[Abhijat]

that brings back memories of last year when i went car hunting in Oz

I bought a 99 model accord similar but larger to the old honda city
we have after careful considerations.

This is a very interesting story about my car buying experience:

The guy i bought it from had an Indian wife. He handed over the car with a full tank of gas (mentioning that his Indian wife had protested on his doing that).

I remember telling him "its auspicious to take the keys with with your right hand" i enjoy boasting about our culture and traditions in front of goras.

and he replied "mate its an Aussie tradition to sell her fully tanked up. Take good care of her."

and a year later thats how i sold her, fully tanked up, call it tradition or just me giving back something i had learnt.


I still remember taking her on trips to melbourne and sydney. I miss that car the most.

[Veelubai]

@Jomz...nice looking car.I have watched that mohanlal movie in fact I think you have got the same color as well.The best part I liked about your car is the lisc.plate..a lot more colorful than the ones we have here.Cheers!!!

[prabhuav]

Brings back fond memories.

We landed up in New York in April 2000 newly married and needing a car. We got 91 EX with a stick shift with 120k miles on it for 3200$. We put 40k miles on it and gave it to my BIL who was a student he put over a 100k miles on it too.. I crashed it once and he crashed thrice. Finally he traded it in for 900$ in 2005.

Value for money redefined

[hari78]

Give it to FOOSE and his team to get it overhauled.

[Jomz]

5000 miles and 10 months later. It is time for me to say goodbye.
She was fast. Insanely fast. It was a joy to flick though gears and reach 55 before the cars with the autotranny could catch up.

We had our joys and sorrows- The way she came out of 6'' snow drifts were something which i never understood. While most cars with auto trannys' & snow tires were stuck, this one with all weather tires somehow used to come out. Held her line in the snow- took curves at 30-35 mph in the snow and never skidded.

The most fun part was when she blew her alternator when we were on a 1000 mile road trip ( to and fro - to chicago).After 200 miles the batt light started coming.I had to keep 3000rpm + to keep the alternator from charging the battery.But still she did the 350 miles to Milwaukee on 3rd gear.I had to keep third gear to keep speeds at 55-65ish otherwise at 3k rpm+ I'd be doing 80+ which is sure recipe for a ticket.
Reached Chicago somehow- and after sight seeing the alternator problem some how vanished.

YouTube - My 1991 accord On the Ilinois tollway

A video on the interstate

Then on the way back- the alternator problem again came at milwaukee- back to gear 3.Somehow managed 350 miles on third gear.

When it showed 50 miles to home on the GPS i thought - what the heck - I have 100 miles free towing on my insurance, get to 5th and get the engine churn easily. 10 miles after making that stupid decision the car ran outta battery and stalled.

Well.. i thought I'll call up AAA my insurance company- but then when i looked at my cell phone - a bad thing - no signal. The nearest town is 25-30 miles away and there is nothing on the state highway.(This is happening on US141 near crystal falls, Wisconsin- Michigan border)

The movies like "wrong turn" and "the hills have eyes" flashed through my mind. I just popped the hood and stood there. later i came to know that it was a forest. Some guy in a rickety old pickup stopped next to me. He offered to remove the battery aand charge it for me.

His house was a old cabin in the woods.I got more scared seeing his house. And when he told me that he is a laid off worker- i was seiously scared.He really showed disdain for honda (rather all imports) Another rusted ISUZU in front of his cabin made me feel like- man now I've met the stereotype american redneck psycho. he must've killed the guys in the ISUZU.

I looked where he kept the keys for his GMC, just in case he lunged at me i thought- take the keys- jump into GMC and take off. Crystal falls is not far away- they must have a police station.

We hooked up my batt for charging- the charge indicator showed dead and he told it'll be 2-3 hours for charging. Meanwhile I believe, seeing that I was nervoes he offered to put his GMC batteries on my car and bring it from the highway to his home. That actaully made me feel like crying. But on the better part i knew that honda would start faster than the GMC and i could make a faster getaway in that.

Well anyway he turned out to be not a psycho. He brought is spare batt in the GMC ( he had one) and we picked up the honda and brought it back. but still My battery was not charged.

it was around 12am when my battery showed full charge.I needed the headlights. He pulled out one of them bulbs and told one head light should be enough, if the cops stop you tell him the alt and batt issues.

God bless him- he was a nice guy didn't ask any money for his services- just wanted me to drink 1 beer with him for all that. I just got scared for nothing.

