Is This Civic the Sleeper of Your Dreams?

Putting your Gas on E knowledge to the test, use what you know and what you learned to determine if this deal is worth while, or if you'd be paying cash for a pile.

Ah, the em2. Produced from 2001-2005, this model of the Civic was wildly successful. Was it successful among enthusiasts? Eh, not really. It was economical, reliable and great quality. These are the ingredients needed to produce a positively-rated consumer car for the average person. Fully loaded models offered slightly better options than the more basic packages with the additions of a sunroof and nicer wheels.

All-in-all, this Civic is a staple commuter car- and not really much more than that.

However, what is great about the em2 is the fact that, well, it's a Civic. When it comes to Civics, the aftermarket market is absolutely abundant. No matter what model year you own of one of the best selling cars of all time, you'll be sure to find thousands upon thousands of interchangeable and customizable parts to get the looks and performance you desire out of a basic ass car.

That seems to be the case for the seller of this 2004 Honda Civic four door. As she is quite far from stock, we'll go over the offer to see if this Honda's VTEC cracks as hard as what the owner cracks this up to be- ha.

First things first, the engine is not stock. It is common to see swapped Hondas in the Honda tuning community. Generally, owners will take higher-performance Honda engines, and drop them into lightweight shells of Honda's commuter car line. This example is fitted with a k20 series Honda engine out of a late-model RSX. The RSX's sister car, the Civic Si (ep3), was offered during the 2002-2005 model years. It too offered this 160 hp 2.0 L inline 4-cyl, but the engine was not offered in the DX, LX or EX four-door model Civic.

This engine brings the car from its stock, measly 115 horses up to a solid 160 hp packed into a much more reliable k series that is suited for performance tuning. Additionally, the owner states that he took the seats, wheels, ecu, motor mounts and harness from the donor car. Some would argue at that point, that this car is a weird combination of the two, a semi-converted four-door Civic to a two-door Acura- minus the shell, of course.

There is no mention of the type of trans, which may be a red flag if the swap wasn't paired properly. He also mentions it has new brakes and rotors as well as an exhaust system, but fails to mention any significant brands.

The body is dented and scratched. It looks presentable, but far from perfect.

The owner is asking for $2500 or best offer. Based on the deals that are out there under specific searches, as well as the surplus of aftermarket parts available for any car you find (especially for a Civic), is this car filled with potential at one hell of a price, or a piece of crap hidden behind a description that makes it sound nice?

You decide, use your Gas on E knowledge to let us know what you think!

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