Thoughts on 1992 Honda Accord as a commuter
 

I have the chance to pickup a 1 owner 1992 Honda Accord LX Auto with 115k miles for a grand. What are peoples thoughts on one of these for a highway commute 30 miles each way? All regular maintenance has been performed including the water pump/timing belt in the 90-100k range. The only thing the owner said it may need soon is tires and a CV joint. By the way it is kind of a family friend so I would tend to trust them on the problem.

Can I expect to get around 30 mpg on the highway? how reliable is the 2.2L and the auto tranny? I know there is a bout ten billion of these around so parts are cheap.

Not an accord, but I just sold a 92' Civic a few months ago that had around 120k on the clock. It was my commuter car and eventually my daily driver. I was doing 100 miles round trip each day for just shy of 2 years.The Civic was a DX model (completely stripped down) and was loud on the freeway, hot with no A/C...but got great mileage! I was able to hit 40MPG on a few tanks. Most of the time I got 35-37MPG. It was an auto with the 1.6L (IIRC) engine.

My wife bought the car in 2003 with only 28k miles. Around 90k the distributor went bad, but I got a replacement at the junk yard for cheap. I had to replace drivers side half axle around 70k and the passenger side around 120k. Right around the 100k the head gasket went bad. Just wore out overtime. At that time I had all the preventative maintenance done (timing belt, water pump, etc...). I sold the car for $2500 in less then 2 hours on CL. If you can get the Accord for 1k I would jump on it!

Had a Civic way back when and the only real issue is the boots on the transaxles have a tendency to crack and then the axles go - I think it's a pretty common issue. Just check that and be prepared for an axle swap if needed - not a huge job for any shop to handle.

I've got an '04 civic si commuter with 270K on it and it's been really quite impressive for lack of repairs n such. I'd say give it a shot. Mine is still on the original clutch, exhaust and finally did all the suspension at around 265.000 kms.

My first car was an 92 Accord. Sometimes I wish I never got rid of it. It was pretty damn good on gas and never really gave me any mechanical issues. Those older Honda's will go forever. Mine had 267,000 kms when I sold mine. I sold the car about 10 years ago. Had dumped a lot of money in to it at the time customizing it. Was fun but I wish I would have saved that money for the classic car I have always wanted.

I am going to go ahead and buy it. I talked with the gal today some more. She has had all the regular maintenance done plus a few other things. The timing belt/water pump have been replaced, the muffler has been replaced, an oil leak has been fixed(A mechanic friend said it is probably something with the tranny cooler or something like that) and it has had all regular oil changes. She only put 3000 miles a year or so. I figure I can't really go wrong for a grand. Hell, I can probably drive it for a couple years and sell it for twice what I paid.

For a grand that's a steal! I have a 98 Accord I use as my beater car for getting around town. Only thing you might need to watch out for is the Transmission. I had mine re-built at 160k miles for about $1100 bucks, I researched and the transmissions are known to go south after about 150k miles.

I had a 94 accord in college. drove it 160K and all i changed was the oil, tires & brakes. Wish i never sold it. It prob still be my commuter/beater.

I know it is later model but I had a 2001 Honda Accord - bought it used with the 4 banger and had to do the transmission at 160K - put on another 70K before I got rid of it. At 230K it didn't burn an ounce of oil, brakes lasted 60K and tires were like $3. I wish I still had it. Ran at 28mpg combined.

Thanks for the help and reassurance guys. I am going proudly rock this beauty Seattle unused rack style like no other.

Good decision! Congrats! You'll be able to sell it for the same or more a few years down the road.

I went thru a similar decision about 5 years ago. Buy an older civic for a few grand...good commuter, great gas mileage, reliable, ect.......

Then had an ephiphany........if I get hit by a big SUV on the freeway in my 1993 civic...i'm likely gonna die or worse...be f*cked up for the rest of my life. I went and bought ( financed ) a 3 year old civic...great deal...but way more saftey features.

Granted...i live in Texas...where every 3rd vehicle on the road is a big truck/SUV.

You can sell that rack on CL for top dollar.

I had a 93 ex wagon 5 speed that was that exact same color green. What a great car. Miss it. Gave it away on a trade for a brand new 03 wrx.

Wife's 01 has 270m on it and runs like a top. Plan on giving it to the kid for his first car in three years...