Honda Integra - what to look out for?

[kevinod]

My younger brother is looking at getting a Honda Integra, 1.6, so I'm going along to look at one with him this evening.

Anyone had one of these, any thoughts? things to look out for like common faults, etc.?

Kev.

[CJ]

What revision and spec?

CJ

[kevinod]

Ok, here's where my ignorance shines through

He's been looking at the 96-98ish models, wants a 3 door, 1.6 'cos insurance is too high (if he can get it, 23 in a few months) on the 1.8 type-r.

He's looked at a couple, one guy in Riverstick (heading towards Kinsale from Cork) would come down to 10700 when everyone else in the country is talking 7.5-8k.

[CJ]

Kev, check out www.hondadublin.com (sorry, theres no Honda Cork site that I'm aware of ), one of the guys in work is involved with the site, they should be able to give you a few pointers....

CJ

[chuck]

main problem with hondas esp integras is bushes and engine mounts also cv joints seem to go on them other than that superb cars engines are bomb proof, V-tecs eat a bit of oil so weekly inspection is a must

[kevinod]

Kev, check out www.hondadublin.com (sorry, theres no Honda Cork site that I'm aware of ), one of the guys in work is involved with the site, they should be able to give you a few pointers....

CJ

I'll tell Paul to start one up I think!

cheers, I'll check out that see what I can find.

[kevinod]

main problem with hondas esp integras is bushes and engine mounts also cv joints seem to go on them other than that superb cars engines are bomb proof, V-tecs eat a bit of oil so weekly inspection is a must

Good info, thanks! The 1.6 isn't v-tec afaik, or am I wrong?

Will keep an eye out for the bushes, mounts & cv joints though.

[cpoh]

The 1.6L integra has two variants, before 95 had a dual carb model putting out around 105bhp, very heavy on juice (heavier than the typeR!) because of the carbs, slow and prone to head gasket failure when driven hard. In summary one of hondas poorer engines made.

After that came the revised pgm-fi engined 1.6L with 120bhp. Better than the previous car and if its a jap has the square lights on the front instead of the twin round light of the older model. This model is worth nowhere near 10k, a clean 96 spec typeR can be gotten for under 9k nowadays.

If insurance is a problem for anything over 1.6 would he consider the older model integras that ran from 89-93? Has the dohc vtec engine pushing out 170bhp and combined with the lighter older integra shell quite fast too.

[cpoh]

Oh yeah things to look out for. If it has rear calipers and disks jack the car up and spin the back wheels, the rear honda calipers are very prone to seizing after anything as little as 30k miles and are 200 euro a pop to replace. Check all the bushes, they are a particular weak spot in the hondas along with the distributor. Ask the seller has the distributor been replaced because the jdm fellas tend to go around the 50-60k mark.

[kevinod]

Thanks for the info, good stuff there....

We had a look at it last night, nice car, about 30k on the clock, didn't even have number plates on yet. Silver 3 door. Seemed very clean, couldn't fault it. No rattles to be found, gearbox smooth easy changes(manual), felt solid, not bad poke on it for a 1.6 I thought but its been a while since I've driven a 1.6.

Rear brakes are drums, I reckon the bro could well look at putting discs on the back of the car, type-rs have rear discs so it should be very do-able. We had a look at the bushes too which seemed fine, and didn't notice any issues while driving its

Anyway he decided he'll take it, for the money, mileage and condition he probably won't do much better I reckon. The only thing is he had got some insurance quotes but nothing in writing so I was telling him to do that first thing today. He hasn't put a deposit down yes though so worst case he shouldn't lose out.