Baby Ollie
Pokemon Master
Hello everyone,
This seemed like the best place to introduce myself, and my car. So here goes the story of how I got my Integra...
For the past couple years, I have been driving a 1995 Saturn Sport Coupe 2. It wasn't a terrible car, but it definitely wasn't anything to write home about either. About a month ago, the head gasket cracked. My mechanic qouted me about $1000 in part and labor, and then told me to guy buy another car. He specified import, low miles, and post 2000 with emphasis on Honda/Toyota.
So the search began. For whatever reason, I decided I wanted to buy a VW Jetta (no, I'm not gay). After a test drive, I liked it. It fit my budget of $4500, and was suprisingly sporty. However, the automotive gods didn't want me to drive one. I swear, it must be law that you have to have at least three accidents reported to Carfax a year if you own a Jetta...
Anyways time for a quick rewind... A few weeks ago, a Subaru dealership from a neighboring city was having a big sale in town. Nothing there really "fit" me, but I gave my information to a salesman who promised to call me when he found a car he thought would fit my criteria...
Last week, he called me. They got a 2000 Acura GS Sport Coupe on a trade-in. 98XXX miles, 5-speed, import, all stock and unmolested... Everything I wanted. He qouted me $5900 over the phone, but said he'd be willing to work with me a little bit on the price. He emailed me the Vin#, and I started looking up information about Integras. Obviously, they had pretty good revies for reliablity (biggest concern), safety and drivability. The KBB for the car, from a dealer, in my area was $7000. I barted the best I could, and the lowest I could get him on the sticker price was $4750. With tax and everything, that was $5326 out the door... This was out of my price range, but I decided to take a look. I Carfaxed the vehicle and saw there were no reported accidents, and the previous owners regularily had it detailed.
When I got off work on Thursday, my fiancee and I drove to the dealership. It was starting to get dark by the time we got there, but it was still light enough out to see how sexy the car was. My fiancee says she saw it all over face that I wanted the car the second I laid eyes on it.
I gave the car a good look over before test driving. I don't know squat about cars, but even I could tell that this one was in pretty good shape. There were a couple small dings I could see, and a few scuffs in the paint. However, for an almost 12 year old car, it looked great. There was no rust, no oxidation of the paint, or any other evidence of abuse. They hadn't detailed the car yet, but it was still very clean. The engine bay had not been cleaned, and looked good as well. The dipstick showed a full reservoir or clean oil. I looked under the oil-filler cap, and tehre was no sediment of any kind. The owners manual contained notes showing that all the scheduled maintenance was completed. The dealer told me that it was a couple in their mid fifties who traded it in, and they were so anal that they cut their address out of the registration so if someone stole teh car they couldn't figure out where they lived (WTF???).
The interious looked good. Some staining of the carpet, and a small tear on the driver-side seat where the previous owner rubbed against the leather getting in and out of the car. The radio was missing as well, I guess the previous owners wanted to take it with them. Otherwise, everything was there, worked, and looked good.
The test drive was pretty standard. The engine started right up, with no nasty blue exhaust to be seen. We drove a little through town, and a couple miles on the freeway. The clutch didn't slip at all, and the heater/AC worked great. There was a bit of road noise, but no rattling with the car. It handled well, and was still very peppy for having three people in it.
I really enjoyed driving it, and if money weren't an issue I would have bought the car right then and there. After the test drive, I spoke with the salesman a little longer and promised to call him the next day if I decided to buy. My fiancee and I spent the ride discussing finances; a conversation that carried through the rest of the night. She didn't want to spend the money, but agreed to let me buy the car if it was still at the dealership when I got off work the next day (she is awesome).
I bought the car. $5326.00 later, I proudly drove home in my new (to me) Acura Integra. I've put about 130 miles on it since driving it, and I am very happy with my purchase. I have not enjoyed driving so much since I got my license when I was 16. As of now, I'm not planning on "modding" it at all. Eventually I'd like to get fog lights hooked up, but that's it (I sure do dream big, huh?).
I do have a couple questions about the car:
1. Was I ripped off? It seems like I got a pretty good deal, but I am just going off of KBB.
2. What is the best place to shop for a radio? All the speakers are hooked up, I just need the radio itself. Is there a certain brand I should for? I'm not looking for anything fancy, just something that works and is around $100.
3. Besides the recomended maintenance, is there anything else that I can do to prolong the life the car?
4. The power windows seem kind of weak. Is this normal for Integras? They work consistently, they just aren't as fast as the other vehicles I've owned with power windows.
5. Is there anything that I should watch out for? Any big known problems?
So that's it. I'm a new Integra owner, and very happy with my purchase. I know almost nothing about cars, but have been scanning the forums trying to learn as much as possible.
Here is the only picture that I have of it right now. This is where it was parked when I picked it up from the dealer. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps answer my questions!
