Buying a car, need advice

[Sulfuric]

I live in the Tampa Bay area and lost my 94 toyota corolla due to a rainy day crash about 2 weeks ago. It's prob not worth the repairs, even though I don't actually know how much it would cost to fix.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...71647445_n.jpg

I have around 2-3k to spend, and I want to upgrade to at least a 1996, mostly for OBD2. I found a 1996 Honda Civic with 213xxx miles on it, for $2000. Kelly Blue Book says that's an acceptable price, but I'm wondering what you all think.
http://www.kbb.com/honda/civic/1996-...=private-party

There are some minor problems, the driver's side window doesn't roll down and the passenger side came off the track, and the passenger door handle is broken. My car had about 209k miles on it and I'm worried about getting something that has even MORE than my car did.

Plus: Mileage should be better, especially once I get a scangauge/ultragauge/etc.
Car is in good shape otherwise from what I can tell (going to look at it tonight)
Civics are usually reliable, good buys

Cons: High mileage
Minor problems with windows/door handle
???

Worth it, or not?

P.S. What kind of mileage would you expect from this car, is it flat towable, any red flags from bad engines/tranmissions for this particular year/model or anything you can think of?

[herm]

The windows are minor issues, compression and oil consumption would by main concern, followed by the automatic transmission.. salvaged title?, big crashes?

[Sulfuric]

It's a manual transmission.

Also found a 2004 Kia Rio for $2500 which seems a bit low considering the Kelly Blue Book value is around $3600. Anyone have a Rio? What kind of FE mileage do you get from that and have you had any major problems with the car?

[Sulfuric]

Update: I've looked at a lot of cars and mostly now I just want something that doesn't need repairs >.> I found a 1995 manual Corolla for around $1600, with repairs anywhere from $1800-2200 total. I ALSO found something I really want <3 but it's more (of course) and I haven't been able to drive it yet or get it checked out at the shop.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/cto/3081862418.html

If anyone has an accord from around this year, what kind of mileage do you get? EPA says 22/29, combined 25, so I'm expecting an easy 35 but usually 40 or more. Now that I can actually use a scangauge/ultragauge/etc. it should be much easier to obtain high FE.

[Blackbelt]

I would be apprehensive of an ad that spends 75% of it's space talking about the sound system.
Getting past that, i would want to know when the timing belt was done. If they could not prove a timing belt replacement within the last 70K miles, i would walk away form the car, unless you can change it yourself. I believe they call for a belt change at 105K miles. Paying to have it done is pretty pricey.

[Sulfuric]

I drove it yesterday and it felt great, somehow I hit 6000rpm and I was completely surprised I was higher than even 4000! It was smooth. Assuming it doesn't need repairs I will be getting it tomorrow . . . we shall see.

Edit: I had to accelerate quickly to uh . . you know . . . check for . . . stuff. Gotta make sure the engine works right?

[08EscapeHybrid]

Personally, I stay away from anything with an aftermarket stereo. In most instances they are not properly installed, and the wiring is a mess of spaghetti behind the dash.

[Sulfuric]

I got a 96 Accord. I needed a lot of work but I got most of that done at the shop today.

[PaleMelanesian]

Now go get a Scangauge.

[xcel]

Hi Sulfuric:

How's it been running?

Wayne