1997 Acura 1.6 EL Sport review from North America

I purchased this car on Ebay with 243,000km (151,000 Miles for you United Statesers) and it had a few problems that were part of the deal. The car was heavily abused but I got a good deal on it (2700$CAD) so I decided it was worth it.

I had to have it fully inspected in order to bring it in to my province and here are the things that needed to be repaired in order to bring it in and the cost of repair:

1. Blower Fan was not blowing air and making a disturbing grinding sound. I changed this myself with a used one from a Japanese Civic (92 I think) for 25$. It was only a couple of screws holding it in place (above the passenger kick panel). I had trouble finding a compatible unit because the civics of the same year seem to use a different blower which I found odd.

2. Sway Bar bushings were worn out. This did not really need to be changed but the inspection guys here are real idiots so they demanded that the bar not wiggle at all. It was a pain in the ass to track these bushings down because they are different from all civics and integras!! Honda had them for 80$ a piece! I ended up finding some jobber ones from another Honda (accord I think) that fit for 20$ a piece. installation was 25$ at a local garage for a total of 65$ for the fix.

3. Hand break cable was seized. Only one side was seized and it cost 25$ for a jobber cable and 40$ for the labor. Total 65$

4. Some various bulbs that had blown. ~10$

Aside from that there were some other mechanical issues (non safety) that were addressed within the first month of ownership, I did them all at the same time so I cannot break down the costs:

The car was delivered to me with only 1L of oil in the car (supposed to be ~4.4L) and would go low on oil very quickly after an oil change. The exhaust did not smoke more than any other Honda with this millage so after closer inspection it ended up being the Valve Cover Seal that was responsible for most of the loss (Seal was ~30$). The AC compressor was seized and needed to be replaced. I also changed both front wheel bearings because the old ones were making a lot of noise. I changed the clutch, timing belt, water pump, front and rear brake pads, front rotors and the tires even though none of these parts had failed. Everything was changed at the same time and my bill came to 1,300$ (Parts and labor). It should be noted that the AC compressor was replaced with a used one (a new one was almost 450$!!).

In the past 3 years and 23,000KM of ownership, here are the things that have gone wrong:

-Automatic door locks no longer function

-Alternator failed (180$)

-Manual Transmission Failed (Reverse Gear Blew up) (550$)

This is by far not the best car I have ever had but it has been a good little trooper considering the abuse I put it though and the abuse it has suffered in the past. I blew up the reverse gear when I dropped the clutch at 6K RPM in reverse when I was pissed off and so the transmission is probably my fault. The car has almost the same value that I paid for it 3 years ago and I cannot say that about any car I have ever owned.

If you know Honda's then you know how much abuse they can take, and since this one is 90% the same as a Civic the parts are cheap and easy to find.