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Accord with broken timing belt?


stewartfan

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I'm looking for a first car, and in the local classifieds, I found a 96 Accord LX V6 sedan, with 300k miles. The owner is the sole owner of the car, and he said it was running well until the timing chain failed. My uncle who is a mechanic said that if it's an interference motor, that it would be our best bet to replace the engine. Is it interference? The owner is asking $800 for the car. Is that fair? I see that the Blue Book value for fair is ~$2000. Any opinions? Is it worth it? What's it worth? I'm thinking about $500 and an engine ~$500-$1000 and I should be set, right? I have yet to ask if the auto has been replaced yet, as that is a big factor with this many miles, but it's likely that the engine we get will have the tranny attached, so we'll see. What do you think? Opinions? Everything is appreciated. :)

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lots of possibilities but you won't know until you pull the head(s) off and see if there are any bent valves. if you get super duper lucky all it needs is a new timing belt (not chain) which takes 4-6 hours for a novice to install and total cost of around $100 or so.

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Okay. My uncle and I checked on it today, and I'm not sure. the rear end looked perfect, from a dead-on perspective, but there had been a dent pulled out from the driver's rear QP with holes drilled into the side. It's also a 2.2M instead of a V6, which, for this purpose is a lot better. The front bumper is sagging, and screwed on, and both front fenders are more worn than the rest of the car. There are also a few spots where the clear coat is bubbling. The interior could use a cleanup, but otherwise, I think that there's not much that needs to be done for it to be brought into very nice condition besides the paint problems.

I'm really thinking that I want this car would be a great experience for me, especially as long as I can get it for $500. My uncle said that the 'game plan' would be to slap on a timing belt, and fire it up, and if it fires on all four cylinders, then great, and if not, since it's not a V6, pull the heads off and replace any valves that aren't functioning properly, and it would be a great car, and I agree. So anymore input? Thanks so far! :)

My uncle is in the process of building a huge 2 car + ample room to work garage, and he said that if it was finished, he would offer them $500 and flip the car, so that's a good sign. He has a lot of experience with this stuff, so that's why he's the one I'm consulting about this for the most part.

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Yeah, we'll proceed with caution for sure.

 

Anyone know the hubcap size on one of those? The paint is peeling BAD on the hubcaps, and that would be the first thing after getting it running, is getting some Honda hubcaps that don't look too out of place, until the tires are worn enough for me to justify rims. The only thing I'm a little worried about is the fact that the guy didn't seem very motivated, which means that $500 won't be as easy as someone who really wanted to sell.

 

I also got to test drive a 2004 Civic EX Coupe in immaculate condition; the lady was told that the transmission needed to be replaced, but I test drove it (She just let my uncle and me take it...!) and my uncle deduced that it was the right front hub bearing, even though a shop genuinely told her it was the transmission. It was so nice, too bad she wanted $6000 for it, which is more than fair for that kind of Civic. It was my dream first car...(Apart from a BMW, of course. ;) )

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Just a update on my situation: I am SO EXCITED. I went ahead and called the lady about the Civic, and she said she would do $3000! After talking to my grandpa, he's gonna float me a loan, so i am now going to be a 2004 Civic owner!!! :D

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