Buying my first wagon

Hey everyone!

So, I was headed home from work the other day, and I saw this weird looking white thing on the side of the road. My daily (and currently, only) driver is a 2009 Ram 1500. With a 60 mile a day commute, I've been looking for something to save on gas. I drove by without thinking too much about it, but the next day I had to stop. I had never even heard of these cars, but the more I looked at it, the more I fell in love.

I called the owner. She's a 1986, 2WD, 5 speed. I'm not gonna lie, she's seen better days. The interior looks like a kid took some black paint and had a ball with the, what looked liked vinyl, headliner. No headrests, the back seats are tattered when you look at them from the rear. It's pretty grungy looking. On the column, what I assume is the wiper control has a rubber band attached to a thumbtack on the dash to keep it forward. Theres some rot around the rear passenger tire, but this is Connecticut, where everything rots.

The owner says it needs a new strut and CV joint on the passenger front end. She's a total beater, but not the worst car I've seen on the road. The more and more I think about it, the more I'm falling in love with this thing. The owner did say it ran perfect, no fluid leaks, has a newer clutch and alternator, and newer brakes.

His asking price is... 600 bucks. I will say, I bought a 98 MKIII Jetta for 600, and I loved that car for the year and a half I had it. If it didn't need a whole new computer, I'd still be driving it.

But this little Honda has got me hooked. I'm test driving it tomorrow, but I'm curious to see what you guys think. For the price and condition, is it a bad deal? I have no idea how many miles are on it, but I assume it's probably between 'a lot' and 'a shitton'. She's got character, and I can't explain why I'm so drawn to this car. Any advice on what to look for would be greatly appreciated.

I should say, this would be my first Japanese car. I've been through American, German, Korean, and a lone Volvo somewhere in the mix, but never JDM. Thanks for any advice!

Comments

  • Update: Check out my post in introductions. I ended up buying her for 500 bucks!
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