**The Thrill of the Hunt: Finding a Rare and Affordable Car**

I recently had the opportunity to find a car that's truly one-of-a-kind - an 1988 Honda Civic hatchback that was imported from Japan. This little gem has all the makings of a collector's item, but at a price tag that's hard to believe. The seller listed it for $23,000, which is a staggering sum for a car that's nearly 33 years old.

As I took a closer look at the car, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and curiosity. The headlights were flashing away, courtesy of some special lights that had been installed by the seller. But when I looked again, I realized that they weren't actually flashing - it was just the camera's pick-up system that was getting it wrong. Despite this minor glitch, the car still looks like a real gem, with its sleek design and sporty features.

The best part? The seller had done their research and had replaced the clutch between 2017 and 2018, giving the car a fresh new life. And at $23,000, it's a steal for a car that's got so much history and character. As I joked with the seller, "you're making me think you care about this car" - but in all seriousness, this little Honda Civic is definitely a winner.

**The Rise of Electric Delivery Vans**

But while I was busy admiring my new friend's sparkles, something else caught my attention. A company called Electric Last Mile Solutions had just announced that they're building electric vans in the United States - and not just any vans, but class one delivery vans. These are the kind of vehicles that typically haul heavy loads around cities, and Electric LMS is touting them as a game-changer for urban logistics.

The first batch of these vans will be made in Mishawaka, Indiana, which used to be home to Hummer production. While all the parts come from China, the company says they're committed to creating jobs here in the US and meeting local regulations. They've already secured an order for a thousand vans with one dealership, and plans to expand their production line to include heavier-duty vehicles.

The competition is heating up, folks! With companies like Rivian making waves in the electric vehicle market, it's clear that we're on the cusp of something big. The prices are going to come down as more manufacturers enter the fray - especially with companies like Electric LMS putting together high-quality vehicles here in the States.

**The Future of Car Shopping**

As I wrapped up my conversation with the seller and headed off into the sunset, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement about the future of car shopping. With prices skyrocketing for popular models like the Honda Civic, it's hard to find affordable options that still meet our needs.

But that's all changing now. Companies are starting to offer more competitive pricing, and manufacturers are putting together vehicles from scratch here in the US. It's no longer just about whether a car is "American-made" - it's about finding a vehicle that fits your budget and meets your needs.

So if you're thinking of buying a new car (or an old one), keep an eye out for deals like this Honda Civic. You never know what kind of surprises are waiting around the corner. And who knows? Maybe by the time you read this, Rivian's got a fleet of electric vans in Michigan and Electric LMS has expanded their production to meet demand.

**The Enduring Allure of Affordable Cars**

In a world where cars can cost anywhere from $23,000 to over $100,000, it's refreshing to find one that doesn't break the bank. My Honda Civic might not be the flashiest or the most high-tech car on the road, but its affordability and reliability are what make it truly special.

And I'm not alone - there are plenty of others out there who appreciate a good deal. Whether you're a seasoned collector or just looking for a reliable ride, affordable cars like this Honda Civic hold a certain allure that's hard to resist.

