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1996 Honda Civic EX Coupe 5 Speed - Great Commuter

For sale is my trusty 1996 Honda Civic EX Coupe... I've had this car since 10/2006, so 8 years of its 18 year life. It's was my reliable commute partner for years before I got another high mileage newer car... I no longer need this car and, thanks to Christmas, the bills don't pay themselves....

I got this car so I wouldn't have to drive the truck I owned at the time back and forth to work. The car gets phenomenal gas mileage and has never let me down... Be it going to work or driving down to LA, over the grapevine no less, this car has always been rock solid reliable. I have personally maintained it ever since I've owned it and given it regular services (Oil, fluids, filters), "maintenance items" (Timing belt, hoses, brake pads, ignition system), as well as those necessary things when they come up (CV shafts, Bearings).

It indicates 169,XXX miles, and for all intents and purposes I usually just refer to what the odometer says... But in reality the car has about 11k less miles than what is indicated... Way back at 80k miles the speedometer cluster died. I sourced a replacement from a tow/junkyard but it had 11k more miles on it... That has been the cluster ever since and I've put another 80k miles on it without any problems. The vast majority of those miles are highway miles, easy for a honda civic to gobble up.

I love this little car but registration and insurance on a car I don't use anymore is just another thing making my money disappear....

I JUST SMOGGED AND REGISTERED THE CAR TODAY (1/6/14). The car passed, as it always has... With smog and reg you're good to go! I have the clean title in my hands, no fees etc...

ISSUES:

Appearance inside and out:

The previous owner supposedly used it in the city, where she apparently parked by "nudging" into things... the front and rear bumpers have round marks which look like the license plate bolts of other cars, for instance... All around the car there are dents/dings/scratches, and the passenger side rear quarter panel is a little bit rippled from a dent. Look at the pictures and you'll see how it looks... I was never told of any major accidents or things that could compromise the structure, and I most certainly never hit anything with it myself... nor have I ever noticed any signs of damage or issues from underneath or while working on the car... So I believe everything to be cosmetic only. I kind of viewed this as a plus personally, so no one would steal it... It always just blended in when I had to park in any shady areas.
The paint/clearcoat is messed up from sitting out... areas like the roof, hood... see the pictures and you'll get what I mean. It's still silver of course, and nowhere near as bad as those late 80's- mid 90's american cars (you know what I mean), but it isn't in the best shape... Again, a cosmetic issue I didn't mind for when I need to park and not worry about someone stealing it.
The moonroof seal is cracked a little bit and someone decided to put a little grey RTV on it to fix a tear... See the pics. It does not leak water into the passenger area at all.
There is a leak in the trunk, I think it's coming from the rear deck lid. Its minor but it leaks water when raining/washing into the trunk from around where the hinges are. It only leaks a little bit and there are drain holes in the back to let the water out without further problems or standing water/rust issues, and no leaks into the passenger compartment. The trunk carpet was removed though...
The interior looks like a 18 year old car that was used... that's my best description. It's better than the outside, the seats are still very comfy (my commute was 80 miles a day, my butt was fine), and everything works inside... But the sun has faded the headrests, surfaces are worn, etc...

Mechanical Issues:

It drops a few drops of oil daily... I power washed it a few months back and watched for the sources and it appears to be coming from the front and rear oil seals. They're very easy to fix if you know what you're doing, the only problem is they're hard to get to... unless you have to do other jobs, which was my plan. See Below.
The timing belt was done at 90k and I was planning on doing it again at 190k or before... Since I'd be in there I was going to take care of the front seal then
The clutch is original and as you can imagine it has all the wear and tear of it's mileage. It still works just fine and shifts are smooth without problem, the only sign is when it's cold out and it's first started up, the clutch chatters/sticks a little bit for the first few miles, and then the problem disappears. I've driven SF hills without problems and would not hesitate to do so again. I was going to just wait for the timing belt job and pull the whole engine to do the clutch, and I had no concerns or reservations about using the clutch for 20k more miles or even more, it isn't doing anything yet to make me think there is a major need to replacement.
It may need an alignment, I think when I changed the CV shafts I might have put it slightly out of alignment. It drifts a little to the right sometimes, not all the time, and at 80mph on the freeway it gets a little vibration in the steering. 65mph there are no problems, which is where my commute speed usually is. I haven't noticed any problematic tire wear and was just going to take care of it later...
That's it... seriously... no smoking, no overheating, no knocking, none of the other problems you see in other classified/craigslist ads or other listings. The power train is solidly reliable and never given me a problem or complaint. Like I mentioned earlier, driving up the grapevine in summer with air conditioning on gave me no problems at all... Temperatures stayed just fine and the civic chugged along up the hill keeping me nice and cool inside.

I've tried to be as complete as possible with this listing of issues...

Good Things:

CV Shafts and front wheel bearings were replaced at 158k with all new (no remanufactured) parts, and should last another 158k...
Manual Transmission Fluid changed at 158k (and before at 100k) with all synthetic Redline oil.
Engine changed with Castrol Syntec or Penzoil Platnium every 5k miles
Brake Rotors and Pads changed and have plenty of life left... noticed the old calipers were wearing the pads funny so I changed them too... brakes are excellent and stop just fine. Fluid was flushed with the calipers.
Ignition system (Cap, rotor, coil, plugs, wires) changed out for preventative maintenance
Eibach Prokit Coils at all 4 corners (not crap springs), slightly lowered without compromising ride quality at all
Strut bars front and rear
AEM Short-Ram intake for sound... stock muffler so it's not annoying to drive around :)
Sony head unit with AUX-In on face and upgraded speakers in doors and rear deck
Alarm System with ignition killer -AND- a custom, hidden, fuel pump kill switch (was afraid of thieves where I had to park for work)
Previous timing belt job was done right and included water pump and tensioners, didn't re-use parts...
Prewired for a subwoofer in trunk if desired.
Silverstar ultra headlight bulbs (throw a lot of light forward) for the AM commutes
Just Passed Smog Today (1/6/14) and registration is paid.
Clean pink slip/title in hand. No back fees or other nonsense.
30-34 mpg.... 87 octane too... like I said, great for the commute!

I'm sure I'm missing something in the good column... I've been good to this car for the last 8 years since it's been so good to me, and addressed any problems or maintenance needs. She's not the prettiest girl on the block when it comes to exterior appearance, but she's solid and has never let me down... If you need something to eat the miles up and commute in while not burning a ton of gas, this is the car for you...

Thanks for looking!

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1996 Honda Civic Ex Coupe 5 Speed Great Commuter - Great Mileage - Runs Great on 2040-cars

Honda Civic for Sale