Your opinion wanted; to buy or not to buy
09-24-15, 07:35 PM
#1
Rookie
Thread Starter
Your opinion wanted; to buy or not to buy
I drive a 96 honda accord and really like it (snobby people please dont judge lol). Here is where im at in life, going to grad school for the next 5 years where $ and time will be limited (usually time can make up for lack of $ if you do work yourself but I wont have time either).
With that said, I am thinking about buying another 5th gen accord with very low miles for 2-3K (my car needs a new paint job and is getting up there in miles-figured why not get another with low miles and good paint).
The thing is I am seeing SC300 & SC400 dipping into my price range (~117K miles). Im torn on one hand these SC's are very sexy but on the other I worry about maintenance and repair costs.
Given the lack of money and time, reliability ranks #1 most important followed by gas millage then sexyness. Im used to going to the junkyard and buying stupid cheap parts for my accord which I wonder about the SC.
On the other hand I can pick up a SC with similar miles as an accord with a similar price.
With that said, I am thinking about buying another 5th gen accord with very low miles for 2-3K (my car needs a new paint job and is getting up there in miles-figured why not get another with low miles and good paint).
The thing is I am seeing SC300 & SC400 dipping into my price range (~117K miles). Im torn on one hand these SC's are very sexy but on the other I worry about maintenance and repair costs.
Given the lack of money and time, reliability ranks #1 most important followed by gas millage then sexyness. Im used to going to the junkyard and buying stupid cheap parts for my accord which I wonder about the SC.
On the other hand I can pick up a SC with similar miles as an accord with a similar price.
09-24-15, 10:24 PM
#2
The SCs are not outrageously expensive to run but they need maintenance every 60K miles or about 5 years. If you DIY it is a lot cheaper as with any other car. With the age these cars are now the front lower control arms will go out and cost you money. Otherwise, it is a bulletproof car.
But since you are a student 169% of your focus and energy should be towards getting where you want to be with your education and career. You can play with cars later or have the option to go to the best shop it town, hand the key over, and say "fix it and send me the bill" instead of arguing with teenagers on a car forum online about repairs or whatnot.
The Accord is the way to go since you have the knowledge to fix things on it and used parts supply is far greater. Defer the SC purchase until you are all done and you can buy a sub 30K miles SC paying a premium but as with anything you get what you pay for so it is worth it.
My 2 cents; do with it what you will.
But since you are a student 169% of your focus and energy should be towards getting where you want to be with your education and career. You can play with cars later or have the option to go to the best shop it town, hand the key over, and say "fix it and send me the bill" instead of arguing with teenagers on a car forum online about repairs or whatnot.
The Accord is the way to go since you have the knowledge to fix things on it and used parts supply is far greater. Defer the SC purchase until you are all done and you can buy a sub 30K miles SC paying a premium but as with anything you get what you pay for so it is worth it.
My 2 cents; do with it what you will.
09-24-15, 11:41 PM
#3
Stick with a Honda... The first gen SCs are a joy but regardless the age will take some care and feeding. Even if you are a capable DIYer and only have to spring for parts it can sometimes be a substantial investment.
After graduation and gainful employment, a "project SC" will be a lot more fun......
After graduation and gainful employment, a "project SC" will be a lot more fun......
09-25-15, 02:22 PM
#4
Welcome to the forum, BrotherAli! Pros and cons to this on both sides given your current student status. Absolutely no snobbery here-- your 96 Accord is one of the best respectable long term cars you can own and it has a great suspension design from the factory not to mention a bulletproof reliable engine.
#1 is that I completely agree with texan_176 and Duck05. Your prime focus of time and energy, not to mention financial resources, should be on anything related to your studies at school. I'm not ragging on being a car guy as a student-- I was one too. But always leave yourself mostly unobstructed opportunities during your time as a student to explore just about anything you want to educationally, socially and in terms of temporary internships, studies or travels that will help you figure out your career AND... you. It's not uncommon to realize new career and personal directions or achievements outside of the limited college environment while you're still in school.
You mentioned you're in graduate school so I think this especially applies.
^^ All of the above I am sure you already know so I'll shut up and leave it at that. But I bring it up because any involving project car is going to eat your time and money. It's not a bad thing in and of itself but it really should be an unburdening side hobby for you right now.
Now all that said...
