crx del sol

gary the great

My mate has put a small deposit down on this baby. its costing him 7k.

He loves it but is a little unsure as its bit old and the mileage is quite high. Its also a Jap.

Could i get your opinions and what to look for etc. before he goes ahead and buys it on saturaday. Thanks

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=289460

Squirrel

Check the roof doesn't leak, and that it hasn't been trashed. The wheels and Lexus lights make it look boy-racerish

PowerHouseDan

Yeah i would have to agree with the Boy raceish look, would turn me off a tad.....

Squirrel wrote:

Check the roof doesn't leak, and that it hasn't been trashed. The wheels and Lexus lights make it look boy-racerish

69 mustang

gary the great wrote:

My mate has put a small deposit down on this baby. its costing him 7k.

He loves it but is a little unsure as its bit old and the mileage is quite high. Its also a Jap.

Could i get your opinions and what to look for etc. before he goes ahead and buys it on saturaday. Thanks

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=289460

As far as I remember [depending on year] the insurance is a little cheaper on the swimmer as the Euro speck one is 1.6 and the Jap one 1.5 but that could be the older model.

5500

Its a Honda - 86k miles are nothing to them!if possible see if there's service history or when the timing belt was last done.get him to give it a drive and see how it is in and out of vtec.

Is there anything done to the engine on it or just the few outside bits?looks a nice car alright

gary the great

Squirrel wrote:

Check the roof doesn't leak, and that it hasn't been trashed. The wheels and Lexus lights make it look boy-racerish

ye he sees himself as a bit of a boy racer tbh, so this appeals to him big time.

bazz26

86000 miles on an almost 13 year old car is not high and Hondas are well able for high mileage.

As already mentioned check that the timing belt has been changed and that the electric roof works perfectly and isn't leaking as it can be expensive to repair/replace.

It looks nice but imo I think €7k for a car of this age is expensive.

ButcherOfNog

age and mileage aren't anything to worry about, its a beautiful looking motor, its better to drive a motor you love and be in the garage every 2 months than have a dull box the same as everyone else that never goes wrong but is as dull as dishwater

bazz26

ButcherOfNog wrote:

age and mileage aren't anything to worry about, its a beautiful looking motor, its better to drive a motor you love and be in the garage every 2 months than have a dull box the same as everyone else that never goes wrong but is as dull as dishwater

I suppose so if you want to make some garage rich from the cost of repairs plus no point if it spends more time in the garage than on the road, you cann't enjoy it then. The only one admiring it then is the apprentice mechanic working on it.

Anyway it's a Honda so it will probably outlast it's owner if looked after.

layke

The cost of repairs won't be as much as you think if you go to the right places.

Check to make sure there is no black or blue smoke coming from th exhaust, your first sign the engine is fux0red. Give it a good shake from left to right to make sure there is nothing wrong with the suspension or wishbones.

Remove the lexus lights as they are considered scumbaggy even to the more respectable 'boy racers'.

Very very nice car btw, one of Honda's best imo. Pocket rockets + superb handling.

Atomic Pineapple

I'd take off the lexus lights and change the alloys to something that suits the car more, at the minute it looks a bit tacky to me.

I prefer the integra's over the crx del sol, the crx just looks a bit girlish or something, also there's a fella in the estate here with one with a big exhaust and he drives around like a lunatic in it which annoys me.

blastman

gary the great wrote:

ye he sees himself as a bit of a boy racer tbh, so this appeals to him big time.

Whereas everyone else will see him as a hairdresser. Sorry, but that's the image the Del Sol was saddled with.

As mentioned, the mileage is nothing to worry about if the car's been looked after. 86K is barely running-in miles to a Honda. Lexus lights can indicate either thrashed by boy racer or looked after by someone who was really into the car, so check for signs of the former. The roof is the major thing togo wrong, so check it works properly and doesn't leak.

Check out http://www.delsoluk.com for all the info you could ever need (you'll need to register to access the forums).

kdevitt

Had one of these for a year - they're grand, very reliable as you'd expect. They're just a Civic with a different (heavier) bodyshell, so parts are easy enough to get. Baring in mind that this is the 1.5 model, is automatic, and has the Transtop - its not going to have great performance.

The roof leaks on the majority of them - so he can expect a wet right knee when its raining. The transtop is known to break fairly easily - there are very few people around who are willing to fix them. Its probably about 2K/2.5K overpriced - especially going into Winter. The roof also rattles quite a bit, but it is good fun when the sun eventually appears and you can take the roof off.

Was quite happy with the car when I had it - glad I got it out of my system though because I'd wanted one for years.

Dan_B

[HTML]Its a Honda - 86k miles are nothing to them[/HTML]

I had a civic years ago that had 90K on the clock and it was Fuked!
Honda / Merc whatever, if it's been trashed its trashed.

