Should I Buy This Vx...needs Lots Of Stuff

[panamacolin]

HI,

The vx I am looking at needs a list of stuff says the tech who did the diagnostic on it. here is what needs to be done. Timing belt and water pump, vtec solenoid, frequency valve, small oil leak, and tires.

The list said 800.00 in parts and labor the guy is asking 2200.00 for the car how much should I ask him to go down in price?

Colin

[Matt Timion]

that's a hard one... the VXs go for a lot more than that because they're great candidates for big engine swaps. They are really light and with the right engine, are really fast.

i've seen them go for $5k before under the right condition.

I would recommend calling around to a few mechanics and see if they can do the repairs cheaper.

Also, the vtec solenoid might just need to be cleaned and not replaced.

[jadziasman]

What's a frequency valve? Never heard of that.

VTEC solenoid is bad? How did he determine that?

Timing belt and water pump - should cost $400 to 500 with parts and labor. Save lots of money and do it yourself - it's fairly easy to do. Honda OEM parts $100.

Small oil leak huh. That could be valve cover, distributor o-ring, axle seal, etc. Couldn't the mechanic pinpoint the location? He should be able to.

Tires - well, we all need tires.

If that's all that's wrong - I would offer $1700 for the VX in its present mechanical condition.

Was the 97 DX you found a hatchback? It might be a better move to buy it even though the mpg is lower. $3900 is kind of pricey for a 10 year old Civic.

[panamacolin]

3900.00 is for a low mile civic with 1 owner...its clean, just found out it has a/c issues.

I am waiting to see how low this guy will go im thinking 1500.00 and I will buy it. Otherwise...probably not

[panamacolin]

yeah basically I could do the timing belt and water pump without a problem, I dont know where it was leaking from I am going to call him..

they also said the cam seal is bad and the crank seal is bad..

[mrmad]

You have to figure any 15 year old used car is going to need some work. People generally don't repair all of these things if they are going to sell them. When I bought my CRX, I just budgeted for at least $300 in repairs.

I would still consider the VX and if the body is in good shape, I think it is still worth $2200. I would have jumped at it if it would have been available when I got my CRX. I paid $2000 for a 90 CRX HF, which might have been a little high, but when I bought it in Feb 07, the only ones I found that were less then $2K were primered, beat up POS. The few VX's I saw in CA were well over $3000.

Like jadziasman said, doing the timing belt is pretty easy. You will need a tool to hold the crank pulley while removing the bolt, but once that is off, it is simple and not very expensive. Once you've done it, you'll question why you would pay anyone to do it. The other fixes will be a little work for DIY, but not very expensive.

[panamacolin]

how much do you think I should pay for it?

[lca13]

Yeah, tougher call, but depending on where you live, this car in good running shape is easily a $3.5K to $4K car.

For another perspective, when I bought mine I really did not care if it needed, say a grand in repairs. I bought it to drive for several years know I would save $100 a month easy. So think longer term, if your budget allows (luckily mine allows :-)

Most of the costs you list are maintenence... you'd do that anyway. Heck, I wish my VX needed tires... Costco has the Michelelin X Radial DT's for $65 a piece... I am tempted to throw my tires away just to have them on the car... but then again, my budget would allow this and this is my favorite hobby right now.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

$800 to have all that work done sounds like a good deal if it includes tires, if the bad seal is on the timing belt end then changing it at the same time should be a simple task, I say offer him $1,800 for the car, if you wanted to turn around and sell it again you should be able to get our money back, so it's not a bad investment, and almost any car you get is going to need some work, and tires at some point (don't let them sell you 175/70-13 tires, they are way to wide for this car unless you plan to do exream high speed cornering, wide tires will only draig you down, get 165/70 or 155/80 tires) so f the body is in good shape, and it has less then 300,000 miles, I ay offer him $1,800 befor someone else takes it.

[Hockey4mnhs]

i would say 1800 as well thats prettey damn good. i would buy it