So the next time you see one of these underdogs on the road, don't be afraid to take a closer look. You never know what hidden gems might be waiting behind those headlights.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrev up your engines here we have a 2010 honda fit guy bought his used car 3 500 let's see if he got a deal already bought it with 116 000 miles 3 500 gets phenomenal gas mileage you'll get 40 on the highway so now people more see them as compact cars not sub compacts but as you can see there's lots of room in the front it has back seats and even though these seats are all the way back here there's still room in the back and as you look in the back they're very convenient because it's got the trunk but of course these seats will flip down and when you flip them down there's a lot of space in one of these things yeah it's a small car but it's very well proportioned for what people want to use them for they're great commuting cars but hey you can take trips on them you go camping in them you can throw stuff in there but of course the main thing with this is it's a honda now this particular one hey it lives in pennsylvania and you can see all the corrosion that's just what happens with aluminum down here you can see the corrosion you're going to get superficial corrosion that's not something to chase you away from a car now even though it's got 121 000 miles on it engine doesn't burn any oil at all now this guy spent a long time looking at this thing almost a year to find it and he ended up buying it from a nurse because her husband wanted to get a pickup truck so they sold this and got a used pickup truck there's always reasons for people to sell cars that are still decent in this case this was more or less their spare car it turned into their spare car and spare cars hey they're great buys because people oh well i don't need that anymore take advantage of somebody doesn't want a nice car anymore and buy it this is why i always tell people the best deals an average human's going to get is from individual people because they have a reason to sell something and if they're not getting rid of it because it's a pile of junk they just don't need it anymore now this is a 1.5 liter four cylinder engine it's not a race car but it's a small car and because of its age this is not that earth dream stuff it doesn't have a turbocharger it doesn't have gasoline direct injection it has normal honda systems it does have the iv tech so it gets as much power as it can out of a little engine without ruining it by putting too much pressure from a turbo and from gasoline direct injection as you can see it's sort of a dinosaur because it's still got an egr valve here the new ones don't use egr belts nice stock wheels it's front-wheel drive it handles great in the snow be the economy car it's got drum brakes in the back which doesn't bother me in the lease because hey my matrix has drum brakes in the back too so let's start it up and check it out of course it starts up it's a honda and listen to that engine smooth even though it's 1.5 liters you're a tiny bit of clacking as always tell people hondas are different than other cars you need to adjust the valves now he adjusted the valves himself but he adjusted them cold so i would say you can readjust them warm it's not going to really hurt anything now you did have one problem which is typical for these and you can see down there the ac clutch is all nice and shiny and that's because it's brand new it broke the ac clutch broke he took it and then the guy went over a thousand bucks to fix it right well he's a smart guy so what did he do he went and bought a clutch assembly for a hundred bucks and he did it himself you know that's the thing about these look at the working room front wheel drive all kinds of working rooms i like about these little cars you can work on them they're easy to work on god forbid something happened you flooded it out the engine comes out real easy too you know anybody use the engine and throw it in they don't generally wear out but i mean you know you can suck water in and blow up an engine real fast let's take it for a spin it is an economy car things are thinner they're not insulated much they make noise but they can run forever running perfectly fine shifting fine but you're gonna notice one thing with the fence here's our bumpy rhode island road they're relatively stiff riding you're gonna feel bumps when you hit them because this is an economy car and never i repeat never buy one of these and expect a really smooth ride you can't even in my wife's matrix it's a bumpy ride i tried all kinds of different shocks springs doesn't make any difference they're short wheelbase they're small cars you're gonna feel bumps they're smooth on a highway when it's a smooth highway yeah and they handle like a dream this handle is even better than the matrix but they are bumpy rides don't ever get one of these if you want a smooth ride that's not what these things are about but they are great handling these hondas are fun to drive around and you can see even though it's got an automatic transmission it still shifts really smooth and of course through their small size these things are easy to park they're great for cities you can park these things simply anyone can park them they're so small and they have a good view all the way around too they really don't have any blind spots they're pretty well designed and even though they got that little engine and you step on the gas they got that honda engine you can feel it it's got that honda variable valve timing and they got a lot of zing for a little car and there's one thing i like best about this car as you can see made in japan and interesting enough man who owns this car came from cambodia and this is the first car he ever bought here in the united states then later last year he helped his brother get a good used camry for 2 300 smart people they know where to spend their money now it does have one code so let's see what's going on here we go intelligent diagnosis it knows what it is and we'll go through all this stuff the smart scan i believe he's changed some of the headlights out so it might have some coats for the headlights who cares you put in leds and stuff and replace it with non-leds it can put up codes and stuff but as long as they work who cares the headlights work fine we got two reds one is the tire pressure monitoring system he knows the batteries are bad he don't want to spend a fortune replace them i don't blame them fire gauges cost a little but it does have a bcm code so let's check that out the body control module okay well his daytime running lights work but he swapped them out and he didn't want to buy the coder so that doesn't really mean anything we don't care about that either now this car's trying to tell me something you can see the headlights are flashing they're actually not flashing special lights that he put in there and the sun is shining into them when i look here this is not flashing but the camera's picking up on it so it's a magical car you know for the 3 500 bucks that he paid for it's the first cars family ever had here in the united states he used his noggin on this one this was before coronavirus saw and he only paid 3 500 bucks for it he wanted a civic but of course kids like the civics and they were eight grand instead of 3 500. hey this is a fun well-made car you found one of these in this kind of shape hey snap it up just like i warned you though if you're into really smooth riding cars you're not going to be happy because it is a compact car and it rides like a compact car but it's gonna run forever so me it's my kind of car i don't care if it bounces around a little as long as it doesn't break and gets good gas mileage and still looks nice i'm happy and here's some bonus questions and answers well if you agree with me you think youth car prices are high here's an insane one somebody just paid 23 000 for a 1988 honda civic i'm not making this up now granted it was a civic 25x hatchback looks kind of like a little station wagon that was japanese it's right hand driver was imported from japan but still only got a 1.5 liter force on the engine granted it has dual carbs in japan to make it faster they had two carburetors but they weren't the greatest carburetors in the world those cayenne carburetors were not that great i didn't like them at all i had a lot of them in accords i thought they were garbage it's got a five-speed manual transmission 23 grand that's a lot of money for a honda civic that's you know 33 years old but the seller did say that the clutch was replaced between 2017 and 2018. what a deal well it just goes to show you that people will pay just about anything for a car these days made that kind of money for a 1988 honda civic no yeah it's kind of a collector's item but really it's still just a honda civic with a little 1.5 liter engine and dual carbs it's not a racing machine but i said beauty is in the out of the holder somebody thought it was beautiful enough 23 grand out for the thing well believe it or not you can now get an electric van in the united states it's made in a factory that used to make hummers it's called electric last mile solutions it's in indiana they're building these electric vans now truthfully the motors all the parts and everything come from china they're just putting them together here in the united states you know they have regulations laws you build them over here they don't have tariffs stuff like that and they're thinking about the future give american jobs they're not going to shut a company down right so in mishawaka indiana where they made the hummers are now making these electric fans they say it's the first electric class one delivery van to be sold in the united states a dealership owned by the randy marion automotive group has ordered a thousand of them and they're gonna start selling them they're not small they have 120 inch wheelbase and they say they can carry 2100 pounds of cargo and they also say they're going to make a class 3 vehicle that's much heavier duty in the second half of 2022. so now the race is on with electric vans you got rivian making stuff now you got the smaller company in indiana getting all the stuff from china and putting them together here the competition's going to be on it's a good thing because a lot of these electric vehicles the prices are sky high you get the stuff from china and put them together here certainly the price is going to be lower look at all the chinese stuff we have it's only going to be a matter of time when there's going to be serious competition this is going to be these guys think i can make a custom make electric vehicle charge whatever i want blah blah blah no there's going to be competition on it and this little van holds 2 100 pounds it could be the tip of the iceberg for electric delivery vans you get a higher-end rivien ones made in michigan and then you can get these chinese ones that are put together in indiana so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that bell\n"