Junkyard Find: 1993 Honda Civic LX Sedan with 351,119 Miles

In my search for super-high-mile vehicles in the car graveyards of the land, all the cars I’ve found showing better than a half-million miles on the odometer have been Mercedes–Benzes (other than a 1982 Rabbit Cabriolet showing an implausible 930k miles on what I think was a defective gauge). The most-traveled Honda I’ve documented was a 1983 Accord sedan with 411,794 miles, and today’s Junkyard Find now takes second-place in the Highest Mileage Honda In the Junkyard contest.

Yes, 351,119 miles, or just over 12,500 miles for each year of this car’s existence. I’m sure I’ve seen plenty of Hondas with more miles during my junkyard journeying, but American-market Hondas only got six-digit odometers starting in 1981 at the earliest (Volvo and Mercedes-Benz ditched the old five-digit ones decades earlier) and the cars made during our current century have electronic odometers that require vehicle power to boot up.

As is so often the case with extreme-high-mile vehicles, this one looks very solid and well-maintained for its age. Sure, I’ll find the occasional beat-to-hell hooptie with big miles, but it takes conscientious owners to keep a car— even a very well-built one— alive for such a long haul.

The seats have aftermarket covers and some of the trim pieces came from a different vehicle with a gray interior, but otherwise, the cabin of this Civic doesn’t show the wear and tear you’d expect to see in a car that traveled twice as far as most others its age.

Power windows in a fifth-generation Civic? They were available, but I’ve nosed around in hundreds of these cars while searching for bits for my own ’92 hatchback and I’d say maybe 2 percent have these switches.

The same goes for the power remote mirrors and cruise control.

Four different engines were available in 1993 Civics: the El Cheapo Edition CX got an 8-valve 1.5-liter four rated at 70 horsepower, the Sips Fuel Through a Cocktail Straw Edition VX had a 16-valve 1.5-liter with 92 hp, the Not Quite So Cheap Edition DX and LX had a 102-horse version of the VX engine, and the Hot Rod From Hell Edition EX and Si got a VTEC-equipped 1.5 making 125 horsepower. This LX has the 102hp D15B7.

Up here in the thin air at 5,280 feet, that engine probably sent 80 horses to the wheels at best. The five-speed manual made that amount of power (barely) tolerable.

Why is it here? There’s some rust, but nothing too serious. My guess is that the timing belt or head gasket failed and the repair cost ended up being far higher than the real-world value for a high-mile non-truck with a transmission most used-car shoppers can’t operate; the second guess is that the owner traded it in on a new car and the dealership didn’t even bother trying to auction it off.

The Number One Girl approved of the JDM version.

Most 1993 Civics sold here were hatchbacks, but Honda USA still advertised the sedan.

For links to more than 2,100 additional Junkyard Finds, visit the Junkyard Home of the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand™.

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