Unintentional Car Lust: 1991 Honda Civic LX: Part One
Hi. My name is Rob, and I am an addict. I have car lust. When I purchased the car pictured at right, I wasn't exactly looking to buy another car. I already own a 1989 Honda Prelude Si, one of the best handling cars ever produced, and a 1995 Audi S6 Avant as a fantastic daily driver. But sometimes in life, a car finds you.
I'll preface this article by explaining my current employment situation. After experiencing the joys of graduating in the worst recession in the past 70 years or so, I learned to take work where I could get it. Currently, I am working about 75 miles away from my residence, which means I commute, quite a bit. This is all well and good, but my daily driver S6 Avant is extremely rare (one of 300 in North America) and last year alone I piled on almost 30,000 miles. Clearly, something had to be done. My roommate also happens to work at the same place that I do, so we toyed with the idea of getting a car together, purely as a commuter. We weren't dead set on getting something, but we kept our eyes open. And like I said, sometimes cars find you.
That should have been where the story ended.
Upon leaving work, I was headed to an industrial park to grab some free cardboard (it's a long story), and to check a "magical" dumpster. While checking this dumpster for cardboard a few days earlier, I found quite a few treasures: a RotoZip, a timing light, and a complete roll of carpeting for my boat.
While checking the dumpster, my roommate and I were discussing the Civic. Clearly, there was no way it could still be available. Only $700 for a running, driving Civic is a complete steal in any condition; and a rust-free car would easily be worth $2,000 if it was in decent shape. Furthermore, the ad had been posted two days earlier, so it had to have been sold already. Then, we both stopped.
"Is ... is that it?! Like ... right there!?!?!"
Basically, we had driven right to the car. Out of all the random places to go that afternoon, we went to a dumpster right next to the car I had e-mailed about only 15 minutes prior. We flew through the parking lot, excited. There was no for sale sign, but it had to be the car. It had a Texas dealer badge, the trunk was ajar, and it looked just like the one in the pictures.
Unfortunately, nobody was around. The industrial park was devoid of people, so we resorted to wandering into random businesses asking about a Civic for sale on Craigslist. I'm sure most people thought we were crazy. Then we happened to run into a guy who said he knew who owned the white Civic in the parking lot; it was him.
I blurted out how I had seen the car on Craigslist just 15 minutes ago and e-mailed him, then explained how we just happened to run into it. He seemed weirded out, well, because the situation was weird. I asked the owner if we could test drive it, but he explained that someone was driving from about 1.5 hours away to buy it. After convincing him to let me drive it in case the seller backed out, we threw it around the parking lot, and everything seemed to be in working order. Upon getting out, the owner said he still wanted to wait for the other interested party to arrive, but, as they say, all is fair in love and buying used cars.
After a quick glance at my roommate, I asked, "Would you take $800?" Sold!
Next week? Part 2: Repairing a decade of neglect.
-- Rob the Audi Guy
Jed on July 15, 2010 at 06:07 AM
Nice Civic. That bodystyle is probably one of the last well packaged, attractively styled small cars. The new Civic is so big and pretentious by comparison. A friend of my family has a red one that she bought new. It has 52,000 miles. I always tell her to let me know if she wants to sell it.
Anthony Cagle on July 15, 2010 at 08:12 AM
My aunt-in-law had an Accord that was probably the same vintage, white as well. I agree that that is one of the nicest looking cars out there, although I remain of the opinion that the later '90s ones are just perfection (my Spousal Unit's '97 Civic never ceases to amaze me). The same Accord is now in my father-in-law's possession and I dread reading the remaining story as it might tempt me to acquire it whenever they tire of it. Grrrrrr.
This is why I love Car Lust. I had never given these cars a second thought until you guys started singing their praises.
kimbo305 on July 15, 2010 at 11:31 AM
That's pretty low. I would never do that to a fellow car-buyer what had made prior arrangements, no matter how much a scumbag they might turn out to be.
Rob the Audi Guy on July 15, 2010 at 12:26 PM
All is fair in love and war. And car buying.
Chris Hafner on July 15, 2010 at 12:29 PM
If I drove 90 minutes each way to buy a car and it had been sold out from under me, I think I'd be pretty annoyed - but I'd probably be annoyed with the seller, not the successful buyer.
Chris Meirose on July 15, 2010 at 03:43 PM
One in the hand is worth two in the bush...
tigerstrypes on July 15, 2010 at 07:30 PM
Watch out! You may one day be just like this lady: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj6B5KFokaY
Mochi Mochi on July 15, 2010 at 08:03 PM
This is an amazing car and a fantastic deal. The front-wheel-drive equivalent of the BMW2002 - only better in every way - it's a classic. The only thing that bothers me is that this rust free beauty will now be slowly rusting away :( instead of enjoying a happy life at my place in SoCal.
Jackmac on July 20, 2010 at 01:22 PM
800 bones for a 20 year old car. BFD.
Rob the Audi Guy on July 21, 2010 at 07:16 AM
@Jack: Apparently you haven't been in the market for civics. Please try finding me an $800 civic without rust, without a fart can, without being beaten to all hell, and in driveable condition. Run along now!
Alex Flander on July 21, 2010 at 12:46 PM
Psh, how about finding a Civic for $1,500. They're 2,000+ anywhere near me. 95K miles.
tigerstrypes on July 21, 2010 at 07:08 PM
Maybe you guys might be interested in THIS Civic. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDAFRCFu0Sk&feature=related
Maybe you could CUT a deal (get it?!)? XD
Maybe get HALF of what you paid for (get it, get it?!)? XD
kenny heggem on July 21, 2010 at 10:39 PM
Just to give some comparison scenario... I sold my Gramp's motor home towed 87 Civic DX hatch back with auto and cold air, near perfect.... for $3200. It had 80k on the odometer from towing, new cv joint, and serviced AC... even a new timing belt on an engine that barely had 40k on it, Original miles.
Seeing I sold it for over 3 grand, and it was like 2 generations older....
I think you did QUITE alright. : )
jfruser on July 27, 2010 at 02:41 PM
It was 1997 and I was in the market for an auto. I eyed my sister's 1990 Acura Integra GS with a 5sp manual (same gen as the above 1991 Civic). I asked her if when was going to sell it any time soon, as she had a more lucrative job. No way, she said, she'll drive it until its doors fall off. Sigh.
I then buy a new 1997 Nissan extended cab pickup, 4 cyl, 5sp. It has two cup holders (still own it). I took my sister for a test drive and said, "Put your Diet Coke in the cup holder. I have TWO. If your Integra had ONE I could say I have twice as many, but it doesn't even have the ONE. So, I could say that my truck has INFINITELY more cup holders than your Integra. Might want to think on that."
Within the month my sister had traded in the Integra for a new & soulless 4-cyl Toyota Camry. I might have been sore at her for denying me the opportunity to buy her Integra, but I figure driving that boring heap of a Toyo was punishment enough.
David Sanborn on August 24, 2010 at 09:42 PM
I was a broke college student when my pal Scott got a new '87 CRX Si & I was dying of envy. It was another three years before I dumped my rattle trap Scirocco and got a 110K mile '84 Civic dx. I thrashed that car through two more years of college and never did more than change oil and brake pads. Sold it after five years at 200K miles for what I paid: $1200. In '98 I bought a 110K mile '88 Prelude Si AWS and drove it until '04 and 200K miles: same story. My current friend is a 2000 Insight bought new ... I probably won't get my initial purchase price back - but I've enjoyed that quirky Honda more than any other. I hope that Honda keeps its identity in the coming decades. And brings back a successor to the S2000.