Okay, so here is the skinny...
I am not an accord owner.... Yet, but tomorrow by about this time, I could be. The only reason why I'm posting now is because I wanted some advice... (as unbiased as possible)
The accord in question is an 85 two door hatchback... It has about 160,000 miles on it (or so it's claimed)... I have not seen the car in person, but the pictures of it are immaculate... No rust (however it looks like the front number is white, as opposed to the rest being tan/gold)... It is an automatic... The engine and the compartment all look spectacular... And all of this for around 700 bucks...

Is this worth the buy, I know accords are reliable, but it's age is something to be worried about in most cars... The mileage is low for the amount of years it's been alive, but still... I wanted to make sure what I'm getting will last me, and maybe take me across a few state lines...

The owner has said there are no problems... Tomorrow I am going to see the car, and possibly test drive...

Opinions? Suggestions? Thanks

 

My parents have an 86 CRX si. I know its not an accord hatch back, BUT.. it has like 200k miles? maybe 170k? can't remember. but it runs amazing and is super reliable. If the car is in as good of condition as the pics show, you should be ok.. BUT.. check out EVERYTHING. ask lots of questions and judge by his reaction or hesitations.

just my two cents.

 

Okay, I am also going to look at an 89 Honda accord... About 200,000 miles... It's priced at about 800-900...

 

The Honda Accord is a very reliable car especially when maintained they practically last forever, i'm no expert on the car but have looked around since i recently bought one and there was a guy who put a million miles on his 1990 Accord so go with which ever one has been better maintained, Hondas are built to last so they are usually a great buy as long as you keep the maintenance up, good luck with the decision making

 

So did you get youself that car.?

Welcome to the HAF...

 

Not yet, I'm waiting for my ride to go look at both the 85 hatchback and the 89 coupe... Luckily, they are only 5 minutes away from each other, so I'm going to go look at them, test drive them, and see which is more worth the value...

Apparently the 85 only has 150000 on it and the 89 has 200000 and is a hundred dollars more... But we will see...

But I'm hoping I walk away with a good solid car, and an accord at that... Ive been wanting one for a few years now...

 

I'm a bit late to this thread, so if you've already bought the car, feel free to disregard. I say this as a former owner of an 84 Accord, a car that I loved- I don't know if I would buy either of these cars now. The 1990-1993 model wouldn't cost that much more, and in return you would get great reliability (Anecdotally- observe how many of the fourth-gen Accords you still see on the road), significantly improved safety features (esp if you get a 92-93 that comes with an airbag), and an engine that has a greater wealth of performance accessories.

If you're still convinced to get one of the cars listed above, then the first thing to check for is rust, especially around the wheel arches. Take a magnet with you- if it doesn't stick to an area of the car, you might have filler lurking beneath the paint, rather than metal. On my 84, the carburetor was atrocious- Hitachi can do many things, but carbs don't seem to be one of them. Finally, have someone check for evidence of previous accident damage, look for evidence of leaks, and have some sense that the timing belt and water pump have been changed.

Good luck, and let us know what you do.