15vtec-e

I expect she'll end up going to the breakers, but I'll hang on for now. Unfoutunately the bottom of the front wings are rusty, but the bonnet is fine, apart from the expected chips after 300k. The headlamps have always suffered from condensation inside the sealed units. I cleaned off as much oxidation as possible from the exterior plastic a while back, which helped, but I suspect they need a hole drilling to try and fix the condensation issue. Rear lights are good. Front bumper had a fight with a small deer many years ago which left it pushed back half a cm or so and a slight split in the rubber, but rear bumper is good. The pictures above show its best side !! I'll continue browsing the usual places facebk/Gumtree/Austotrader in case another suitable MA9 comes up. I do like its cruising ability on motorways, and the relatively big boot for clearing out garages etc. Pete

Some pictures in this morning's sun. Yes, rust round the rear arch and the bottoms of doors and the front wings are places to check for of course. You can see the patch round the rear arch. Several patches have been welded on the floor, and now more welding would be needed at the front for another MOT. Surprisingly no issues with rusty brake pipes. Only once after very heavy rain were the RAC called, so really cant complain about the reliability. A recent Astra 1.4 Turbo is the replacement in the garage. I couldn't justify the bonkers prices for my preferred choice of the equivalent Golf at the moment. If another MA9 came up for sale I would be interested in running it as a second car - they aren't quick, but do cover the miles in a relaxed fashion. Pete

A whie since I posted here, but the Vtec-e has continued to reliably trundle the motorways of the UK and rack up the miles (even managing 15k during Covid 'lockdown' year) ! The time has come to retire the car as it needs way too much in the way of repairs and rebuilds to get an MOT and carry on for another year. It's a shame, as the engine still returns over 50 mpg (60+ with new plugs) on a long journey and some would say it is just run in !! What is amazing is that the Honda garage diagnosed a noisy alternator bearing at 17000 miles and recommended replacement - but it has lasted this long ! In case any MA9 owners are wondering, the only other parts worth salvaging are 4 good tyres, and with a weeks MOT left, it can be driven away still. I'll try and get some pictures up later. Pete

Hello Aman - got the same problem at the moment, see my topic below. I took the connector off to check that mine is a 5 pin wired sensor - and the best price I've seen is about £140. What code do you have ? Pete

Hello Gel - thanks for the useful links. I've seen NGK 5 wire O2 sensors on the interweb - though costly. Just wanted to be sure the code 48 wasn't caused by another reason before buying. Are you still running a 4 wire O2 sensor ? And what engine ? Mine is the cooking 15DZ3. Pete

Hello - anything else to check for code 48 ? And can anyone recommend a good place to buy from? First time the diagnostic light has come on. Engine still runs as normal once I reset (switch off and back on) the ignition and the engine light does not come back on. I think it must be temeperature related as I have a 5 wire sensor and when the engine has done a couple of miles it has enough ambient warmth to fool the sensor. Still sips petrol, so I'll keep it going for a bit longer if possible. thanks

Got another MOT last month and changed the oil for the 32nd time Mileage is 187600+ Hoping to get it to 200K. Anyone know of a 15 vtec-e for sale - slightly less leggy if poss Pete

My P reg trundled past 160k last month. And got another MOT last week Pete

OOOOOO! x-flow Mexico, now theres a car and a half! Very mundane these days, but at the time an absolute joy to drive Pete

I'm not surprised Having got the vtec solenoid working, the next job is to whip off the cam cover and do the tappets (and I want to see what these vtec heads have inside them). Last time I did the tappets was a long time ago on my Mexico x-flow Pete

My friend reckons his 3 year old Renault sounds and feels older than my 14 year old 150K Civic. I'm just pleased when the Civic starts in the morning (needs a new battery ... ) Pete

Gosh My 150k vtec-e has eaten rear bushes and has rust in the wheel arches and door bottoms and feels 'old' and saggy. Has much been replaced on the vti ? cheers Pete

1.5 vtec-e (90 bhp I believe ) 151841 miles. I've done 122000 of them Pete