hoping to be owner of a VX
 

Brand new, Just wanted to say hopefully sooner then later I will be a owner of a civic vx, maybe a crx hf. just soooo hard to come by. I'm thinking about buying a shell and the vx engine, but was told to stay away from that any suggestions?

Welcome, I unfotunately had my civic vx totaled due to a teenage driver...so instead of taking a complete loss I bought the vx back and am in the middle of swapping everything over to a Del Sol I bought! After the wreck I searched for a VX, then a CX, then any civic and well the Del Sol was a steal but you might have better luck getting something then swapping it...check out my thread if you want to see whats involved ;)

wow looks like your project is going well, I honestly wouldn't know how do do half of those things. Any idea how much it will cost for a mechanic to do the install?

hah, that would be prohibitively expensive. The only time it is practical to work on a car worth less than $5000 is if you're going to work on it yourself. This isn't to say that I don't think it's worth it to work on a cheap car, it's just that an insurance company will not pay to fix your car if it costs more than 70% of the car's worth.

well I'm a hands on learner, I've been working on honda's for 5+ years now probably, no formal training just lots of research, helping friends out to learn etc...for a first car to get under the hood and learn honda's are very easy to work on, I'd say if you have some basic automotive experience, the space and time to do an engine swap you could do it yourself there are plenty of resources that will lead you along in learning...pretty much just need a basic automotive tool set, mostly everything is metric 10, 12, 14, 17, 19...if you were to ask a shop to do it the prices will vary...I honestly wouldn't pay more then $500 to have someone install it, its pretty much a bolt in swap and there is a little wiring to do...with my project I am doing some of the stuff for the first time, the Honda service manual is a huge help, you can download a pdf version...if i wasn't planning on keeping my Del Sol for a long time, I wouldn't put this much time or money into it...since I got a decent insurance check for my civic i figured I'd just reinvest it into the Sol, doing all this stuff at once should ensure a nice reliable DD that get amazing mpg! Good luck with you search for a civic, feel free to ask any questions if you need help...Matt

Good Luck on finding a VX!!!!!!!

I found one vx almost bought it for $2,500, but I was got a weird feeling from the guy. It didn't pass smog, but said all he needed was a new cat, bought cat but says since he has back problems he wouldn't be able to install and get retested (retest is free) It has a brand new transmission in there that the guy has no clue about and at the clutch slave it doesn't have the dust boot cover, and the bottom it doesn't have the flywheel dust cover. VERY minor but shows lack of care for the tranny install. What do you guys think? I made a smart decision or did I miss out on a good deal? $2,500!

Also what your guys opinion on buying one that has been modded?
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/car/755231451.html

I think that was a good decision unless you want to work on a car with potentially lots more problems than are listed. What I'm thinking of doing is instead of getting a VX, I'll get my self a regular model and just swap in an engine and transmission of my choice.

Whats a fair price to pay for a vx? given the current demand kbb priced from private party shows 2400-2800.

I think its a good deal. The olny mods that might affect gas mileage is the wheels and exhaust. It shouldn't affect it that bad. Plus with all the stuff he's throwing in like the Integra engine, greddy turbo, Tranny, and HIDs, you could sell all that stuff and make back alot of the money you're spending on the car. The car looks good. You could also get some VX rims and sell the rotas which are worth a good amount because its a popular wheel in the import scene. I'd get it.

I'm still searching for a VX, but I'm debating on purchasing a Insight. What are your guys thoughts on the Insight? As a FE its awesome, but they are selling for 2-3k above their KBB price. I'm thinking that this car can actually be a investment. in a year or two be worth 4-6k more? Or am I just trying to justify purchasing a 12k car instead of a 3k VX

I'd honestly look into getting a VX or swapping another civic to a VX motor and trans...my VX paid for itself within a few months...literally what I had saved in gas covered what I paid for my VX...also with the VX you don't have to worry about batteries failing (aprox. $2K to repair in an insight) which I had read is fairly common with the insight, but in most cases Honda may cover the 1st replacement...Hondas hold there value extremely well but I don't see and insight being worht 4-6K more in a year or 2 unless you parked it in a garage and didn't drive it and gas prices sky rocket...maybe just my opinion but I'd rather buy a $3K car that gets 40-50mpg with out any special driving techniques than a $12k(a used car selling a few thousand over what its worth) that what gets 60mpg with normal driving techniques?

At least around here you could find a fairly clean civic coupe for $2K and swap it to a VX motor and trans for less than a $1K(if you paid a shop to install it even) seems like a much more reasonable option...

THANKS!
and check out this one I found

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/car/763342766.html I emailed the guy, my number any everything now all there is to do is cross my fingers and hope he calls.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/car/764045876.html

$1700 VX 200k had motor swap. current motor has about 150k, needs new shocks, had a valve job done not too long ago along with 02 change. let me know what you guys think ASAP. I dont want to lose out on a deal and want to make a offer with some of your guys opinion

Edit:
Also should I be worried that the for VX some claim they only get 30-35 MPG.

I wouldn't worry too much, if it were me. If you don't know about lean burn and various other things that affect your milage, you won't do that great, or if you hot-rod around. Also, lots of people don't actually track MPG, so they just "guesstimate".

Whats holding me back is 350k miles on the body (150 on motor) I haven't seen the car, (about 2 hours from me) but he claims to run great no leaks,

If you don't work on cars you shouldn't buy a VX or an HF. The amount of money you will pay for someone else to do the maintenance will outweigh the amount of money you save on gas. I say get an Insight if you can. I wouldn't mind having one.

VX's are great cars but at 13 to 16 years old and 200k miles; they need reconditioning.

