All pictures except of this Accord are from Google
When you’re in a financial bind, finding the right car can prove very difficult. My friend Josh and I found this out by trying to find him a good, reliable car for less than $1200. His Chevy Aveo was on its last legs and he needed something, anything, to get him by. Not being a gear head, he deferred to me to help him find his next ride.
Working within such a limited budget, there wasn’t much to choose from that wasn’t an incredibly long drive from where he lived. The first car l looked at for him was a 1995 Mercury Cougar XR7 that was in very rough shape despite what was shown in the Craigslist ad. The tires on it were ancient and cracked. The interior wasn’t in terrible shape, but the plastics felt thin and pieces snapped off in my hand as I tried to operate the seat controls. The check engine light was on and it drove very poorly. The man wanted $800, but I decided to pass.
The next car was the nicest I’d ever seen to come out of a junkyard. It was a red 1997 Crown Victoria with less than 80,000 miles. It was a base model with tan cloth seats and a cassette player. A worker at the yard said it had been owned by the grandparents of a young women who didn’t know what else to do with it. Sadly, it sold the day after I went to look at it.
Something important to know about Josh is that he is 6’ 4” and cramming his lanky self into any car was difficult to say the least. He fit well into most trucks but said he didn’t want to drive a truck if it could be helped. Oddly, we found a Suzuki Aerio sedan at another junkyard that he was perfectly comfortable in, but it had a distinctive… Kia Rio… quality to it that made me nervous.
However, while browsing Craigslist one day just before I was due to clock out, I found the above ad. With the strangest feeling, I sent it to him and asked him to call the owner. He set up a date and time to meet and we headed up to Corinth with a mutual friend. The owner’s wife looked very worn out, with sunken eyes, holding a cigarette when we met her. However, she gave us all a genuinely warm smile and was very helpful despite it being late.
The owner however gave us all the creeps. He was thin as a rail, covered in tattoos, with quick darting eyes, and greeted us in a cloud of vape smoke. I started my usual check through the car, listening to it run, checking lines, knocking on body panels for rust, cramming myself underneath to check the undercarriage, and checking fluids, the owner was getting upset demanding to know just what I was looking for.
During the test ride, he wouldn’t let either of us drive, and tore through the neighborhood like a bat out of hell. The car is straight piped from the cat, so it was mighty loud and roared away the whole time. Despite the experience, I couldn’t shake the feeling I had finally found him the right car.
After $900 had changed hands, Josh was now the proud (and very tired) owner of a Honda Accord that’s only a year younger than him.
The next time he and I hung out, I got the chance to do a little photo shoot with it outside my warehouse. The pictures you see are before he and I started to work on her. Oh yes, I forgot to mention her name… It’s Scootaloo.
He and I are both fans of the show My Little Pony, and somehow the name just stuck. Like the character, the car has had a rocky past judging from the many, many names listed on the bill of sale and other assorted paperwork he got with the car. Despite her age, little Scoots has always started every time the key was turned, seemingly willing to get out on the road and prove she has what it takes.
Despite the owner freaking out over my looking the car over the night of purchase, neither of us found any suspicious baggies or other contraband, thankfully. She’s cleaned up pretty well and despite her obvious…well used… condition, I’ve truly fallen in love with this little sedan.
I used to be very against older imports. I was so tired of hearing about how great they were, how well built, how responsive and so CLEARLY better they were than their American counterparts. Now, I’m not about to drop to my knees and bow down to the engineers of Honda for this perfect automotive specimen, but the more time I spend with Scootaloo, the more I understand why people like them. Most Accords I’ve driven were very bland, but this Accord is old enough to still have some quirks that I enjoy. The way the dash is laid out, the way everything feels like it was built to last. It’s a car I’m proud my friend gets to enjoy. He doesn’t care about them the way I do, but I’m happy to know he isn’t rolling around in the usual fair EVERYONE turns too when they need a cheap car. Sure, there are many Accords on the road today… but only one Scootaloo!
The cracked bit of trim near the headlight has since been replaced before anyone says anything
How many miles are on that beast!
At the time of writing, she’s got 193K. 🙂
Great car for the money! Watch the timing belt, if you don’t know when it was last done and driven hard before.
Rust and timing belts were probably the two main things that took many of these off the road.
While impractical, I do think the pop up headlights are cool
Nice find. These are getting rare. The following generation may be Peak Accord and perhaps a better car, but this is the one I would be trying to find a mint example of if I was assembling some giant Everyday Hero car collection.
“I was so tired of hearing about how great they were, how well built, how responsive and so CLEARLY better they were than their American counterparts.”
