditioning just in case it would be something cool (pun intended) to add later.

It took me one hour to install it all, including the alternator AND the headlights which I'd already had, the rear spoiler which I already had, etc.

But as you mentioned YOU dont know how to put these items in, so any qualified mechanic or even handyman could have equaled my trained hobbyist capabilities and done it in an hr too. Shop rate around here is $65 an hr. Adjust that if you dont live near me.....but if you dont live near me, why were you commenting or even bothering to look at my ad?

So now, YOU (so to speak) have spent $50 in parts and $65 to have someone install them. Throw in an $8 brake cylinder and lets just say THAT 10 minute job took YOUR mechanic another hr to do. So another $65 (I really wouldnt recommend you go back to him at this point because he is ripping you off). Add to that the $175 a local shop here will charge for a windshield installed, and another $20 to have a set of wiper blades installed that you could have installed yourself for $10......but I KNOW if you cant figure out that left handed screwdriver that wiper blades are a pipe dream...so having them installed at Pep Boys (or your equivalent, but I know now you live near me and you must have Pep Boys too!) is the way to go.

Since you hired someone to do the work, it cost you $385. And it took 2 hrs, not a whole day. Thats $35 more than I estimated, and true it doesnt include installing the one fender I got, or the price of another fender and installation, but it does get the car driveable and presentable and it also includes a set of wiper blades installed. So total cost for your LOW MILEAGE VX would now be $2100 (I rounded up a bit), which I think isnt too bad.

I spent $58 doing it myself, plus the $175 I havent spent yet on the windshield for a total of $233..........which ANYONE who knows how to use that left and right handed screwdriver could have duplicated. "this many issues" as you stated were mostly pretty minor things like turning the shifter knob clockwise on the shifter shaft until it was tight, and installing head and tail lamps. I was not degreeing a cam or checking bearing clearances.

Not trying to be a jerk, but let's be realistic.....if you dont have any mechanical skills at all perhaps you shouldnt be looking at 21 year old cars for sale, or owning one for that matter. A car with a warranty would be best. Or if you do buy used and older, expect to pay to have someone work on it.

As for my price....its all done except the windshield. I havent decided if I'm going to raise the price yet or not.

The car has a new clutch, 134,600 miles, a few small cosmetic issues and a windshield with a crack near the bottom that many states would allow through inspection as is.

P.S. - on most forums, commenting negatively about someone's "for sale" ad, whether regarding the price, the product or anything...is considered bad manners and not usually acceptable. Had you felt my price was high and wanted to make an offer the usual way to do it is to PM someone with an offer or suggestion.

All that Arky did is point out that it is not a good buy to a non-mechanic... which you took offense to and went on a rant that accused him of "not knowing the difference between a left-handed and a right-handed screwdriver." Now who is being rude? I agree with Arky... for $1,700 with all the missing items... that was not a great deal. I myself picked up a stock, rust-free '95 VX in the height of $4 gas prices in 2008. I paid $1,350.

[aronhk_md]

No, what is rude is both of you coming into my classified ad and indicating in some way that the car I'm selling is not worth what I am asking in your opinion. MOST forums have rules against this, for obvious reasons. If the price is too high, people have the choice to move on to the next classified ad.

My "rant" as you call it was a thorough explanation as to how my $350 estimate was still valid even if he had paid someone to do the work. My use of the left handed screwdriver was a sarcastic way of pointing out that even your average person with "no mechanics skills" is still capable of doing most of what needed doing. And of course the sarcasm was in response to the initial rude comment about the price I asked for my car.

Its not like I came in here bumping my ad every few days and annoying people. I'm glad you got your pristine VX for that price, but most are not priced there....IF you can find one at all. And if the value is in my mind alone, then so be it.

[theholycow]

It appears that his intention was not to offend you, but rather to assist you.

No further discussion of the issue will be necessary. It's all been said. We can all move on now.

[GasSavers_WD40]

I'm with aronhk_md on this .. if you don't like the ad move along .. its just that easy .. seems everyone assumes that because your in a forum it entitles you to pass on your opinion on every post

[VX_Arky]

Hey guys, sorry about my comment! I was afraid it might be taken personal. I was right! I didn't mean to cause an argument. You make many great points aronhk! The more I think about what you said, the more I'm sure you can sell it for what you're asking. Again, sorry about the comment. My intentions were not to be harmful.

[aronhk_md]

Not sure why I didnt get the replies by email, but I didnt see them. I appreciate the apology arky. I also wasnt trying to be rude in my response, although I guess I was a little annoyed and went to the extreme of spelling out what could be done in a way that was a bit sarcastic.

This car is similar to the red 92 VX in Maryland that you posted a link to recently on ebay. That one sold for $2650 on ebay. Hmmm...I'm in the same area, maybe I should put it on ebay. lol That car had 200,000 miles.....mine has under 140,000.

I havent been trying very hard to sell it. At this point if I get the windshield done I may just tag it and drive it for a while. Oddly enough there are TWO other VX's for sale in Delaware on craigslist. They have also been for sale for a while with dropping price tags. You almost never see one around here.