What to look for in a modded civic.

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Squirrelly75

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Hey guys

My name's Sarah and from from South Jersey. One of my guy friends owns a 2012 civic that's been modded and doesn't feel like parting out with it so he said I could have for 12k. About what a used Si costs now if I were to buy it at a dealer. I know he's not going to tell me any negatives when selling the car but can you guys give me some pointers as to what to look out for to make sure the car hasn't been abused? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
What mods does that car have? How many miles? Any accidents?

Personally I would never buy any used performance car from a owner that is 25 and younger. Majority of the time cars from these owners are abused like a cheap prostitute. Burnouts, over reving the engine, improper use of manual gearbox, riding the clutch, etc. ...

Ask him for maintenance records and if you can take experienced mechanic with you to inspect the car visually and mechanically.

Also I think 2012 Si's had burning oil issues, but there was a recall on that.

@Nix drop the knowledge in here.
 
How many miles on it? As stated by Michal^^^, you need to get him to give you a list of ALL the mods done. Post the list here and then it will be easier to give you more specific suggestions of what to look at.
 
No accidents,and it has 62k miles. It even has the factory navigation. But yeah I've known the guy since middle school.

He definitely went all out. The car has a PRL turbo kit and buddy club race spec coilovers on it. He even did retrofits for HIDs and has buddy club brake calipers with RPF1s. I did get to drive and I couldn't hear any thing wrong with it other than a lot of clutch chatter from an aftermarket clutch.

My 2007 MS3 was modded and I bought it used and it's been nothing but gravy in the 5 years I owned it. I just don't want it to fall apart because modded cars arent warrantied and I'll be in the hole if the turbo blows a seal. Is 12k still a good deal? I know he's on the other 9th gen forum but not on this one.
 
Quality parts. I'm not much help with Turbo kits. Others will be more helpful. There are members here with the same kit.
@webby
 
12k would be a great deal if everything works well, and like stated above, those are generally quality parts including that particular turbo kit.

Now even if everything was done right and there's no issues now, you're always taking a risk when the engine is modified that far. Turbo seal, transmission blowout, any number of things can go wrong. The biggest question you should ask yourself is whether you'll be invested enough to fix issues that arise or not.

Also, if you're still considering buying it, just make sure to take it for a long test drive, ask him if you could go flat out in 2nd or 3rd just to test it.
 
Hey Sarah,

Welcome to the forum! So you're thinking about buying a heavily modded 2012 Civic SI eh? Well, it sounds like you're pretty familiar with a modded turbo car and the required maintenance. As long as you stay on top of it you shouldn't have any problems. From the short list it sounds like it was put together properly but you will most likely want to check the VIN # and see if it falls in the range of vehicles that had oil consumption issues.

If this has already been addressed then I don't think there are any other major things to look out for. The factory fix for the oil issue was new rings and pistons done under warranty. If the car has not had that warranty work done you may be stuck footing the bill yourself since the turbo kit could be seen as the cause of an oil issue. Turbo cars tend to burn a bit of oil anyways. Hence, I'm sure Honda would have a bit of an issue doing major warranty work on a car with that level of modification. Im sure they don't want to take apart and put back together your piping/turbo system.

If the clutch feels good and all the gears work nicely I think the price is pretty decent.

What sort of tuning system is the car running? Hondata Flashpro? Also, do you know what kind of power/numbers the car is making? I know a few people have had some transmission issues and breakage from some of the higher tq. I believe @Six_speed_demon had some very bad luck with his. I would look into a revision/tune with Vit to be certain that the car is running properly and there aren't any issues hiding. Same with fueling. Getting a look at the tune would tell you if you are running at the extreme end of the build as far as injectors and fuel pump are concerned. Depending on what the total build is there may not be any issues at all but I would set aside money to have the tune evaluated and possibly adjusted.


Here is the thread about the oil consumption issue:

http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/excessive-engine-oil-consumption.6451/


six_speeds thread: transmission broke, pg101

http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/b...whine-on-teh-side-bout-dat-lyfe.7751/page-101
 
The oil consumption issue on 2012's/transmission would be the 2 biggest things I can think of. I know a couple have had issues with the power on the prl kit breaking transmissions. I'd ask who did his tune & if he had his pistons/rings replaced from the oil issue some had.
 
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I would also consider seeing if your friend would be willing to let you take an oil sample and send it to Blackstone labs. It will cost you about 25 bucks but they give a very detailed analysis of the oil, which can kind of be viewed as somewhat of an engine health report.
 
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323 said:
12k would be a great deal if everything works well, and like stated above, those are generally quality parts including that particular turbo kit.

Now even if everything was done right and there's no issues now, you're always taking a risk when the engine is modified that far. Turbo seal, transmission blowout, any number of things can go wrong. The biggest question you should ask yourself is whether you'll be invested enough to fix issues that arise or not.

Also, if you're still considering buying it, just make sure to take it for a long test drive, ask him if you could go flat out in 2nd or 3rd just to test it.
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2rd gear would propably spin too much...3rd gear would be best.
 
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Wow thanks for all your inputs! I'm gonna take another look at it Saturday and make sure I ask him about the oil consumption issue. If he acts funny maybe I'll try to haggle him down to 11.5. Wish me luck guys
 
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