Well, the imports did take over for a reason and it wasn’t because buyers back then were hoodwinked.
Yeah. By that time it was conventional wisdom that American cars were uniformly awful. Not without good reason.
I had an ’87 LXi 2-door hatch. Sadly, it was totaled. November 4, 1994. Friday. 2:06 PM. I got hit by a tractor-trailer on I-95 in Jacksonville near the Avenues mall. He changed lanes into my rear quarter and spun me around the front and down the other side before getting punched by the trailer leg into the median. Spun around 540 degrees in the grass and ended up back towards my original direction of travel. Crushed the driver’s door and I had to slip out the passenger side.
I had that car for a little over a year and would have kept it for quite a while longer, it was that good. Got more from the insurance than I paid for it and replaced it with a $250 beater ’82 Corolla until I found an ’88 Isuzu Impulse.
Got rid of a Corolla and replaced it with a Japanese built Chevette? Blasphemy!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_T_platform_(1973)
I miss fabrics like this. Look at how well they’ve held up. All we get now is thin, scratchy, slick, and plasticky. Woven plastic that feels like it. Vinyl is inexplicably seen as the upgrade choice. Sheets of plastic instead of woven plastic.
Bring back the velour!
Here here! I miss the velour bench seat I had in my Fury. It always looked so rich and pretty.
Oh my God, this a million times. I uniformly detest interiors in most new cars that I sit in. Borrowed my buddy’s ’98 K1500 last weekend to do some hauling and it felt so right sitting in that cozy maroon cloth interior. Our ’90 Civic had a very nice woven/tweed cloth on the seats and door card inserts, tan/brown over chocolate vinyl, chromed metal inner door handles.
Yes! This LX-i upholstery was good in all the right ways. It was comfy, but not stiflingly hot like velour, it was durable but not itchy, and was a decent color but not easily stained, etc.
I had a friend in the 1990s whose mother had an LX-i like this one, and while most young adults detest Mom Cars, he loved driving his mom’s LX-i — between the upholstery and the moonroof, it was almost heavenly to drive it.
THAT is peak Accord! 1985-1989.
I’m a big fan of the Mk 2 Golfs/Jettas, but this car so outclassed everything else within $3,000, it was amazing.
I think the VWs had ‘sportier’ handling, but the Honda did very well, and was much more reliable.
In an indirect way I went from an 85 VW GTI to an 88 Accord. What’s funny was that in looking at magazine tests the Accord put up performance and handling numbers right up there with the GTI (at least the 8v version) but the subjective feel was completely different. The VW was letting you know what fun you were having every minute behind the wheel and the Honda was just yawning, but there they were doing about the same thing.
The interiors in VWs and Hondas of the mid 80s were a night and day difference. In a VW you were in a car that looked like it cost less than it did while in the Honda you were in a car that looked like it cost more than it did. Japanese and German cars had wildly divergent personalities in that era.
Not mention being technically deficient. VW at that point at that point was still a long way from mainstream multi-valve engines and automatics with more than 3 speeds.
VW was not technically deficient compared to Honda at all.
Both the Accord and the VW had single overhead cam engines in 1987…VW had fuel injection long before Honda dating back to 1978 and the LX-i was the only fuel injected Accord…all the rest still relied on carburetors. Yes VW was still using 3 speed automatics but VW owners back then gravitated towards standard shift.
1986 also saw the introduction of VW’s 16V engine which was a gem and very sophisticated at the time.
Well put JP! My first car was an 86 GTI 8v.
The numbers were the same…I’d say an LXi probably was quicker. But the GTI was a handler.
The Accord interior definitely made you feel richer, I agree.
However, had I opted for an 86 VW Jetta GL, as my father wanted me (not base Jetta, the GL. The GL, was $3-4 hundred more and got the richer interior fabric and steering wheel and trim rings. It was mone well spent), I would have had an interior that made me feel as if I had bought an Audi.
But I’m glad I got the GTI. And while it’s interior did look noticeably cheaper (but not cheap for the era) than an Accord, those GTI seats were perfectly shaped for me…most comfortable seats I’ve ever had. The cheap fabric wore off the outboard bolster a year after the warranty expired (and I had an auto upholstery place redo the bolsters in vinyl), but the seat still was comfortable. The car was fun to drive, and I kept it longer and drove it more than any other car I’ve ever owned, 13 yrs, 144k miles.
Even so, I think the 85-89 Accord a great car, and for most people, the better car. One could go from driving a Dodge Dart to an Accord, or from a Mercedes or even a 77 Caprice to an Accord, and be very happy? How many other cars had, or have, such wide appeal?