This seemed like the best place to introduce myself, and my car. So here goes the story of how I got my Integra...
For the past couple years, I have been driving a 1995 Saturn Sport Coupe 2. It wasn't a terrible car, but it definitely wasn't anything to write home about either. About a month ago, the head gasket cracked. My mechanic qouted me about $1000 in part and labor, and then told me to guy buy another car. He specified import, low miles, and post 2000 with emphasis on Honda/Toyota.
So the search began. For whatever reason, I decided I wanted to buy a VW Jetta (no, I'm not gay). After a test drive, I liked it. It fit my budget of $4500, and was suprisingly sporty. However, the automotive gods didn't want me to drive one. I swear, it must be law that you have to have at least three accidents reported to Carfax a year if you own a Jetta...
Anyways time for a quick rewind... A few weeks ago, a Subaru dealership from a neighboring city was having a big sale in town. Nothing there really "fit" me, but I gave my information to a salesman who promised to call me when he found a car he thought would fit my criteria...
Last week, he called me. They got a 2000 Acura GS Sport Coupe on a trade-in. 98XXX miles, 5-speed, import, all stock and unmolested... Everything I wanted. He qouted me $5900 over the phone, but said he'd be willing to work with me a little bit on the price. He emailed me the Vin#, and I started looking up information about Integras. Obviously, they had pretty good revies for reliablity (biggest concern), safety and drivability. The KBB for the car, from a dealer, in my area was $7000. I barted the best I could, and the lowest I could get him on the sticker price was $4750. With tax and everything, that was $5326 out the door... This was out of my price range, but I decided to take a look. I Carfaxed the vehicle and saw there were no reported accidents, and the previous owners regularily had it detailed.
When I got off work on Thursday, my fiancee and I drove to the dealership. It was starting to get dark by the time we got there, but it was still light enough out to see how sexy the car was. My fiancee says she saw it all over face that I wanted the car the second I laid eyes on it.
I gave the car a good look over before test driving. I don't know squat about cars, but even I could tell that this one was in pretty good shape. There were a couple small dings I could see, and a few scuffs in the paint. However, for an almost 12 year old car, it looked great. There was no rust, no oxidation of the paint, or any other evidence of abuse. They hadn't detailed the car yet, but it was still very clean. The engine bay had not been cleaned, and looked good as well. The dipstick showed a full reservoir or clean oil. I looked under the oil-filler cap, and tehre was no sediment of any kind. The owners manual contained notes showing that all the scheduled maintenance was completed. The dealer told me that it was a couple in their mid fifties who traded it in, and they were so anal that they cut their address out of the registration so if someone stole teh car they couldn't figure out where they lived (WTF???).
The interious looked good. Some staining of the carpet, and a small tear on the driver-side seat where the previous owner rubbed against the leather getting in and out of the car. The radio was missing as well, I guess the previous owners wanted to take it with them. Otherwise, everything was there, worked, and looked good.
The test drive was pretty standard. The engine started right up, with no nasty blue exhaust to be seen. We drove a little through town, and a couple miles on the freeway. The clutch didn't slip at all, and the heater/AC worked great. There was a bit of road noise, but no rattling with the car. It handled well, and was still very peppy for having three people in it.
I really enjoyed driving it, and if money weren't an issue I would have bought the car right then and there. After the test drive, I spoke with the salesman a little longer and promised to call him the next day if I decided to buy. My fiancee and I spent the ride discussing finances; a conversation that carried through the rest of the night. She didn't want to spend the money, but agreed to let me buy the car if it was still at the dealership when I got off work the next day (she is awesome).
I bought the car. $5326.00 later, I proudly drove home in my new (to me) Acura Integra. I've put about 130 miles on it since driving it, and I am very happy with my purchase. I have not enjoyed driving so much since I got my license when I was 16. As of now, I'm not planning on "modding" it at all. Eventually I'd like to get fog lights hooked up, but that's it (I sure do dream big, huh?).
I do have a couple questions about the car:
1. Was I ripped off? It seems like I got a pretty good deal, but I am just going off of KBB.
2. What is the best place to shop for a radio? All the speakers are hooked up, I just need the radio itself. Is there a certain brand I should for? I'm not looking for anything fancy, just something that works and is around $100.
3. Besides the recomended maintenance, is there anything else that I can do to prolong the life the car?
4. The power windows seem kind of weak. Is this normal for Integras? They work consistently, they just aren't as fast as the other vehicles I've owned with power windows.
5. Is there anything that I should watch out for? Any big known problems?
So that's it. I'm a new Integra owner, and very happy with my purchase. I know almost nothing about cars, but have been scanning the forums trying to learn as much as possible.
Here is the only picture that I have of it right now. This is where it was parked when I picked it up from the dealer. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps answer my questions!
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