Your Accord is probably one of the most reliable used cars you can own. It does take a deep wallet to make it fast with limited returns for the money invested if turbocharger boost is the objective... but it can be made to handle and brake pretty cheaply if you're okay with not being the fastest around and just want a good daily driver machine that's can be fun to toss into turns. I'll throw the hypothetical stock H22 swap in for the sake of bringing it up but I really don't recommend going that route as a student. Keep it simple.
The SC's... they're very reliable but they do need maintenance every 60K by design. SC300's especially are the easiest to work on. 400's just have less room in the engine bay and have a more complicated timing belt service. Front lower control arms usually need replacement but this can be done in a driveway with an impact gun among other tools. Power steering rack bushings usually need replacing too. Shocks, brakes, etc. are not terribly difficult to do yourself. There are many little DIY tricks to avoid paying full Lexus prices for parts or service. How handy are you and do you know a good independent mechanic whom you really trust?
All the serious go-fast possibilities an SC can give you are worth it in the long run... but they take time and money to get into. 90% of what I am referring to is getting into a boosted JZ engine. Once you commit to doing that you will be spending some cash. If you're okay with the power of, say, an SC400 with just some suspension and brake upgrades and regular maintenance, it's much more affordable.
And that brings up the question: based on what you know about SC's and what they CAN do, what are you expecting from the experience of owning one over your Accord?
I owned a Honda Prelude (5th gen) in college and gave up a daily driver project muscle car in so-so condition just prior to starting school. The Prelude also needed regular maintenance every 60k miles but I also didn't really modify it much at all. An exhaust, some swaybars, brake pads and that's it. I dreamed about turbocharging it (which I learned was a losing game with an H22 block), dreamed about other cars including a turbocharged SC but to be honest I couldn't have acted on any of those things at the time. And that Prelude was probably capable of going to 500k eventually. I kept it for ten years and it never let me down. Same goes for the model year Accord you own.
SC's are just as reliable as those Hondas but they are different cars and maintenance is a bit more on them. Best if you can do all but the most major services yourself (ie: timing belt replacement or A/C repair).
Fuel economy is going to be different in an SC300 or SC400. They are both going to be around 15-16mpg in the city but on the highway you might hit between 21-23mpg. The Accord will do much better on long highway trips but, again, the reason for this is that they are such different designs.
I do think you can make a fairly reliable and mostly affordable case out of an SC300 or SC400 if you aren't trying to go all out with one and swap a 1JZ turbo engine or go NA-T. You must also be able to do some of your own maintenance work and source replacement parts outside of the Lexus dealer system.
Mainly, go to a used lot and drive one. Drive a 300 and a 400. See how much you like or dislike them in stock form. Fuel economy aside, the two easily remedied things about any stock SC is that handling can be improved easily and so can the weak factory brakes. Adding horsepower with a turbo right now, as a student, is the one major thing I would wish to dissuade you from at this time. Later on when you're out of school, that's a different scenario.
Both can be good long term cars (both can go 500k if maintained on time with oil levels checked periodically). Keeping expectations simple while in a student situation is the best way to go about owning an SC but your Accord will be the cheaper of the two to own at the end of the day.
Hope this can help you out in making an informed decision. There is nothing wrong with having a car you love to drive in college. The main thing is to keep expectations beyond "stock" simple and affordable and to learn a bit of DIY maintenance and parts sourcing. If you aren't mechanically inclined, stick with the Honda as it will always be cheaper to run (and better on gas).
I like both SC's and 93'-97' Accords for different reasons and I've had fun in both.
#1 is that I completely agree with texan_176 and Duck05. Your prime focus of time and energy, not to mention financial resources, should be on anything related to your studies at school. I'm not ragging on being a car guy as a student-- I was one too. But always leave yourself mostly unobstructed opportunities during your time as a student to explore just about anything you want to educationally, socially and in terms of temporary internships, studies or travels that will help you figure out your career AND... you. It's not uncommon to realize new career and personal directions or achievements outside of the limited college environment while you're still in school.
You mentioned you're in graduate school so I think this especially applies.
^^ All of the above I am sure you already know so I'll shut up and leave it at that. But I bring it up because any involving project car is going to eat your time and money. It's not a bad thing in and of itself but it really should be an unburdening side hobby for you right now.
Now all that said...
