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Grandma’s 16k Mile 1993 Honda Civic

1993-honda-civic-survivor

Honda sedans from the nineties don’t exactly get me excited. They were appliances. Good cheap transportation. As such, most were driven into the ground long ago. So, to find one with only 16k miles on odometer is a rare occasion today. Supposedly, this car was owned by an older woman who only used the car occasionally to go to church and the grocery store. The story is believable, but you’ll need to take a closer look before coming to a conclusion. Find it here on eBay where bidding is at $1,075 with no reserve.

clean-civic-interior

There are some scratches here and there, but that doesn’t mean the mileage is wrong. Those unsightly door edge guards need to go. Hopefully they didn’t cause more damage than they prevented. Those things fit in the same category as car bras for me. Anyway, the interior can be the best place to look for proof of mileage. The seats and floor mats do look good, but unfortunately the photo resolution is too low to really get an idea of what is going on here.

honda-inline-four

Better photos would help instill confidence in potential bidders. Shot of the pedals and other high wear areas could help you determine if the mileage is legit. It would be a good idea to see if there are any maintenance records with the car too. The engine does look very clean. These were tough little mills and they can endure a couple hundred thousand miles before they need a rebuild. Let’s just hope it didn’t sit too long because inactivity can sometimes be worse than use.

underside

The underside is a little dirty so it’s hard to tell anything from these shots. All the rubber does look good though. This is an automatic equipped car without air conditioning so it wouldn’t normally be very desirable. The low mileage does make it appealing though if you are looking for an older commuter. It might need some service items, but everything else should have a lot of like left in it. Would you daily drive Grandma’s old Honda?

Comments

  1. Avatar Blueprint

    My very first new car was a 1995 Civic sedan, same gen as this, but Milano red on grey with a 5-speed an a/c. I LOVED that car! That mill was terrific at high revs, 140 km/h in 3rd was something! Great sound, great mileage and ultra-reliable. Sold it after 6 years and went upmarket with a B5.5 Passat.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Mike

    I’ve always loved 5th gen Civics. Though I much prefer the coupe or the hatchback. I had a 93 Civic EX coupe with a 1999 Integra GSR engine swap. It was a blast to drive.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Chris in Nashville

    I would have bid, if it was a stick… Auto + no air = no thanks.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Schwag

    I love these ’92-’95 Civics more than most, but even at this mileage an automatic LX sedan would have to sit for a lot longer to be considered collectible. I’d love to see a stock, low mileage Si unicorn go to auction! My Milano red ’93 Si is modified and swapped like almost all of them.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar wuzjeepnowsaab

    With 16K miles, this Civic will last until 2036! Great econobox for city and work commute

    Like 1
  6. Avatar Fred W.

    Looking for a cheap car for your high school or college kid? Look no further!

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Geolemon

    “Honda sedans from the nineties don’t exactly get me excited. They were appliances.”

    An author writing about cars shouldn’t expose their ignorance in their articles.
    The first clue that there’s something more should have been the massive popularity of this very specific model of car with performance enthusiasts.

    For years, the civic line had a dual unequal length a-arm suspension system that was otherwise unavailable until you reached the tier of $50k-$60k sports cars (and up into exotics like Ferrari and Lamborghini), and even those weighed more than the nimble Civic.

    That style of suspension alters the camber angle dynamically with roll angle, optimizing the tires grip in the hardest corners, street or track.
    With the low entry price of a civic, the performance world rallied behind this platform, offering every manner of upgrade – if you bought them all you’d still be $10k-$20k less than what the next least expensive sports car with a real suspension costs.

    Appliance indeed.

    Sadly, in the late 00s Honda went cheap, and today’s civic has a simple, cheap up/down McPherson strut suspension like every other cheap car on the road.
    It’s also why today’s enthusiasts have moved on to other makes and models.

