'97 del Sol VTEC with B18C5 for sale. 51k miles.

**ChadITR** · June 6th, 2006, 10:56 PM

Built July 1997. 51,339 miles. And yes, those are original miles on this vehicle that has never been in an accident and always garaged. Although there are some very minor cosmetic blemishes (nothing unusual for a '97 vehicle), everything on this car is in great working order. It's Cypress Green Pearl. I'm in Redmond, WA.

I don't see a way to add pics, but I will look again after I post this, or I can email them.

In 2002 the car was stolen from the original owner, and the thieves took the engine, transmission, seats, spoiler, stereo, tires and wheels. The bad news is that it has a "REBUILT" title because it was an insurance loss. As with any vehicle with a rebranded title, you should get a careful inspection by a trusted mechanic--which will confirm that this car has not been in an accident.

My father bought the stripped car in late 2002, and here's where the good news starts. He used the opportunity to upgrade every missing piece (except the rear spoiler, which he simply replaced). The new engine is a 197hp VTEC B18C5 from a 1998 JDM Integra Type-R--he had the whole front clip shipped from Japan. The transaxle is the matching close-ratio 5-speed manual with posi-trac. The seats are plusher ones from an Integra. The tires are uber-sticky Toyos (the front ones are new), and the wheels are 15" Konig Ultralight Racing Monoblock alloys. When he finished, he had the state patrol inspect it and licensed it in January 2003. He put in a nice Kenwood stereo too, but for my own reasons I just put in a new Sony Xplod system with removable faceplate, CD, MP3 and Atrac support, and a front input jack.

While the high-power Type-R engine in this light car means it could be a racer, my retired schoolteacher father is no speed demon and neither am I (and my son hasn't been allowed to drive it :-). So it's been treated well and gets great mpg. The lowest I've seen is 27mpg in short city trips and cold weather; my Dad never got below 30mpg in mixed driving. Since the new parts were installed in 2002, there has been only one mechanical problem--a fan died, which my father replaced.

Dad meant for this to be his long-term retirement car and put it together carefully with that in mind. But he got seriously into bird tracking--he's in the Aleutians looking for bird flu now--so he bought a 4x4 that he can sleep in. I've been driving it for a couple of months and I love it, but I'm committed to biodiesel and plan on (sigh) getting a much-less-fun TDI.

If we ignore the branded title and the many upgrades (which maybe cancel each other out anyway?), NADA says $8,800 retail.

I'm not a dealer, so I'll say $6,995 OBO. No trades, please. If you like the car but hope to pay less, I'm very happy to look at offers. But it's a great car and I don't need to sell it at all, so no sense lobbing me a complete lowball.

**motox4ever1988** · June 7th, 2006, 12:45 AM

Well im very interested, cause i have been looking for a sol for a while, with some sort of a swap, thats not all riced out. Ive never bought a car with a title like this one, so does that mean that insurace will be higher than normal? And if you could email pics to me of the car at [email protected] Like i stated ive always liked sols but have wanted one with a swap and it was preferrably a gsr or type r swap.
Kyle V

**ChadITR** · June 7th, 2006, 06:55 PM

I mailed you a bunch of pics.

I've had several branded cars over the years; I don't think it's ever affected insurance rates. Usually it's not even mentioned. About 20 years ago an insurance company asked me to bring the car by to verify all repairs had been made before they issued the policy.

Anybody issuing a loan for the car will probably need to inspect it first, too.

**d16z6_tuner** · June 8th, 2006, 04:12 AM

banks wont approve loans on cars with branded titles. only way is to take out a personal loan and not tell them you are buying a car.

**BiffStroganoffsky** · June 9th, 2006, 02:47 PM

Hmm...a green one. That would complete my red and blue collection. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Could you e-mail me the pics or pm me for the addy if it is not available. I'd be interested in looking at it at least.