Hey guys. I'm brand new to this forum. I just picked up a 89 Civic LX with 30k original miles for $1000. The exterior is really beat up but the interior is mint and the car drives very well for its age. It was owned by an old lady. What are your experiences with these cars and how long can they last. Are there any problems I should look out for? Thanks guys.

30k mi on an '89 Civic? That's pretty incredible!

I've just owned my '91 Civic (same era as yours) for about six months. Above average shape with only 175 000 km, but not as low as yours, wow!

Anyway, I chose the Civic, after doing a little research (for instance, check out www.carsurvey.org). I was looking for something that was simple, reliable, excellent on gas, and when it needed repairs, I wouldn't have to pour endless money into it. So far, I've been satisfied.

Some basic advice: just keep up with the regular maintenance. I've heard with Civics, it's very important to check the rad fluid (antifreeze) regularly. Also have it flushed every 2 years. The regular oil and tranny oil changes go without saying. I'm about ready to do an automatic tranny oil change. Officially, it says to change that every 2 years. I think I'll run about a litre of synthetic in it, too. Oil change-wise, I did some research and Amsoil synthetic seems to be one of the best. Unfortunately my car seems to "burn" it off faster than regular oil (kind of negates the benefits of the long oil change intervals Amsoil recommends), so I'm running high mileage oil now (small oil leak, after all), but at the next oil change I think add about half a litre of Amsoil synthetic to get some of the incredible friction reducing properties that synthetics provide. Your car, having very low mileage, may benefit from pure Amsoil synthetic. I'd be interested in knowing your experience. With pure synthetic, you need to change your oil only once a year.

Your car is pre all the complexity and expense of modern cars. I find my car (which is similar to yours) very well laid out, visibility is excellent and performance is very good, despite the under 100 hp engine. It is a very light car. Honda did a good job on this car. With modest acceleration, I can easily get 7-8 L /100 km fuel economy in the city! "Normal" driving, I will get about 8-9 L/100 km. I can get 5-6 L/100 km highway at 100 km/h.

An Achilles heel of the older Civics: they rust. If you plan on keeping your car for a while, make **** sure you keep the rust at bay. The rear quarters are notorious for rusting (all that splash back) as are the rear hatch/trunk lid, bottoms of the doors and rocker panels. I imagine your car is in above average shape, rust-wise, but I notice you're in New York City, so I imagine it has some rust. Jack up the car, look for rust chips and bubbles. Sand them down. Prime them with POR15 or Masterseries (Masterseries is cheaper and just as good), then you can colour match the paint. After that, you'll need need a liquid rust inhibitor that can flow into all of the crevices. The best one in Canada is Krown (www.krown.com). It is so good they guarantee new cars Krowned every year with a lifetime guarantee. My parents Krowned their their '92 Mitsu each year for 10 years. It was mint even though it was driven on the salt-laden streets of Ottawa and was parked in a damp garage. Their current '01 Toyota is still mint with the same treatment. I don't know if there is a similar product in America (make sure it is liquid and doesn't harden- hardening blocks the drain holes). If not, consider driving to Ontario to have it done. It costs about $100. You won't have to do it every year as NYC is not nearly as bad rust-wise as Ottawa. I plan on taking my Civic to Krown this winter. I'm near Vancouver, where rust issues aren't as great, so I'll only Krown it once then monitor it after that.

Good luck with your Civic. With care, you can easily have your car for 400 000 km (250 000 mi).