And yes, the VW’s 8-valve was not cutting edge. It didn’t even have a cross-flow head. BUT, it did come with fuel injection (base Accord did NOT), and it worked very well. Very smooth for a 4-cylinder, excellent driveability, and mine handily beat the EPA’s 26/31 estimates.
Shifter not as nice as Honda’s, but on a GTI, ratios were perfect. Nice clutch too. Great power steering also.
The interior of the 85 GTI was actually pretty nice especially when compared to the 83-84 Mk I GTI with its color matching door panels, dashboard, carpets and very cheap switch gear. I owned an 86 GTI and then an 88 GTI 16V…Loved them both, especially the 16V. The engine was sublime.
I ended up with an ’86 GTi, but I also thought about an ’86 Accord (2 door hatch though). My best friend had an ’82 Accord Hatch which I liked, but as mentioned in ’86 the Accord only had fuel injection on the LXi…for some reason (probably that it also came with power windows which I didn’t like back then and you couldn’t al la carte options to only get fuel injection)..I didn’t want to buy the LXi. Also (full disclosure) I had a ’78 Scirocco at the time, so I was already in the VW camp.
Still, I admire the Accord, and of course there are countless happy owners. Never got around to buying an Accord (they discontinued the hatch a few years later and I didn’t want the sedan)…nor any Honda…and
I’m still in the VW camp, as I have a 2000 Golf now.
The ’86 GTi was great, though it did have the quick wearing upholstery
especially bolsters (I got some OEM fabric and learned to replace it).
Also some had problems with the self-machining close-ratio transmission
though I never did (sold it in 2001). Had several voltage regulators replaced, and an oil-soaked clutch I fixed in 1997. Didn’t have power steering which even though pretty light car, was a handful to drive with 60 series tires when I broke my collarbone in ’92.
I still have the ’86 Honda Brochure somewhere (that’s what happens when you don’t move much and are a bit of a packrat).
The Honda probably would have been less bother but not as much fun.
Peak was 94-97, in my opinion. Never an owner of that generation, but the next, a 2001. No complaints, but I wish I had jumped in a gen earlier.
I. Love. These. An attorney I worked for traded an 81 Sedan DeVille on a new 86 Accord and never owned an American car again. Every four years he paid cash for a new one for the rest of his life.
Then I married a lady with an 88 she bought new. I got a lot of wheel time in that car and it really earned my respect. They are mighty scarce up north because Honda had not yet licked their rusting issues.
$1200 is a tough price point to find anything decent. You almost have to stumble on one in that range by accident, because most of them (at least in my experience) are late-stage beaters that are one significant repair away from the junkyard, and that one significant repair will probably be necessary in the next 30 days. I am surprised that your friend was able to avoid the “Honda Premium” that all owners of beater Hondas try to get.
The “Honda Premium” that all owners of beater Hondas try to get?
Sounds like this owner needed a quick sale for his next meth buy.
I was going to say, just going off of the description of the seller, there is a very good chance that the guy was a meth addict.
My parents bought an ’88 EXi (Canada market, Japan built) to replace an Audi 5000 that started breaking weekly. It outlasted them. My brother got it in 2006 after my mom finally realized she was done driving. It was basically dormant in her underground condo parking since about 1999. The time it got driven was on visits back to Canada.
10 years of daily driving on the prairies finally did it in. It was literally rusting apart.
My brother sold to a Honda enthusiast/bodyman who stated his intent to fix it up. I hope he did, but it would have been a ton of work. I last saw in 2012 on my final visit home.
The final thing I did for it was replace the turn signal switch. Dealer wanted over $800 to do it. Now I know why. The whole unit, lights, wipers and all, is one piece placed over the steering shaft like a piece of meat on a shishkebab. I bought a used one at a yard for $90, and it was an all day job replacing it.
As for this particular example, I’m pretty sure I saw it and it’s former owner on an traffic stop on an episode of Live PD,or at least someone just like him.
An LXi hatchback of this generation with a 5spd and maroon interior is un-ironically one of my dream cars.
And I, too. White exterior also? That’s mine. “Because friend had one” and I fell in love with it, though automatic.
Yep, in white. I think that’s how a lot of them were configured, we had family friends with one just like that.
I’m glad you both get to experience peak Honda.
If that Suzuki Aerio was in good condition, that might have been a good catch too. I would not compare it with a Rio; these Suzukis were pretty stout little cars.
