Buying a Used Honda Civic with a Rebuilt Title: Is It a Good Deal?
When it comes to purchasing a used car, many people are hesitant to buy a vehicle with a rebuilt title due to concerns about its reliability and value. However, if you do your research and know what to look for, buying a used Honda Civic with a rebuilt title can be a good deal. First of all, the price is often lower than a similar vehicle without a rebuilt title. With the rising cost of bodywork repairs, it's not uncommon for cars to be totaled after even minor accidents. This means that dealerships are happy to buy these vehicles at a low price and then repair or replace them, making way for new cars.
In fact, Honda Civics are known to be reliable and safe cars, especially when equipped with airbags. The 1986-1991 models, in particular, are considered to be very hard to roll over due to their low ground clearance. Additionally, they have the timing chain engine, which is simpler and better built than modern Hondas with GDI injection and turbochargers. These engines are less prone to oil dilution problems and can run for a long time with proper maintenance.
Another advantage of buying a used Honda Civic with a rebuilt title is that you're often getting a car that has already taken its biggest depreciation hit. This means that the value of the vehicle has already been reduced, so when it comes time to sell or trade in, you won't lose as much money. Furthermore, many dealerships are willing to work with buyers who purchase vehicles with rebuilt titles because they know that these cars can still be reliable and run well.
On the other hand, there's no escaping the fact that buying a used car means taking on some level of risk. If you buy a vehicle with a rebuilt title, it's possible that it may have been involved in an accident or has hidden problems that aren't immediately apparent. However, this is true for any used car purchase.
Some readers have asked about their experiences with Nissan dealerships and CVT issues. One reader purchased a Nissan Maxima with a CVT and was told by the dealer that they needed a new transmission after it was already replaced under warranty just 25,000 miles ago. The repair estimate came out to $8,700, which is unacceptable to many people. Nissan's reputation for making poorly designed transmissions has led some consumers to be wary of buying their vehicles.
In another scenario, a reader's Pontiac AC was blowing hot and the pressure gauge showed high readings. After trying to recharge the AC system, the low side gauge still read 110 psi, indicating that the compressor was not running. In this case, it's likely that the compressor is broken and needs to be replaced.
Finally, some readers have asked about the effect of turning off Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) on gas mileage. According to one expert, DSC has no impact on fuel efficiency, as its primary purpose is to prevent skidding and maintain traction, not to optimize engine performance. However, if you drive aggressively with DSC activated, it may actually decrease your gas mileage due to increased energy consumption.
Overall, buying a used Honda Civic with a rebuilt title can be a good deal for the right person. By doing research and being aware of potential pitfalls, you can find a reliable vehicle that meets your needs without breaking the bank.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrev up your engines all right here we have another rebuilt title car that was bought for about 3 500 bucks it's honda civic when those are pretty reliable vehicles and it's a 2008 civic they've done the hood in the front over because that was bashed in but being a 2008 it has an extremely reliable four-cylinder engine it has regular fuel injection it's not gdi i mean a 2008 it's a modern design there's no timing belt that's going to break and ruin the engine it's a timing chain generally it lasts as long as the engines do on these as we go inside it's got 169 000 miles on it and this one has an ultra reliable five-speed honda automatic transmission but this particular civic has a rebuilt title so we're gonna go through it with a fine-tooth comb now he bought it from a guy who fixed it and we sold it and the side was smashed in so that's good the front could do a lot of damage to you the suspension or the ac and all that but since some of these had ac problems we're going to check that first start it up with the ac on close the door it's working so good he actually blended some heat with it but i'm going to put it on full blast because i'm hot and it's blowing plenty cold now as a tip you want to listen to the ac on and then turn it off and you can see it still sounds about the same you get a little valve clatter so basically the only thing this needs is it needs the valves adjusted realize hondas aren't like toyotas that generally hardly ever need adjusting because they got solid cams on stainless steel shims that don't really wear or many other cars that use hydraulic lifters that adjust themselves these have plain old rocker arms with bolts and nuts and you gotta adjust them every once in a while with 168 i can tell by the sound of this engine it's never been touched so it's a good idea to get the valves adjusted it's not a deal breaker but it's something you need to do in hondas not that often if you adjusted them now you could probably go another 60 80 000 miles before you needed to adjust them again since the car was wrecked it's imperative with rebuilt title that you get a high level scan tool to really analyze these things short term fuel trim and subtract done a little that's nothing long term it's subtracting a little it's running a little rich that a lot of that could be with the valves needed adjustment full network scan take a while but with a car it's got a rebuilt title there are so many things that could go wrong you want to check them all it has been going on for almost 10 minutes it's 91 done soon it'll be done it's got four failed modules it says the engine coolant temperature circuit input is high so it might need a new sensor we look at the temperature gauge yeah it's running pretty normal about the middle modulated control unit low voltage left front wheel speed sensor malfunction modulator control unit left front wheels so basically the abs isn't going to be working right and as i said it probably needs a new sensor and the tire monitoring system i know that's not working but who cares you can check your tire pressure anytime you want it's showing you the tire pressure sensors have all failed so in this case i would just advise replacing the engine coolant temperature sensor it's running okay but it's confusing the computer it's thinking that it's too cold in the