2003 Honda Civic Lx Coupe 5 Speed Manual, Mechanic's Special on 2040-cars

2003 Honda Civic 2 Door LX

This car is a mechanic's special.

It is a tough decision to sell this car because I have otherwise kept all service up to date and it has been an excellent vehicle. However, this car has a few critical issues that aren’t cheap to repair but if done will definitely get the car to 300,000+ miles.

It was driven regularly (~150 miles / week) until I parked it about 10 months ago. Since then, It has been driven about 500 miles. It starts on the first crank and has a new battery.

*Alternatively, if you are local to Baltimore/DC and want to fix this car for an awesome price, I’m all ears.*

Body & Interior

The body and interior are in decent and solid condition though it’s not winning any awards. It has lived in the city for 7 years and has all the typical bumper scuffs that go along with that. The left front fender and headlight were repaired from a minor city scuff-up about 2 years ago.

The back seats fold flat allowing for so much hauling. The little beast has hauled 14 8-foot 2x4s with the trunk closed on one occasion and 4.5 bicycles with 3 occupants on another. These are incredible little cars.

Mechanical

Aside from the issues which are outlined below, the car is in good mechanical condition.

Clutch is new with about ~9k miles and shifts well and with incredible ease, just as you would expect from a Honda.

The catalytic converter is less than 15k miles old, the tires have lots of life left, oil always changed on time.

Now for the bad...

• An internal engine issue is causing the car to burn about a quart of oil / tank of gas and to also return poor fuel mileage. It currently gets about 27 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway. Low compression in #3 cylinder at about 70 psi. All other cylinders hit between 120 and 130. I tested dry and warm after taking the car for a quick spin. I did not do a wet test. The car does not smoke at all but must be burning enough oil to foul a replaced o2 sensor shortly after replacement. This issue could be bad piston ring or valve seal though i’m leaning towards piston ring. I’ve never seen it drip oil.

• Transmission - Bad input shaft bearing. Rattles a good deal when the car is cold but usually goes away after warm-up. This should be addressed before catastrophic failure. Transmission is very strong otherwise.

• Brakes - Strong but pull to one side. This issue appeared after being parked for some time. I suspect that a caliper piston is the culprit which is a very straight-forward repair.

The Other.

Passenger window glass is fine but low quality,

Used OE replacement in great shape included in sale.

Sale and Pick-Up

• 25% deposit at close of auction with balance due within 7 days of close of auction.

• I am confident that the car is capable of making a several-hundred mile trip if the new owner preferred to drive the vehicle away. I can pick you up at BWI airport or at any local train station or other location between Baltimore and DC.

• Car must be claimed within 30 days of purchase.

Recent Service History