Circle of (automotive) life has its little ironies. In 1988, my company moved from New York City to Dallas, forcing many previously transit-dependent employees to buy new cars to get work. My boss at the time was a middle-aged woman who had lived in Manhattan her entire adult life. She had waited until her late 30s to get a drivers license and even then only drove a few times a year, usually on a business trip to flyover country. Highly respected, smart and competent at work, she was a truly terrible driver, humbled by her inexperience behind the wheel.
During the first week in the new office, she appeared at my door and quietly asked for my help in selecting a new car for her to purchase. Knowing that she would want something stylish and easy to drive, and yet living in fear of of accidentally selecting a real lemon (for which I would undoubtedly be blamed), I recommended that she get an Accord LXi.
This turned out to be an excellent recommendation, and the car served her well for over 100k miles and six years. Driving on a daily basis also dramatically improved her skills behind the wheel and before long, she was taking the Accord on extended road trips.
Thirty years later, it turns out that an Accord of this generation is still just the ticket for a non-automotively inclined friend. I would like to think that this Accord serves your friend equally well for as long as he owns it.
Ironically, this car is the same age as your previous COAL, Helen. Amazing that these two were both new at the same time.
I pointed that out to Josh. While Helen is still my style, a big old cruiser, I can understand just how forward thinking this design is, even 32 years down the line.
Nice write up and thank you for sharing. Not all that into My Little Pony however, Rainbow Dash seems cool and looks cool plus she controls the weather so that is pretty neat.
I am not concerned about the broken trim around the headlight I am curious where the windshield registration sticker is and hoping your friend is keeping an eye on the fluids since these cars do not like overheating or running low on oil. When I lived in Texas during 2009 and visited in 2012 there were so many SUVs and trucks, I imagine your friend probably has one of the smaller and older cars around.
I had an ’86 Accord LX with a manual transmission. I bought it off a classmate in ’98 shortly before graduating from college. I had recently sold my ’89 MR2 after learning how much my insurance was going to cost in Chicago. As soon to be recent grad, I needed reliable and economical transportation. My classmate assured me the Accord had been well cared for. My degree had a small graduating class and I had spend a lot of time with my classmates the past three years. I considered her a friend and I trusted that she wouldn’t lie to me. My mistake.
This car had been thoroughly abused and neglected. Over the three years that I owned it, I spent more on repairs than I paid my classmate for the car. Shortly after graduation, I discovered that the trunk had rusted under the rubber gasket that was supposed to keep it water tight. I was able to fix that with some silicone caulk, but unfortunately all my stuff that had been in the trunk was mildewed and ruined. I should’ve taken that as a sign and dumped it then.
A few weeks later I had to replace a rusty pipe from the gas intake to the gas tank. It’s quite a shock when filling up at a gas station and you see a giant puddle of gas forming at your feet.
I don’t remember if it was the carburetor (I believe this was the last model year to have a carburetor) or the timing belt was off, but when coming to a stop I would have to depress the clutch, the brake, and apply gas otherwise the engine revs would drop and the car would die. Somehow I drove around with it like that for two years, before I got that fixed.
If I had taken more pictures of it I would’ve written a COAL about it. When everything was working perfectly, the car was great. It was a metallic tan color and had a collection of small dents and scratches, but that was fine for city life. The AC didn’t work, but somehow I didn’t mind. This Accord was fun to drive, had great visibility, was easy to park in tight city spots, and got great mileage. I replaced the factory stereo with and Alpine and put in some new speakers. The one time I didn’t take of the faceplate, it got broken into and someone stole Alpine. Then insurance paid for a newer and nicer Alpine, so that worked out ok.
I also had to replace the driver’s side rear view mirror, the windshield, get new brakes and tires,…I’m sure there is more that I am forgetting.
The final straw was when a ball joint failed while my dad was visiting and I was driving him to the airport. My mechanic fixed that and thanked me for all of the business, but politely suggested it was time for me to get more reliable transportation.
I replaced the Accord with a ’96 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was a totally different beast, but for an SUV it was nimble and had great visibility. At the time gas was only $0.99, but shortly after buying it gas prices spiked. Based on Consumer Reports ratings, I was always afraid that the Jeep was going to break down, but in the three years I owned the Jeep, it never broke down.
After fixing the ball joint, my parents very kindly bought the car from me. That’s how I got the deposit for the Jeep. My dad wanted my mom to drive the Accord in the winter, instead of her RWD ’89 Toyota minivan (we called it the Toaster). My younger sister borrowed it and totalled that first winter.
