I have a 98 Honda civic with estimated 300000+ miles ( odm goes out 50% of time so no way to know) its got its perks but it has its disadvantages. I have always wanted a car project and this seemed like a good one. I am I dreaming and need to scrape it (drive it till it dies) or can/should she be saved
I LOVE Civic’s…but they are not considered a classic car. I’d just drive it til it dies. I can’t see putting a load of money into this car.
If you limit your fixes to inexpensive items, it could be a good project. I would not recover the interior, for instance. But replacing fluids, filters, and brakes are reasonable. I’d keep parts under a couple hundred each time you do something. A rebuilt starter might fall into the replace category.
The only caveat I’d add is rot. If the body or undercarriage suffers fram rot, it’ll be a lost cause. Other than that, it might be a good learner. Parts are readily available and cheap, and if it dies forever you’re loss will be minimal.
Sell it and invest all your money into something a little newer with less miles. Restoring a car with 300k miles might be a dead end. And the car might die any way. Just takes one major thing to go wrong, even if you’re replaced 20 others.
Start with a good base, if you’re going to be dropping thousands into a car.
I have a 15yr old kid and a 15yr old car. The kid is 6mos from a learner’s permit. The car has over 300K on the OD but is still my daily driver and is kept in good shape.
It will become his teenage run around car (I’d say beater - but its not a beater), and he will not only learn to drive in it, but also learn how to do basic maintenance and repairs on it. IMO, its about as perfect as it gets for this.
To OP gave no information on what is really wrong with the Civic. 300K is more miles than many cars ever see, but still not a death sentence just due to the miles. Is there blue smoke showing oil burning? Good power on hills? Proper shifting of the transmission?
Not a car I’d “restore” to original condition, but certainly a car I’d make needed repairs to and keep driving. If the body is rust free, no reason you can’t fix the mechanical things that are worn out.
The main problem is the timing belt needs to be replaced and the back ailment is off from an accident when we first got it. We have been the only owners
The last shop that looked at it said 3500 Om those two problems