Your Accord is probably one of the most reliable used cars you can own. It does take a deep wallet to make it fast with limited returns for the money invested if turbocharger boost is the objective... but it can be made to handle and brake pretty cheaply if you're okay with not being the fastest around and just want a good daily driver machine that's can be fun to toss into turns. I'll throw the hypothetical stock H22 swap in for the sake of bringing it up but I really don't recommend going that route as a student. Keep it simple.
The SC's... they're very reliable but they do need maintenance every 60K by design. SC300's especially are the easiest to work on. 400's just have less room in the engine bay and have a more complicated timing belt service. Front lower control arms usually need replacement but this can be done in a driveway with an impact gun among other tools. Power steering rack bushings usually need replacing too. Shocks, brakes, etc. are not terribly difficult to do yourself. There are many little DIY tricks to avoid paying full Lexus prices for parts or service. How handy are you and do you know a good independent mechanic whom you really trust?
All the serious go-fast possibilities an SC can give you are worth it in the long run... but they take time and money to get into. 90% of what I am referring to is getting into a boosted JZ engine. Once you commit to doing that you will be spending some cash. If you're okay with the power of, say, an SC400 with just some suspension and brake upgrades and regular maintenance, it's much more affordable.
And that brings up the question: based on what you know about SC's and what they CAN do, what are you expecting from the experience of owning one over your Accord?
I owned a Honda Prelude (5th gen) in college and gave up a daily driver project muscle car in so-so condition just prior to starting school. The Prelude also needed regular maintenance every 60k miles but I also didn't really modify it much at all. An exhaust, some swaybars, brake pads and that's it. I dreamed about turbocharging it (which I learned was a losing game with an H22 block), dreamed about other cars including a turbocharged SC but to be honest I couldn't have acted on any of those things at the time. And that Prelude was probably capable of going to 500k eventually. I kept it for ten years and it never let me down. Same goes for the model year Accord you own.
SC's are just as reliable as those Hondas but they are different cars and maintenance is a bit more on them. Best if you can do all but the most major services yourself (ie: timing belt replacement or A/C repair).
Fuel economy is going to be different in an SC300 or SC400. They are both going to be around 15-16mpg in the city but on the highway you might hit between 21-23mpg. The Accord will do much better on long highway trips but, again, the reason for this is that they are such different designs.
I do think you can make a fairly reliable and mostly affordable case out of an SC300 or SC400 if you aren't trying to go all out with one and swap a 1JZ turbo engine or go NA-T. You must also be able to do some of your own maintenance work and source replacement parts outside of the Lexus dealer system.
Mainly, go to a used lot and drive one. Drive a 300 and a 400. See how much you like or dislike them in stock form. Fuel economy aside, the two easily remedied things about any stock SC is that handling can be improved easily and so can the weak factory brakes. Adding horsepower with a turbo right now, as a student, is the one major thing I would wish to dissuade you from at this time. Later on when you're out of school, that's a different scenario.
Both can be good long term cars (both can go 500k if maintained on time with oil levels checked periodically). Keeping expectations simple while in a student situation is the best way to go about owning an SC but your Accord will be the cheaper of the two to own at the end of the day.
Hope this can help you out in making an informed decision. There is nothing wrong with having a car you love to drive in college. The main thing is to keep expectations beyond "stock" simple and affordable and to learn a bit of DIY maintenance and parts sourcing. If you aren't mechanically inclined, stick with the Honda as it will always be cheaper to run (and better on gas).
I like both SC's and 93'-97' Accords for different reasons and I've had fun in both.
Last edited by KahnBB6; 09-25-15 at 02:40 PM. Reason: Grammatical fixes
09-28-15, 06:38 PM
#6
Rookie
Thread Starter
Thanks guys for all of the opinions very helpful in deciding. Seems like the heart wants SC because shes a sexy ***** but my brain ultimately won telling me to get another 5th gen accord. Now to find a clean 94-97 accord with ~100K miles that is reasonably priced.....wish me luck lol
Hows it going? Saw your gold SC on craiglist, clean car 
Glad to have found such a badass lexus forum, the good thing is I will stick around if my parents end up getting a gs300. Now to find them a clean 2nd gen with ~100K that is reasonably priced.....wish me luck lol (deja vu)
Glad to have found such a badass lexus forum, the good thing is I will stick around if my parents end up getting a gs300. Now to find them a clean 2nd gen with ~100K that is reasonably priced.....wish me luck lol (deja vu)
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