SC40095

A little bit of background info. Civic got Stolen on April Fools day and recovered stripped 3 days later. So I got this 95 SC4 with 133xxx miles on it. After getting the car home I started to notice a few things.

The front bumper isn't on straight causing it to sit over the high beams.
The driver side headlight was broken so it just sat in there. It also had ALOT of dirt in the inside of the headlight like it was put in dirt. After I removed it I seen a crap load of dirt sitting on the frame of the car. The trunk is raised in the back on one side. I tried to adjust it but it still didn't work. I looked under the car and there is a letter and number in white paint on the subframe I believe of the car like it been in a junkyard. The shift handle is missing the cover which is a whopping $360 from Lexus if it's the leather one and $160 if it's not. The headlights are $441 and some change a piece from there also. It just looks like this car was put together by a bunch of monkeys. I think a CARFAX won't turn up anything but I'll give it go anyway. Pics will follow today once my camera finish charging so you all can get an idea. The only good things is the car rides and sounds smooth and I believe it's sitting on LS430 wheels. I hope I didn't get some lemon because if I did I'm taking it back there and getting another one from another dealership. I've seen a few sitting on different lots and one inside of a detail shop with 2 more behind it. So finding one won't be hard at all. I want to mod but it looks like I need to get it up to normal operating conditions first.

On a lighter note I did kill a new Acura TL and a boosted RX8. I shall now go and get gas.

TJohnson

I understand that some things can't be seen immediately, but it seems to me that a lot of those things would be obvious before you buy it. The headlight dirt, the overlaping high beams, and the trunk would be eyesores to me if I was looking for a car. And looking underneath it would have been done before buying it too. How much research and looking around did you do before you bought this car?

If you are ok with cosmetic problems, then don't worry about it. If you start to find mechanical issues or electrical issues or something liek that, then you may want to go back to where you got it from.

Then again, I would think that most people would have noticed most of these problems prior to commiting to buy them. Just my opinion.

SC40095

I didn't notice the bumper when I first seen the car. I thought the dirt was sitting on the outside of the light as well. I've bought used cars before and never thought to look under the car. Now I know. Yeah there is no mechanical or electrical problems that I know of yet. I'll just take it be looked at by a reputable body shop and see what they say. I did a quick CARFAX and 15 records popped up versus and Autocheck where 25 popped up. I know most of those are just registration renewl records but I still would like to see what else is on there. I'm somewhat okay with the cosmetics because they can be fixed. I didn't do that much looking around because I really needed a car at the time my hatch was jacked. Mostly everything else around here are mainly Hondas and I didn't want another one.

lexdud

I'm curious ...

When you checked the car out, did you do it at night?

How much did you pay for the car?

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

always do a carfax before you put money on a used car..

Hil

iTrader: (61)

I hope you didn't already spend that much on those parts because those can be had for way cheaper

PecosBill

iTrader: (2)

If you keep the car check out the member classifieds before going to the dealer...

trackball

doh! carfax is for running before you buy, not after!
Don't ever let yourself be put under the gun like that -- if you really needed a vehicle after your wreck, you rent one for a few days -- you don't let yourself get backed into a corner and buy immediately.

RolxuSC400

People put too much faith in Carfax. It should only be a small piece of your due diligence when buying a used car. I have seen it wrong alot of times.

1985zcar

iTrader: (1)

Yeah dude Carfax is practically useless these days. It's only about 50% of people that go through insurance and a bodyshop when they get in an accident nowadays, lol.

That's why I always take a couple friends with me when I go look at a car and we all look it over really

SC40095

They wanted 9 for it but the wife talked them down to $6200 and $225 a month.

SC40095

No I didn't buy those parts from Lexus of Fife. Those are ripoff prices. I only found 1 on craigslist that was being parted out. I thought the radio would've been an easy fix until I looked closer and seen the previous owner did a hack job to put in what looks like a screen. The dealer told me the previous owner was a audio installer. I really don't think so because what installer you all know would Dynamat one side of the trunk? And put in no name speakers? And put in some no name alarm? Basically I only had the car for about 2 months but it looks like I'm going to have to basically take it apart and replace whatever.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

That is basically part of owning an older car. Good luck with getting things fixed though.

SC40095

Just one of me stolen hatch.

SC40095

Thanks for all the positive feeback guys. You live and you learn I guess. I will be making this one nice car but not with brand new parts from Lexus. I figure if I use them then I should just go buy a brand new one. Operation Restoration is about to go in full swing come next payday. I'll go get a beater until I'm finished. Having MS really don't help either. Once VA finally get the stick out their *** and give me my disability then I'll be able to move forward with some nice upgrades once the restoration process is done.