zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Buying
/
This Ordinary 1998 Civic Hatchback is the Optimal Bring a Trailer Listing
This Ordinary 1998 Civic Hatchback is the Optimal Bring a Trailer Listing-August 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:23

Front-quarter view of Civic hatch

We all know Bring a Trailer is a strange place, and it’s at customers with lots of disposable income overpaying for odd vintage vehicles. This has only exacerbated these lapses of decision making, resulting in a curious phenomenon: people paying top-dollar for relatively clean examples of completely unremarkable vehicles. Like today’s , currently sitting at $5,500 after four bids with a week left on the block.

This EJ6 Civic certainly hails from an era when Honda was rightfully renowned as a maker of thoughtfully engineered and sensibly designed products, but the car itself doesn’t seem to be special in any way. Well, save for the fact it has heated seats, evidently installed as a dealer add-on. That’s especially funny because this is a DX model, the second from the bottom, rising above the absolute base-mode CX trim thanks to the addition of a radio.

Civic interior from driver's side

You won’t find that original head unit in this Civic, not that you’d want it. The seller says that original radio has been preserved and comes with the car, along with an additional set of gray floor mats, which really set off the gray plastics blanketing the dash and transmission column, the gray seats and the gray steering wheel. This hatch has power locks, too, but they also appear to be an aftermarket special, as you had to vault yourself up to LX trim or higher to get power locks from the factory.

Aftermarket heated seat switch

Reading on, the description stands out for categorically listing the most underwhelming attributes of any vehicle I’ve ever seen on BaT. Even the front and rear tires are different brands, a fate that’s endemic to base Civic owners but comical to observe on an auction site known for breaking price records.

Rear-quarter view of Civic hatch

These are the sorts of items that could be sufficiently explained in a bulleted list, but are editorialized anyway because that’s how BaT does things. Like this passage that paints a still life of the fuel gauge:

The four-spoke steering wheel frames a 130-mph speedometer and gauges for fuel level and coolant temperature. The six-digit odometer shows 52k miles, approximately 17k of which have been added by the seller.

At least the listing provides thorough pictures of the Civic’s dings and nicks, and the seller is upfront about the rust on the front suspension. Because this car is from New Jersey. Because of course it is.

Rusted front suspension arms

All that said, it’s still the nicest example of an EJ-generation Civic you’re likely to see, with two owners, no accidents, and a mere 52,000 miles on the odometer. That’s why it’s here. I shudder to think of how much it’ll go for, though in this car’s defense I’ll say that whatever it fetches, it’ll deserve it more than .

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Buying
Don't Wait Until a New Model Comes Out to Get a Deal On a Leftover
Don't Wait Until a New Model Comes Out to Get a Deal On a Leftover
There is an that says you should wait until a new model hits the showrooms to score a deal on the previous model. In other words, when the all-new 2019 Eagle Premier comes out, you may be better off waiting to get a great price on the still-good 2018 Eagle...
Aug 2, 2026
The 2019 Hyundai Veloster N Actually Kicks Ass
The 2019 Hyundai Veloster N Actually Kicks Ass
“It was like a bomb,” Albert Biermann told me, describing one of the more, uh, experimental settings for the during its testing at the Nürburgring. Biermann runs Hyundai N, coming off of his old job running the alphabetically-adjacent BMW M. If anyone knows how to make a fully-realized performance car,...
Aug 2, 2026
The 2018 BMW X3 M40i Makes the Crossover Apocalypse a Little More Tolerable
The 2018 BMW X3 M40i Makes the Crossover Apocalypse a Little More Tolerable
If right here and now, I proclaim the to be the bare minimum of what it is to be a sporty crossover, then maybe the SUV/crossover apocalypse can be slightly more tolerable. I know, I know: BMW’s M-line is the one that typically steals all the spotlight. There currently isn’t...
Aug 2, 2026
The Best Luxury Sport Sedan Deal Under $20,000 is the One You Probably Forgot About
The Best Luxury Sport Sedan Deal Under $20,000 is the One You Probably Forgot About
Sedans are having a rough time right now, though . But if you are looking for something with power, luxury, and reliability under $20,000, your best bet may be the car that got lost in a weird name change: the Infiniti Q40. Brace yourself for some alphabet soup: the Q40...
Aug 2, 2026
Could This 1985 Jeep CJ10’s Rarity Overcome its $32,500 Price?
Could This 1985 Jeep CJ10’s Rarity Overcome its $32,500 Price?
Today’s CJ10 is a Jeep you’ve probably never even heard of. Now that you have, you’re going to have to see if its price is worth a listen. We started off the week yesterday, with a car that many of you quipped would make the perfect weekend car, a ....
Aug 2, 2026
Could This Ultra-Low Mileage 1990 Mazda Miata be Worth $6,999?
Could This Ultra-Low Mileage 1990 Mazda Miata be Worth $6,999?
Mazda’s MX5 is one of the best driving cars on the planet, which calls into question why today’s candidate has only gone 23K. Let’s see of those low miles add up to a high, but maybe acceptable price. The phrase ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’ is generally attributed...
Aug 2, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved