Does it pay to keep a 91 Accord?

I bought it used and it now has 92,000 miles and it got somewhat
flooded a few weeks back (about 3" of water in the driver side) from
sitting in a flooded parking lot for a few hourse. I replaced the
computer and it is now fine but there are lots of nagging little
problems. There is quite a bit of rust around the wheel wells; I
haven't seen an Accord of this year without rust in the same places.

The shift (automatic) is sometimes balky being pulled out of park but
otherwise appears to be fine. I have no complaints about the engine.
I've done pretty regular oil changes.

The front end shakes at 55-60mph, which I guess means it needs to be
aligned. There is clicking during left turns, axle perhaps? The CV
boots are ok. Those are the mechanical problems that I know of. And
it's due for a big Honda checkup, likely around $300 or so.

Water leaks into the trunk when I open it up, flowing down from the
driver side taillight. The locks need to be re-keyed to fit the
ignition lock or someday the Viper clicky will die and I won't be able
to get in (I have changed the battery). The radio is still a cassette.
The antenna valiently tries to lower but no longer does so.

I was thinking that perhaps $1000 - $1500 might fix all the problems,
but I'd hate to do that and find out that there is something major
coming up. Timing belt was done around 60,000 or so.

Perhaps it's just time to sell it to my mechanic and get a Fit or used
Civic or something? It's been so reliable that I hate giving it up.

My 90 has nearly 300,000 miles and is still dependable enough to drive
daily. It too leaks like yours. The clutch is a little balky and will
prolly be the downfall. Still it burns no oil and starts easily.
If money isn't much of an issue then you could do away with the
annoyances. But a Honda that old with that few miles?? You've got a
treasure there!!


JXStern wrote:
> Somewhere around twelve to fourteen years I figure tons of little
> stuff is going to go continuously wrong from then on, and it's maybe
> better to pass the old dog onto someone for a grand or two and let
> them deal with it, while you can still get even that much in good
> faith.
>
> Sounds like you don't do a lot of miles, so yeah, a three year old
> Civic coming off of lease, might be ideal for the next ten years or
> so! Or a low-mile older car in good shape, owned by grandma who was
> also a good shadetree mechanic, ...
>
> J.
>
>
> On Mon, 10 Jul 2006 08:38:02 -0400, dgk wrote:
>
> >I bought it used and it now has 92,000 miles and it got somewhat
> >flooded a few weeks back (about 3" of water in the driver side) from
> >sitting in a flooded parking lot for a few hourse. I replaced the
> >computer and it is now fine but there are lots of nagging little
> >problems. There is quite a bit of rust around the wheel wells; I
> >haven't seen an Accord of this year without rust in the same places.
> >
> >The shift (automatic) is sometimes balky being pulled out of park but
> >otherwise appears to be fine. I have no complaints about the engine.
> >I've done pretty regular oil changes.
> >
> >The front end shakes at 55-60mph, which I guess means it needs to be
> >aligned. There is clicking during left turns, axle perhaps? The CV
> >boots are ok. Those are the mechanical problems that I know of. And
> >it's due for a big Honda checkup, likely around $300 or so.
> >
> >Water leaks into the trunk when I open it up, flowing down from the
> >driver side taillight. The locks need to be re-keyed to fit the
> >ignition lock or someday the Viper clicky will die and I won't be able
> >to get in (I have changed the battery). The radio is still a cassette.
> >The antenna valiently tries to lower but no longer does so.
> >
> >I was thinking that perhaps $1000 - $1500 might fix all the problems,
> >but I'd hate to do that and find out that there is something major
> >coming up. Timing belt was done around 60,000 or so.
> >
> >Perhaps it's just time to sell it to my mechanic and get a Fit or used
> >Civic or something? It's been so reliable that I hate giving it up.
> >