morning when it isn't too cold it's not that big of a deal we'll shut it off and i'll show you where it is go to the engine here where the thermostat is and if you look down inside there's the sensor it just plugs in you take this off do when the engine's cold and just go and buy an ect sensor now you don't want to buy a generic one made in china just get the original equipment honda they're not that expensive and it's going to work correctly so other than the tire pressure monitoring system being complete and who cares tire gauges don't cost much let's take it for a spin you're looking at these you want to test the transmission out closely certainly idle smoothly enough smooth shift at least at low speeds i can hear that probably needs the passenger rear wheel bearing it was hitting the side i can hear a little bit of a hum that means that the wheel bearing is somewhat worn it can still go aways but it's wearing when direct you always want to check for worn bearings bearings are steel they're strong but when they get whacked they get bent a few thousands of an inch and after miles and miles eventually they wear out no big deal they're easily replaceable brakes work suspension's good it looks to me to be all original but it's still holding up these are light cars so they don't wear things out all that much now we saw it shifted good at lower speed so let's take it on high speeds and see what happens step out of gas not a rocket but at high speeds it's still shifting quite well it's not jerking gets into gears and of course it's an older honda civic you hear a lot of noise they're not insulated all that well and it bounces around it's a little bitty car since it was wrecked you know the suspension is never going to be absolutely perfect it tracks straight enough i got my hand off the wheel and it goes straight enough it just pulls a little to the right which is the way the road drains anyway so and then when you step on passing gear it downshifts and it goes away no particular problems the engine's in immaculate shape which is typical for hondas if you don't mind a noisy car that's got kind of slow acceleration to begin with but once the vtec kicks in and you got the revs up 35 4 000 rpms then it's zippy enough to have a little bit of fun but all in all considering that it's the kids first car and they paid 3 500 bucks for it i'd say they got a fair deal even though it's got a rebuilt title realize both of my sons wrecked the first cars i bought them one was a celica one was a camry they wrecked them both so you don't want to spend too much money because they're probably going to wreck the thing anyway and being low to the ground these are very hard cars to roll over they're actually with the airbags very safe cars 3 500 even though it's got a rebuilt title on it it's still a very good car you can't complain about that they can run a really long time it's got the timing chain not the belt it's not a modern honda with gdi injection and turbos that have oil dilution problems it's a lot simpler and truthfully it's a lot better built especially since it's got the timing chain engine so now you know a little bit more about honda civics why buying one with a salvager rebuilt title may not be that bad of an idea if you can see like him that was originally hit on one part and fix and wasn't in a massive wreck because let's face it you get an old car they're only worth so much money and with the price of bodywork repair going up and up and up it doesn't take that much to total a car and body shops are perfectly happy buying them fixing the body stuff and then selling them at a profit when they're still mechanically okay and here's some bonus questions and answers i'm on 119 says the nissan maxima with cvt issues it's got 107 000 miles dealer said i need a new cvt i get replaced under the cpo warranty 25 000 miles ago i brought it in two to three times before the warranty say it wasn't working they said they can't diagnose it nissan said they're not gonna do anything it was a forty thousand dollar car with new what can i do with nissan dealer wants 8 700 bucks to fix you bought the wrong vehicle from the wrong company they don't give a rat's behind about their customers at nissan they do not care about you they make crappy transmissions that break all the time and they told you we don't know what's wrong because it was already replaced under warranty right and now it's broken they tell you we know what's wrong you need a new transmission that's how nissan is was and probably always will be stalantis you get the french involved don't buy them unfortunately you did now you're stuck between a rock and a hard place you can argue all you want nissan they don't give a hoot about you that's just how that company is look at their ex-head that goes in guy he's being sued all over the world he escaped japan in a box you know that's the kind of company nissan is stay away from their products if you value your money big mac 111 says my ac blows hot but the high system pressure has worried me the acm l6 pontiac started blowing hot i went to recharge it and the low side says 110 psi and the compressor isn't running how does that happen that's the dead pressure when your system does not work both sides will read the same probably around 110 depending on the temperature outside but if you put a gauge on the high side you'll see that's probably 110 too it probably means your compressor's broken and it's not doing anything and that's exactly what happens do try to hot wire take the clutch wire off the compressor and put power to it and see if it turns and spins if it does then it's an electrical problem but knowing an old six pontiac the compressor is probably shot and the reason it's high is because when you shut it off both sides go to 110 and when you turn it on the low side should go down to 30 or so but it's not even coming out so odds are your compressor's blown thomas k 4380 says does turning off dsc improve or reduce gas mileage the dynamic stability control which is what dsc stands for keeps you from skidding on a road and driving around it doesn't do anything to your gas mileage it's for controlling your car so you don't skid off the road i mean if you really have to use it you're driving like a maniac and it has to activate itself you're going to be getting worse gas mileage because you're driving too fast it has nothing to do with the dynamic stability control itself it's just a safety thing to keep you from wrecking the car and yourself by driving too fast and sliding on the road it tries to slow it down and make it go straight with the abs system and by lowering the power the engine puts to the wheels so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that bell\n"
