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Hey all, I’m looking at this $2500, 186K km (about 115K miles), ’97 Honda Accord right now. The guy looks like a somewhat light driver (I’ll have to ask him to know more about his driving routines and how it affects the car). He uses it from home to the train station (10km!) everyday; to and fro. If anyone’s got an Accord with mileage this high or if they know a thing or two about old Honda’s and their quality, please let me know! Thanks. 😆
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The 1997 Accord should be a decent car if the maint has been done.
Also ask if the timing belt and water pump have been done? see if
this link helps.http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/what-to-look-for-in-a-used-car-purchase
I have a 97 acura which is pretty much the same car, except mine is “luxury” (whatever that is suppose to mean) Mine has 263,000 miles. Here is what I noticed –
Older hondas tend to leak oil. Not always horribly but keep an eye on it.
Unless there is a distributor problem, they start every time.
Idle seems to be a common problem. Eric has at least a few videos about this, two in a sticky thread. Mine has some idle problems like occasional RPM surging upon starting and sometimes it almost dies out when coming to a stop after highway driving. Not a constant problem so I pretty much just live with it.
If there is a check engine light and you have a V6 (2.7 in a 97 accord) and the code is p0420, that means the EGR passage is clogged. Eric has a video about how to fix that. Looks like yours does not have a V6 so this may not apply.
Auto Transmission – Collegeguy mentioned this but it was the years 99 – 03 which were the worst. 1997 was alright. Mine does shift a bit sloppy from 1st to 2nd gear.
Other junk –
The front brakes should NOT be allowed to wear too much. If you end up destroying the rotors, they are a nightmare to remove. Eric has a video about this. Oh it is a mess. Lower ball joints – another nightmare. Upper ball joints – piece of cake (relatively speaking)To be honest, I would not offer $2500. Bluebook excellent private party peaks at $1900. Good is $1,700
Also, yeah of COURSE when they are selling, they are going to say, “I drove it across country no problems!” Bullcrap. They buy at auctions, drive it maybe 10 miles, put it on the lot with a sticker, and that is that.
From the background, it looks like it is some small lot. You KNOW they didn’t do a thing to service the car.
Offer $1,500 and if he refuses, keep shopping.First I have owned two 97 Accord’s. One was my personal car and the other belonged to my late mother which I sold while closing the estate. The one that I had owned is still going strong with 215K miles. It was the LX model with a 4 cylinder and auto trans. Definitely ask about the timing belt service and try to see if the seller has a receipt to prove this has been done. The front brake rotors are a pain to replace as stated above. This generation of Accord has the “captive rotors” which has a rather difficult removal process. Eric has a video that addresses this procedure. Either have a mechanic place the car on a lift or place the car on ramps and take a good look under the car inspecting the suspension carefully. Look at the CV boots for cracks or tears. The $1500 is good place to start for an offer but I would not pay the current asking price. Good luck and keep us posted on your results.
@ Summer night: Thanks a lot. Could you tell me the estimated total price for fixing all of the mentioned repairs (IF this car was a piece of junk)? And that’s not a lot. This is a private seller. It’s beside a gas station, idk why haha. But yeah, thanks for the info, should help a ton. And how did you know this wasn’t a V6 model? Do you know which trim it is?
Not sure about the repair costs but like I said – just check things over. Only reason I even mentioned the brakes is because the rotors are a pain, but honda brakes dont really wear faster than others so anyways…
Reason I knew it wasn’t a V6 is because I checked the KBB and the only engine size that comes with the 4 door is the 4 cylinder.
The only real thing to be concerned with is it probably leaks oil. Not sure about the repair cost of that. Mine has lost 1/2 a quart in 2,000 miles, and it is not making it’s way to the timing belt so I pretty much don’t worry about it.
If the car starts easy and seems to be Ok overall, you should be fine but yeah, if you buy it, just have things checked out that you would for any old beater. Brakes, suspension, timing belt, keep an eye on leaks,
Still though, I think he is over-asking with $2,500. I do not know the trim level of the honda you are looking at but honestly – trim level on any car doesn’t usually mean much. It is just a selling gimmick for when cars are new. Sometimes it means something (like a Ford Taurus SHO or Grand Prix GXP, which are the faster versions) but not on a 4 door accord.
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