Looking to buy a 1994 VX. Need help with price

[72lml]

Hi everybody I'm new to the forums but I am sure glad that I found this site. I need a little help with putting the value on a 1994 Civic VX. It has just a hair over 100,000 miles on it. New timing belt and water pump. Needs an O2 sensor, and has new paint.

The rear quarter panels were rusty but when it was painted it was "fixed" with glass body filler, not welded in metal. The driver?s door was also repaired by cutting off the bottom and welding in new metal. The new paint job has some serious "orange peel" going on in spots but for the most part looks decent.

Interior is nice and clean and everything seems to work. The car does not have AC, it is a bare bones car, just a radio and heater. The clutch is good and tires are mismatched front to back but are ok.

Car drives well and suspension feels tight.

Price: $3,500

Seems a little steep to me considering that it needs a $400 O2 sensor. Blue book puts it at $3,200 so I was thinking about offering $3,000 with the O2 sensor fixed. (It is a repair shop that owns it). It that unreasonable? Should I offer more? Less? What else should I be concerned about when looking at these cars?

I have a chance to look at a 1992 CX that sounds like it is a little but more cosmetically and mechanically challenged but is only $1,300, but it is going to need a new throw out bearing. Any thoughts on this car?

Thanks for the help

Nathan

[Danronian]

The VX does sound steep to me too. The bad VX sensor should throw a Check Engine Light, and in reality, lowers the value of the car a lot. The sensor costs $400 without installation costs, so I see the $3500 price as much too high. From the sounds of it I wouldn't pay more than $2500 for a VX that has bad paint and that needs an O2 sensor. The mileage is low on it, but 100k miles is also where most Hondas end up needing maintenance items such as brakes, master cylinders, alternator, and sometimes the clutch. The VX is far superior at highway MPG than the Cx.

The Cx needing a throwout bearing is a costly repair. Replacing it involves taking off the tranny, and generaly the clutch is replaced at the same time since it is easy to do while replacing that bearing. A clutch kit (with throw-out bearing) will be about $150 and installation will be around $300 at most shops.

From this, the Cx seems like the better choice to me (since it does have the same tranny as the Vx, it only lacks the power of vtec-e, and lean-burn which the Vx has).

[GasSavers_BIBI]

he O2 sensor coast me 250$ (honda dealer) and its canadian money. I paid like 330$ installed with taxe. So MAX 350 US$ I say. I changed it a month ago...

2800 with the O2 sensor changed would be a good target, no more.

[garyhgaryh]

That's a bit steep. I'd try to get it down to high 2,000 or even $3k!
good luck.
Gary

[panamacolin]

Post Some Pictures And It Would Be Easier To Judge Price.

3500 Seems Steep I Paid 3200 For Mine And It Pretty Minty With A/c A 1995 And Under 100k When I Got It.

Check Out My Avatar And Garage For Pics And About The Car...i Got Lucky I Think But....i Think I Would Pass On The Current One...

[Sigifrith]

You can get a new O2 sensor & special socket for $200 tops. If you can change a spark plug, you should be able to change the O2 sensor.
See TomO's links for sensor prices.

[72lml]

Replacing the O2 sensor is no big deal for me. I've done plenty of work on cars and I think that I can handle it. It just scared me when the guy said that his cost on the sensor was $310 from Napa. I looked at the links that TomO has and the O2 link brought up a eBay search that has a buy it now price for $175.00 + $5.00 for shipping. Much better than $310. I am thinking about offering him $2,600 and not replacing the sensor and going up to $2,800 max so I can stay around the $3,000 price range. Sound reasonable? Anything else that I should look for?

Nathan

[gamby]

If it's rust-free, accident-free and has well-done new paint, then 100k is LOW mileage for a 13 y/o car.

If you don't buy it, someone else will. He'll definitely get damn close to his asking price.

The average person in the market for that car is going to tear out the stock engine and suspension, anyway. A clean, rust-free EG Civic is a real commodity these days. Seems like the prices are going up, from what I've been seeing.

[72lml]

That's the thing. It wasn't rust free. It might technically be now but the holes in the rear quarters were repaired with body filler and the drivers door had the bottom cut off and new metal welded in. I never looked at the underbody to see how that was. The paint is ok but it has a ton of orange peel in spots. It?s definitely not as quality of a job as the factor paint job.

[smccall]

Originally Posted by 72lml

Replacing the O2 sensor is no big deal for me. I've done plenty of work on cars and I think that I can handle it. It just scared me when the guy said that his cost on the sensor was $310 from Napa. I looked at the links that TomO has and the O2 link brought up a eBay search that has a buy it now price for $175.00 + $5.00 for shipping. Much better than $310. I am thinking about offering him $2,600 and not replacing the sensor and going up to $2,800 max so I can stay around the $3,000 price range. Sound reasonable? Anything else that I should look for?

Nathan

You should go with your plan. 2600-2800 is definitely not off based on your description of the car. The listed price is never the final asking price. The seller is going to ask as much as he thinks he can get but your offer is reasonable and if they really want to sell the car, they will give you that price. I doubt they have that much in the car to say $3500 is firm because that would be alot for that car.