    The world makes sense if you make an effort to understand it.
    As a journalist, your obligation is to understand what you are writing about, before writing about it.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jesse Staff

      Thanks for the insult Geolemon. Let’s be honest though, Honda’s were nice appliances to everyone except the tuner crowd. They were built to be commuters, not race cars.

      Like 1
      • Avatar DrinkinGasoline

        Even the Tuner’s transplanted Nissan power plants into them.

        Like 0
      • Avatar cyclemikey

        Sorry, Jesse, but the only insult I see is yours, against the car.. Geolemon makes a solid point about way you jumped on the Eurosnob bandwagon by trotting out the tired old “appliance” epithet they love to use every time a Japanese car is featured on a car site.

        He was also dead-on in his analysis of why these cars were and still are so popular with enthusiasts. But instead of acknowledging the criticism of your writing, you chose to just double down. That makes me sad. For this site to be any more than what it is, it needs to be fact-based, not emotional with people lining up to take sides.

        And by the way, the plural of “Honda” is “Hondas”, not “Honda’s”. The apostrophe is never used to indicate plural, only contraction and possessive, and in that order.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Jesse Staff

        Who insulted who here? I thought a Honda was worth featuring, but a Civic was never intended to be anything more than basic and dependable transportation. Let’s not elevate it above what its designers intended it to be. It wasn’t a sports car even if the front suspension was more advanced than what the competition used at the time.

        Like 1
    • Avatar HotRodLincoln

      Quick question “Geolemon”….do you have a link to your site where you have taken the time to ever-so-accurately highlight the multitudes of vehicles from around the world? If so, please post it as I would be very interested in a site that could express the opinions of all enthusiast’s on one site, from one point of view.

      Like 0
  8. Avatar DrinkinGasoline

    I would drop 2k on this appliance. Give it to the kid starting college and park it right next to the apartment sized fridge, the hotplate and the IKEA furniture in the dorm. When finished with college, throw it all out (ok…maybe keep the fridge). Cheap 4 years aside the tuition.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Murray

    Best pushed back into the Barn. Reliable sure, but my study desk is a more interesting drive.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar DrinkinGasoline

    The dreaded vomit flavored jelly bean out of the bunch.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Jim

    Maybe it’s just me but I can’t imagine anyone in fifty years saying “remember my ’92 4door Civic, it was bitchin'” they won’t be lined up with fifties Chevy’s, 32′ Ford’s or 30’s Packards at car shows. Let the hate mail fly, I’m old LOL, it’s just me. Great commuter car if you fit, God forbid you’re in an accident and have wait for the jaws of life, being in the repair world my whole life, I’ve seen too many crushed from not terrible accidents, I’ll stick to my Tahoe. Good night all

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Paul G.

    I’m the seller on Ebay. I took a few more pictures today of the inside and engine bay area http://s275.photobucket.com/user/baboonia/slideshow/93%20Honda%20Civic

    Like 1
  13. Avatar wuzjeepnowsaab

    Why does everything have to be about American muscle or Euro sport to be interesting?

    Some of y’all need to get down off your high horses, sit back and keep quiet about things that others may enjoy seeing.

    @Paul G, very nice car…someone will get a great bargain at the end of the day

    Like 1
  14. Avatar Murray

    wuzjeepnowsaab, it comes down to freedom of speech and expression. You like Japanese cars, that fine and you’ve just exercised your freedom of speech and expression. Thats what this place is all about, its for enthusiast of all types of older cars. I generally don’t like Amercian Cars (65 sky blue Mustang Convertibles excepted…) I certainly do not like Japanese cars (I think they are generally boring and offer nothing to the enthusiastic driver) but that is not to say that many don’t like them and for many they have virtues that appeal to many.

    If you think people such as me who voice an opinion are on “high horses”, carry on. I don’t agree with you, but I’m not about to complain to you or anyone about it. I think I said about the Honda in question that it should have been put back in the barn. I’ll stand by that.

    If you want to take it out of the barn again, good luck to you…..

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Jason

    One of the worst listings ever seen on BF.

    Like 0

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