I thougght that was the end of everything but- once i started moving i realized that that night the fog had rolled in. I need both my headlights.
Stopped by the side.. while the car was still running plugged in the other bulb. I was scared to stop for the fear that the car would not start again.

After both headlights plugged in I needed 5K rpm on the engine to keep battery charged. I was doing 80 from there to home in fog, through deer country- I was actually looking for a cop- if somebody pulled me over I coould've told my situation to him and he might have gone ahead clearing the way. From this point the next town is where I live.

But still nobody pulled me over. I reached home by around 1am. Never ever more relieved to be home.

Well, you should have a story for each car owned right- this was for mine. The issue was a blown alternator, around 200$ repair.

I still kept the car for 2500 miles after that. She never used to drink oil. The oil level was steady between changes. Except that once she kept the condenser fan running overright - and again the battery died she never kept me stranded. I pulled the fuse of the condenser fan to fix it. anyway the A/C was shot.

She used to do 110 mph on 4th and 105 on 5th. And accelerate like a raped monkey.( i'm used to driving a carb Zen before this - so my perspective).

we still did a 300 mile fall color tour across the keewenaw peninsula and she held through that drive well.

Well off late when i went to the 5000mile service the local guy told me that the driveshaft is going off and shez drinking coolant - maybe a blown head gasket. I thought it is the time to say adieu. Sold it to another guy for 400$.

291140 miles on the odo.
Still gives 26 mpg in the winter.
will miss you.

[Latheesh]

wow! that's a nice experience, how did I miss this thread

we bought a 2005 Accord LX coupe (excellent condition) last year for just $9000

[iraghava]

Lovely experience there Jomz! Glad she served you well.

[Dippy]

Sad to see you part with Jomz, but overall I guess she served you well. Any plans for a replacement?

[f1fan]

Accords are rock solid.
The only area of concern is rust if the car was in one of ice states where salt is used. I had a friend who had a 12 yr old accord which had gone 160K but was excellent engine wise but there was rust due to salt.
Unfortunately the rust on one of the doors was bad and he had to junk it as it didnt clear State Inspection in VA. The car was bought for $800 and getting a new door was more expensive. He got $500 from the junkyard guys for the car.

[paharino1]

Originally Posted by prabhuav

Brings back fond memories.

We landed up in New York in April 2000 newly married and needing a car. We got 91 EX with a stick shift with 120k miles on it for 3200$. We put 40k miles on it and gave it to my BIL who was a student he put over a 100k miles on it too.. I crashed it once and he crashed thrice. Finally he traded it in for 900$ in 2005.

Value for money redefined

Taking about VFM - i bought a 2002 Honda Civic Stick Shift in 2006 which had done 90k miles for $9100 - sold it in 2008 @ $8500 @ 110k miles - man...the gora who sold it me told me "take care of the teenager "

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by paharino1

Taking about VFM - i bought a 2002 Honda Civic Stick Shift in 2006 which had done 90k miles for $9100 - sold it in 2008 @ $8500 @ 110k miles - man...the gora who sold it me told me "take care of the teenager "

Honda Civic Stick Shift (especially the coupe ones) are really famous with the college crowds and hence a good resale value.
I believe they are also famous with thieves as a lot of parts have been common with a generation of civics.

[Jomz]

looking for a newer Accord.. with a little less miles... in the search now.

[Jomz]

Bumping up this thread.

I had got a 1999 Accord after this one. Had to spend $4000 on it. It took me on countless trips from Houghton to chicago and back, Even On Ice. Was using Nokian hakkapellita Rsi Snow tires.

Anyway since this thread is about my old accord. Have sad news about it. It finally died at 295k miles.

A desi bought it from em at $400. He never used to service it and was running it till the front driveshaft was about to conk off. A friend of mine was looking for a cheap car and the above said desi sold it to him for $200. We found a roadside redneck DIY guy and he changed the driveshaft for $40. Shaft was another $40.
She ran for another 1000 miles after the change.

Last month she had her timing belt snap. The water pump also somehow disintegrated. The engine oil was changed into sludge by water mixing with it. The engine was totally gone. It needed a replacement engine. It was not that expensive since used F22 engines were available for as low as $400. But my friend did not find that worth for a $200 car.

So finally decided to junk it and posted o the college bulletin board and craigslist as free car. But next week a guy came from 200 miles away, paid $70 and took it. He wanted the head lights and tail lights.

I hope he restores this- But mostly this will end up as a parts car and will be reduced to a rusting hulk somewhere.

Rest in Peace, Prince- the 295k miles which you ran, you never let anybody down.