One of my favorite episodes of I Love Lucy is the one where the Ricardos sell the Mertzes their washing machine despite Ricky’s warning to Lucy, “Nunca hagas negocios con amigos” (Never do business with friends).
I’ve bought exactly one used car since 1969 – from friends – and while it was not as abused or neglected as your Honda, this car definitely had not been as well cared for as I was told: $3,000 in repairs and service in the first year of my ownership (it was an expensive car for the time). Little things like the thermostat for the auxiliary cooling fan for the turbocharger fails – rather than get a new one they simply unplugged it. When my mechanic noticed the fan was not connected and plugged it back in it ran constantly and the battery died. I could go on about bigger problems due to lack of service but will repeat Ricky’s warning or recommend you have the car professionally inspected.
These Hondas were extremely popular in SoCal back in the day and I had a colleague who bought virtually this exact car new. It was pure luxury for her as she traded in an ancient Volvo 122S.
I’d say a failed balljoint on a 12+ year old car driven on bad roads is more of a function of you neglecting an obvious suspension noise for too long, no fault of the car’s necessarily. The poor idling sounds like a fairly trivial thing a reasonably competent mechanic should have been able to fix at minimal cost. Yes these rusted quite a bit, but a fuel filler neck is again a trivial repair.
Neglect? If there was, it wasn’t intentional on my part. I took the car in for regular maintenance on schedule and the car made frequent additional visits to my local mechanic. It did take me several tries to find a really good mechanic, but prior to the ball joint (or was it cv joint?) failing, I thought I had fixed all the problems (except the AC).
My mistake was doing business with a friend and not doing my due diligence by having the car looked at by a mechanic prior to purchase. An inspection by a mechanic would have saved me countless visits to the mechanic later.
A few years after I parted with this car, a different classmate told me that he knew the car was a dog, before I bought it. He hadn’t warned me though, because he was trying to become more than friends with the girl selling the car. Some friend.
Despite all the problems, I enjoyed driving the car and after the Jeep, I went back to Honda and bought a new ’05 Accord EX (there was a Dodge Durango RT in between, but that was a company car so I don’t count it). The ’05 Accord was a lot larger and plusher, but it was still agile and fun to drive. It also had the major benefit of being totally reliable. I have gone on to buy more new Hondas over the years and they’ve all been very good vehicles. I might even buy a used Honda someday. I’ve always wanted a Prelude, but I would definitely have a mechanic look at it before purchasing.
How can you confuse a failed balljoint and a failed CV? One would literally result in the wheel folding under the car, the other would immobilize you, but in a less spectacular fashion.
Loose balljoints give a fair bit of warning, especially if you supposedly have a mechanic checking things on a somewhat regular basis. CV axles likewise will initially start with a tear in the boot that leaks grease and allows for dirt/water to contaminate the bearings of the joint, not known for spontaneously letting go.
I dunno, I don’t doubt the car was in less than great condition, but equally so, you don’t sound particularly savvy on how cars work or how to keep them running. Just my observations based on your posts, no offense meant.
Good news! Brother had this color ’86, mine was brown ’89, both DX’s. We are in “Accord” that if they still made this exact car we would go out and buy another one. The next edition is indeed Peak Honda, but those pop up headlights were so much fun. It takes very little for me to recall the exact sound of the motors that raised and lowered them. Check condition of timing belt, get to know all those vacuum lines (hopefully the fuel injection obviated some of them), and listen for the telltale click of the fading CV joint, and your friend can get well beyond 193,000. I am glad to hear Scootaloo has found a good home.
Such crisp, tidy styling inside and out.
Grown men fans of My Little Pony? Now I’ve heard everything. Wow.
Meet the bronies. There’s even a documentary.
Yeah… pretty creepy.
Eh. They seem to be having fun and not hurting anybody.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks! I’d hate to come off as creepy…
Three of my uncles – two of my father’s brothers, and mom’s brother – had these as their first Hondas – and nothing but Hondas in the 30 + years. They were a damn fine car.
I did the same for my buddy a couple of years ago except it was an ’87 Prelude instead of an Accord. Out-of-state rusty car, he got it for a grand. 150K miles and four-wheel steering. Handles really well and although it’s an auto it’s got some juice. Parking it is like parking a shopping cart with four swivel casters; fits into very tight spaces. The only repair required was to resolder the joints in the fuel pump relay a year after he bought it.
The only other choice in this price range would have been a Nova/Spectrum or an A body (Celebrity, Ciera, Century) or a beater corolla of the same year. You lucked out! Thank goodness Mr. Meth didn’t leave anything incriminating in a cubby or door panel somewhere.