PennSilverTaco's non-Toyota Japanese (and Korean) vehicle Rant/Rave MegaThread!

Na. Im over those days. Although, i do miss my 04 CTS-V.... That 6 speed was a hoot! Except my knee would kill me when driving to the city

 

A professor at my community college had one of these that he bought brand new; It was either a 1987 or 1988, it was burgundy, and it was a fairly loaded up model with A/C, cruise control, stereo cassette, and wheel covers. It also a 5-speed! By late 2012, the car had less than 100K miles and still looked immaculate, and everything worked (including the A/C, which was still R-12 and had never been serviced)! When he brought it in for PA state inspection, it passed the emissions test with flying colors, but it was discovered that the floorpan had totally rotted out (Something related to the chassis of the car rotted; I forget whether or not it was the floorpan)…

The car would not pass the safety inspection, and it would have cost more to fix the car than it was worth; The professor decided to buy a new car, and I have a friend who owns a salvage yard who at the time was paying out $400 in cash for ANY VEHICLE regardless of condition (she is now giving considerably less due to fluctuating metal values). I informed the professor about this, and he drove the Civic to the junkyard, signed over the title, and took his cash. A sad end for a car that was barely broken in...

 

I will always love Hondas based purely on their reliability; No matter how poorly maintained they may be, they just seem to keep going and going...

My friend Luke's dad is in sales and drives a lot for work; He bought a 2005 Honda Accord LX brand new and put a ton of miles on it in a short period of time. When dad got a new car, Luke got the Accord as a hand-me-down; The Accord had been well-maintained, but it was starting to fall apart. By the time Luke's family donated it to Purple Heart, the car had about 325K miles! It did not leak oil and ran great, but the air-conditioner did not work, the radio barely worked, at least two of power windows would not go down, and it was missing both rocker panels and all four hubcaps. It looked like shit, but it ran and drove great; Regardless, Luke ended up buying a used Honda Pilot for less than it likely would have cost to bring the Accord back to perfect condition.

 

Murilee Martin has found some pretty interesting Hondas in junkyards over the years...

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/08/junkyard-find-1986-honda-civic-1300-hatchback/

 

Mannnn, I love the EK9. Up until my Tacoma and the wife's 4Runner, all we owned were Honda's....I STILL have a '96 CX Hatchback that I use as a commuter car. I've owned pretty much every vehicle Honda offers at this point, save a first gen Prelude and CRV....the old ones were truly awesome cars. So simplistic in design; not a lot to break....

 

From the write-up on the 1986 Civic 1300...



The light blue car is actually in a Denver, Colorado-area salvage yard, but Murilee mentions here why so many seemingly decent older Hondas in California ended up in junkyards before the turn of the century (and are still ending up there today)...

California emissions testing rules are WAYYY overzealous!

In Pennsylvania, by comparison, any car at least 15 years old would be considered a classic and thus exempt from emissions testing; I have actually seen unrestored mint condition 1970s and 1980s Hondas at car shows, bearing classic or antique plates!

 

I'm the process of building a 1:24 scale model Civic Si!

 

Also, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again so there’s no confusion...

If the picture has a date and location, it means I took the picture(s) myself; If it does not, then it’s taken from the internet

 

FUN FACT: Sterlings were rebadged Acuras; They had Honda engines, but everything else was British and the cars were dreadfully unreliable (even though the engines still had that famous Honda reliability)...

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/01/junkyard-find-1989-sterling-827-sli-fastback/

 

That's awesome! Yeah, years ago I had another 1996 Civic CX hatchback, and it went through the works.....eventually converted the front end to a 2000 Si, shaved and tucked the engine bay, caged it, and installed a built 12:5.1 compression K24/K20 hybrid motor. AND this was in the early days of that game; those swaps were relatively new back then and making things work was half the fun! I still miss that car; so much fun to drive.

 

I miss my 90 2dr champagne color, donor H22 from a Type S Prelude with a H23 converted manual. Thank you for posting this great memory

 

A coworker’s Civic Si...


March 3rd, 2021:

Warminster, Pennsylvania

 

I thought this was for older cars. Anything goes as long as brand correct?

 

I make an exception for the Si and Type R ONLY...

Especially the Type R!

Also, pictures of any Hondas photographed outside of North America are welcome!

No Odyssey minivans newer than 2010, no non-Si Civics newer than 2005, and no Ridgelines unless they are customized or otherwise unique; Accords older than 2008, and all Elements, are welcome

 

JDM supermini minivan!


October 5th, 2019:

Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania

 

May 31st, 2015:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

June 20th, 2017:

Morrisville, Pennsylvania

 

June 14th, 2015:

Quakertown, Pennsylvania

 

Originally part of a thread called Subaru rant/rave thread...

I was going through my photo collection and found that I have a decent number of older Subarus in there!

Like my other three non-Toyota Japanese vehicle-specific threads, this will be combinations of pictures I've taken over the years, pictures I find on the internet, and my opinions on various Subaru vehicles; My general opinion of Subaru vehicles is very good, My favorite Subaru of the last ten years is the Crosstrek, and I've actually had the honor of driving a stick shift Crosstrek before! I also really love the WRX and the STI, though I've never driven one of those.