I can do minor repairs, My knowledge isn't very much, but I can learn(w/ help of repair manual). I've done a clutch+flywheel change on my current Civic, BUT I'd rather keep repairs simpler that was for me a pain in the butt.

they are out there...


https://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/car/765491995.html


if only for a day...

thanks I was tempted to go up to portland. just that place is 9 hours from me and its very hard for me to make a purchase on something before driving it.

How much would you guys pay for a vx? I'm seeing them sell for way more then KBB value. I found one w/ 200k miles selling for $4.5 hopefully not firm. where kbb value is at $3k what are you guys thoughts?

i see clean ones for 4 or so- the occasional 3, some up to 5. the "riced" ones are less, more like 2. The vx and the hx are the least desirable civics to many honda enthusiasts, but the rest of the world might take a big shine to the vx and hx. in any case the stock ones are gone in a day form craig's list here in portland.

https://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/car/769166938.html

could be a nice one....

I'd have to disagree that the VX is the least desirable by honda enthusiasts...it boasts a lot of things that import "tuners" are looking for the big thing is that its a hatchback which seems to be the most desirable body, it has vtec wired from the factory, only found in the 92 or Si hatchbacks(plus the EX coupes etc but only referring to hatchs), plus it is the lightest of the civics...all very key things people are looking for...add in the people concerned with MPG and you have a pretty desirable car...they are hard to find and sell fast...I got my VX for $900 back in Oct...my friend payed $2k for his 2 years ago now...I've seen a few pop up in this area under $2k...I wouldn't pay more the $3-$3.5K and that would have to be low mileage very clean well maintained stock one...but hey I'm cheap :-P

it's true, the hatch is desirable, but they literally throw away the motors soon as they get them home, and drop in a ls v attack (or whatever). the vx or hx drivetrain is considered worthless by ricers. hypermiling fuel economy folks are a different crowd, of course we like the vx and hx.

gotcah agreed, thats why right before this recent gas price hike my friend and I were able to find complete z1 swaps for dirt cheap...always nice to have a spare!

900?!?! wow I'm jealous!, according to KBB a 94 w/ 200k miles in excellent condition should sell for $2,800 Private party, $4,000 at a dealership. these people are over charging $4,500 common, and it wasn't even taken care of

Its very common for Honda's to sell for more the KBB...whenever I buy a car I compare prices on KBB, Edmunds, and NADA...NADA is the one that cares the most weight with...when i bought my Del Sol last month they asked why it was being sold for less than the market value, we asked what that was, they said $3500 in fair condition...my jaw dropped lol, yea right...I'd like to see the insurance company write me check for that if it was totaled :-P...on a side note they were gonna pay me $2200 for my VX when it got totaled...that wouldnt cover replacing it...i hate that they can get away with that ****...

Anyways sorry for stealing the thread, good luck with your search!! My VX swapped Del Sol just started up for the first time tonight!

If you can't find a VX then you should take a hard look at an HX. It's in every way superior to the VX and you can get similar FE yet have all your amenities, less miles, and more breathing room.

The CX is actually as light or lighter than a VX and yet even less desirable to the general public. Another option would be to find a CX or even a DX and swap a VX engine, trans, and computer into it. An even better option would be to convert it to OBD2 and swap in the HX motor. You'll get better power and FE with an HX engine in a CX hatch than with the VX engine.

There's really no need to pay an inflated price for a VX with high miles when you can convert a CX/DX into a VX with a low mileage JDM motor and source the VX specific body parts from the dealership for far less.

Suspended Hatch is correct about the CX being the lightest. He is also most right about all the advantages of the HX over the VX. I had a 99 HX that I'm still killing myself for getting rid of. It was in perfect condition, and it gave me low to mid 40s for MPG. It could have probably did high 40s if I was really into gas savings at that time. It had power windows, power door locks, and even keyless entry. I loved that car, plus it had more room than my VX. The only advantages of my VX over my HX was the weight and potential for higher MPG. I recently had a tank in which I had just over 50mpg. I have a CA VX so when I do the O2 sensor and ecu change, I know it will go up even more. Thats the only advantage I'd give the VX over the HX. Potential Mileage. Other than that, I would suggest an HX any day to someone who couldn't find a VX. I was lucky enough to get my VX for around 2k with 145k miles on it a year ago and today the same car goes for double. I'm sometimes tempted to sell the VX and find an HX but who knows what I'll do.

on that note, would it be smart to just have a mechanic do the work.buy a shell, buy a HX motor have him do the swap. I want to keep my cost no more then $4,000

found a vx with a ex tranny...... will this hurt MPG alot?

Yes definitely. It's not a big deal though because you can always swap it out for a VX tranny, that EX tranny makes for a nice spare though. You could also just switch out the final gear for one that comes in a VX into that EX and it should make it like a VX tranny; though a tranny swap would probably be easier.

I didn't think I would be searching for this car for so long and the more I search the more I'm starting to lean towards a Insight. sure its more money, but like everything fuel efficient they seem to hold there value if not go up in value

I'm finding great cars out of state about 500 miles away. what are somethings I should make sure of before I were to say make a trip (fly) to purchase a car)

Get as many pics of the car as possible, get the vin number and have somebody on this site run a carfax report for you. I flew to Philly from Ga to get mines and it turned out great. Whats the worst that could happen? If you dont like it you can fly back home? sometimes you have to leap out on faith, especially if its a good deal and you feel comfortable with it. What did you find?

Well I haven't found any great deals, but I live near San Fransisco, and these price are sky high! so the one I'm finding are at Oregon priced fair at bluebook, so I consider that low.