Borderfox

I test drove a couplw of these a few years ago and the majority were clocked black oily thumbprint on the miles was the most obvious! nice motor should try the SIR model thoughmuch more horsepower and better brakes. In the end I got an Irish Civic VTI great motor... PS this was 10 years ago before every chav had one!!!

prospect

Dan_B wrote:

[HTML]Its a Honda - 86k miles are nothing to them[/HTML]

I had a civic years ago that had 90K on the clock and it was Fuked!
Honda / Merc whatever, if it's been trashed its trashed.

100% correct.

Ratchet

not many people will buy automatic crx or integra and these cars are harder to sell it.
7k for 1993 1.5 auto is way too much. considering that VRT is low enough on 1992-93 models and you could bring VTI model from UK for less money

anyway, have good look at the front of the car . body kits are always good excuse when comes to damaged cars. Roof repairs are costly and you can get parts only from Honda as the same part brakes in all of them.

But my main concern would be condition of the auto box

Make sure that box is in top condition and transmission oil was change regularly.
First gear does go on these boxes .Gear change should be smooth while driving car under acceleration (without going mad )

and this car is nothing like good old mkII

gary the great

He told me that after viewing it the car is immaculate, full service history and the belt was changed 7,ooo miles ago. all documnets included. He got a full report from Japan and the car was top graded by the japanese. He gave it a good shake and the wishbone is perfect and he is positive the car wasnt crashed. The old lights are also included so if he wants to take the lexus ones off he can.

He reckons the car hasnt been trashed as its too perfect. He brought another mate with him who is a mechanic and he gave it the all clear and said it was in near perfect condition.

The seller wont budge on the price though, my mate only wants to pay 6,400 and not a penny more.
Although he checked out auto trader etc. and these cars were selling for bigger prices and they werent in half as good condition as this one.
Also the 1.5 non vti suits him for insurance reasons.
He said he would buy it now if the seller will drop the price a bit.

Will let you know on Saturday if he goes ahead or not.

alias no.9

gary the great wrote:

Although he checked out auto trader etc. and these cars were selling for bigger prices and they werent in half as good condition as this one.

Autotrader only publishes the asking price, not the selling price. Tell your mate to have cash waiting and let the seller know this. It's the start of winter, convertibles / cars with removable hardtops are not in demand and you can bet your bottom dollar the seller wont make 7k for it next year when early 206cc's will be heading towards the 12k mark and them being easier to insure because of the token back seats.

StRiKeR

I had a UK Spec VTI one of them with electric roof before, everything are pretty good, just make sure you take care of the rubber seals and the electric roof, grease the mechanicism of the roof every so often, also you can get silicon grease from honda to keep conditioning the seals, other than that its just like a civic on everything else, the CRX Del Sol is base on the civic chassis, remember you have very very little room in it, and the VXI 1.5 non vtec seems to have very little power especially with a electric roof, the weight of the car just drag it down!!!

blastman

Ratchet wrote:

and this car is nothing like good old mkII

Indeed

StRiKeR

yea the MkII is cool, but the MkIII is still fun to have, the roof mechanicism is reliable enough if you look after it, grease it every so often, the beeping sound is very annoying though when opening and closing the roof, but you can disconnect the beeper its in behind the passinger side panel behind the seat! and the boot lock should get some Maintenance also, sometimes the red light might not go off on the boot lid or it doesn't open when you try to take off the roof, it is possible that its just the lock is jammed, thats pretty much all to look out for, other things are just like every other honda's!

gary the great

Well he didnt buy it in the end, the dealer is holding out for 7k, my mate said he wont get that coming in to the winter selling a convertable 93 non-vti automatic crx.
So the deal is off.

Hes disapponted but thats life!
Thanks for the advice.

bazz26

Well done, sounds like your friend knows what he is doing. Patience is the name of the game.

I don't think that dealer is going to get €7k for it especially at this time of year. Might be worth going back at the end of the month with the same offer. Time is on your friend's side not the dealer as the end of the year approaches fast assuming that somebody else doesn't pay the asking price.

chillyspoon

The Del Sol is a great car.. but.. when Honda smarted up the CRX, it made a swift move from an angry blokey car to a schmancy girlmobile - for the same money your mate could get himself a very nice Civic or (better still) an Integra - if he's going for the 1.5 for cheaper insurance then he should stick to the 1.4 Civics.

Del Sol + bloke = not too hot for street cred. - I don't make the rules...

And anyone with Lexus lights should be shot by the way - it's up there with gold chains, hoopey earrings and signet rings - tacky as f***.

StRiKeR

93 non vtec? I didnt know what year it was but god that is alot of money, I only paid 4500 for the one I had, 93 1.6 DOHC VTi UK Spec electric roof!

5500

It was a 1.5sohc vtec instead of the vti(uk spec dohc vtec) are you sure it was automatic aswell?

StRiKeR

I mean I had a UK spec VTi DOHC manual and only costed me 4500 euro which I bought 2 years. sold it last year