Greetings all,

In December of 2012, my '94 Accord's Transmission bled out on me and Died. When the mechanic told me the car was toast, I tried to find another Accord to commute to work in. I found a 1996 Accord EX VTEC with only 79K miles on it and flipped out. I took it to my mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection and he said thought the engine was good, there were too many other problems with the car that i shouldn't waste my money (the problems being a leaking transmission, a non working AC, crappy tires and chairs that didn't slide.) I told the dealer about the problems my mechanic found and was ready to walk away from the deal when the used car salesman promised me in a written and signed contract, that he would fix ALL of those problems for free and if the car didn't pass the inspection, I would walk away from the deal.

That definitely sounded like a sweet deal to me, but my mechanic still thinks I shouldn't waste my money, saying that the guy is just going to make patch fixes to the car and that the age of the car would cause too many problems.

While I trust my mechanic, I'm still feeling conflicted. I have a fetish for the 5th Generation Accords (the best looking of all Accords IMO) particularly the '96-'97 years, and to land one with a VTEC engine? with only 79k miles?!? With the used car salesman willing to fix the all those problems at no extra charge, letting me snag this car for $4100, I'm finding this deal too good to pass up.

What do you guys/gals think?

 

Its an alright deal, I personally would rather pick one up for cheaper with a few problems that I could fix my self. But it is hard to find one with that kind of mileage on it these days if that mileage has been confirmed by carfax or some other check.

I'm not sure how attached to your mechanic you are, but if you scrapped a 94 accord because of a bad transmission I think you might be over paying your mechanic. You could pick up a used transmission for $200-300 then a few hundred to have it installed. Unless there were other issues with the car.

In my opinion the 94-97 Accords are some of the most reliable cars ever made, second only to Volvo 240s. And when they do break parts are readily available and cheap, and easy to replace. So even if you don't get this particular one you can't go getting wrong with a different one.

 

Thank you so much for your input live2rice, I greatly appreciate it!

Unfortunately, I'm not mechanically inclined enough to make my own car fixes. I did check the carfax and it did conform the mileage (though I have been told people can still lie on the carfax.)

Regarding my 94's transmission, that was the 3rd time that the transmission bled out on me. I got a rebuilt transmission put in and the same thing happened six months apart. My mechanic found that something in the engine (the crankshaft? Again, I'm not a mechanic , so don't get me lying ) that was causing the transmission to keep dying on me and it was the combination of replacing the engine parts and the transmission that he told me to get rid of it. Heck, I donated the car to vehicles for change and they just sent me a letter saying that they couldn't fix it, confirming what my mechanic said. The thing is, my mechanic doesn't have a thing against Honda's, he just has a thing against OLD Hondas. My 94 when I bought it three years ago only had 107K miles on it. I though I was getting a steal, but then I had so many age related problems with the car that he's been trying to get me to get a newer car so I'd have less problems.

Which brings me back to my original confession: While what he says makes sense financially, I'm such a sucker for the 96-97 Accords That I'm having a hard time walking away from this deal. I've decided to get a pre-purchase inspection done at a Honda dealer so I can give the car a thorough once over before I make my decision.

 

i cant give you a for sure yes or no on getting that accord but i can tell you from one owner of a 96 ex vtec 5 speed m/t to a prospective buyer they are nice, and very reliable! I love mine! So i say take it in for the pre purchase inspection ( maybe even 2 from different sources) and see how that goes.

 

Thanks firefighter44, I was agonizing over what to do when I came to that conclusion yesterday; after the dealer makes his repairs, I'm gonna take the car to Koons Honda for a pre-purchase inspection. I'll let the mechanic know my concerns (ie, did this guy make repairs, or did he just do a patchwork job?) If the car checks out, I will once again be the happy owner of a 5th Gen Accord!

 

Good post guys..good reading and advice..

 

Bummer the car didn't pass the pre-purchase inspection; They Said the transmission was Shady and if I bought it, it would be at my own risk. CRAP!! This sucks. Ah well, I guess I'll just save up more money and go for my 2nd choice: A 03-08 Civic.

Dangit.

 

If you really like the 5th gen accord you can always do a little looking around, I found mine a couple years ago and only paid 2000 for it and it has been great to drive and very reliable!
Im sure you could find a good one close to you in your price range, maybe even a better price than you think

 

Update: After the last 96 Accord I looked at failed the pre-purchase inspection (actually, it didn't fail, it's just that I would've needed to spend around $2,000 for it to pass MD State inspection) my wife suggested that I spend a little more money and buy a newer Accord. After some searching, I found and purchased a '05 Accord EX and I have to say, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the 7th Gen Accord (My 3rd Favorite Gen model of all time) I absolutely Love this car! It came with almost everything I wanted, except for the AUX port, so once I replace the rear brakes and brake fluid, it's just routing maintenance from here on out, Universe willing.

 

It's tempting to say "5th-gen is my favorite" but in reality any 5th-gen car HAS TO BE older than any 7th-gen car. You can't ignore that. The 1996 car is 17 years old.