Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
#1
05-31-2007, 09:55 AM
Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
Hey guys, I am possibly going to purchase my first Honda today (first Japanese car for that matter). I've owned a few VWs and an old BMW 3 series, currently I drive a Dodge Stratus, but it is time to buy a new vehicle and I decided that I want to go with an Accord. The one I'm looking at is an 01 with 150,000 miles. The price is only $5995.00. From what I've seen,thats a pretty reasonable price. Please feel free to comment on that. The womanwhoowns it (the seller is a private owner) used it primarily for her job (which requires her to travel alot to meet with clients), she claims to have maintained it very well.
Anyway, so my questionsare:
1) Arethere any problem areas that creep up at this many miles that I should be on the look out for as I test drive the car?
2) Does this car have a timing belt or chain and in either case, when should it have been maintained last? How many times should it have been maintained at this many miles?
3) What do you think about it having 150,000 miles? Did they build the 2001 models with the same'over-engineering'philosophylike the older models? Do you think if it has been well maintained that it will last me some years?
Thanks!
Anyway, so my questionsare:
1) Arethere any problem areas that creep up at this many miles that I should be on the look out for as I test drive the car?
2) Does this car have a timing belt or chain and in either case, when should it have been maintained last? How many times should it have been maintained at this many miles?
3) What do you think about it having 150,000 miles? Did they build the 2001 models with the same'over-engineering'philosophylike the older models? Do you think if it has been well maintained that it will last me some years?
Thanks!
#4
05-31-2007, 10:26 AM
RE: Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
I just ran a Carfax on it and it came up saying that this car was in an accident with damage to the front end back in 2003. I guess that could have been either a smashed headlight or something really bad, it doesn't give any details.
Also, the current owner says that she bought it when it had 20-something thousand miles on it, yet the Carfax says that the first owner had this car from 0-10,000 miles, then the second had it from 10,000 to 48,000 and the current has had it since then.
Are these Carfax reports ever not completely correct?
Also, the current owner says that she bought it when it had 20-something thousand miles on it, yet the Carfax says that the first owner had this car from 0-10,000 miles, then the second had it from 10,000 to 48,000 and the current has had it since then.
Are these Carfax reports ever not completely correct?
#6
05-31-2007, 11:34 AM
RE: Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
1st:
Here are some basic questions I have for you and I will tell you what a reasonable price is: What model is it? Is it a DX, VP, LX, or EX? Is it a 4 door or a two door? I just want to make sure the price is about right.
2nd:
The automatic transmissions on this generation Accord have had many problems in the past. I know Honda replaced a lot of transmissions for free, but at 150k miles, it would be out of the mileage range for Honda to do anything about it. So, if the trans messes up, you will be out a lot of money. Of course, there may not be a single thing wrong with the trans. I just wanted to warn you there. Hopefully someone who knows about transmissions can tell you something you could look for while test driving it. I would say make sure the car shifts smoothly through all gears. You don't want any heavy jerks or jolts when it upshifts or downshifts.
3rd:
The car has a timing belt which should be changed every 105,000 miles or every seven years, whichever comes first. This car should have had a timing belt change done already. If not, that belt needs to be changed ASAP. Most honda repair specialists will recommend changing the oil seals and water pump while the timing belt is beingchanged. This is a good idea as you have to remove the timing belt anyway to get to the water pump and/or the seals. The whole job can cost anywhere from $500 to 800 to have done. I had mine done on Tuesday and it cost me $630.
4th:
As long as the car has been well maintained and you haveall the routine maintenance done regularly, I would imagine it has another 150kleft on it. I cannot guarantee that, but these cars are known for their reliability.
I hope this helps. Get back to me on the questions I asked first and I'll let you know what I would pay for it if I were you.
I have2000 LX 4door 5spd (Cloth interior, no sunroof.) I bought it from a dealer (I normally would not havebought a used car from a dealer but I couldn't pass this one up)with 104,500 miles on itfor $5,500.
Here are some basic questions I have for you and I will tell you what a reasonable price is: What model is it? Is it a DX, VP, LX, or EX? Is it a 4 door or a two door? I just want to make sure the price is about right.
2nd:
The automatic transmissions on this generation Accord have had many problems in the past. I know Honda replaced a lot of transmissions for free, but at 150k miles, it would be out of the mileage range for Honda to do anything about it. So, if the trans messes up, you will be out a lot of money. Of course, there may not be a single thing wrong with the trans. I just wanted to warn you there. Hopefully someone who knows about transmissions can tell you something you could look for while test driving it. I would say make sure the car shifts smoothly through all gears. You don't want any heavy jerks or jolts when it upshifts or downshifts.
3rd:
The car has a timing belt which should be changed every 105,000 miles or every seven years, whichever comes first. This car should have had a timing belt change done already. If not, that belt needs to be changed ASAP. Most honda repair specialists will recommend changing the oil seals and water pump while the timing belt is beingchanged. This is a good idea as you have to remove the timing belt anyway to get to the water pump and/or the seals. The whole job can cost anywhere from $500 to 800 to have done. I had mine done on Tuesday and it cost me $630.
4th:
As long as the car has been well maintained and you haveall the routine maintenance done regularly, I would imagine it has another 150kleft on it. I cannot guarantee that, but these cars are known for their reliability.
I hope this helps. Get back to me on the questions I asked first and I'll let you know what I would pay for it if I were you.
I have2000 LX 4door 5spd (Cloth interior, no sunroof.) I bought it from a dealer (I normally would not havebought a used car from a dealer but I couldn't pass this one up)with 104,500 miles on itfor $5,500.
#7
05-31-2007, 11:41 AM
RE: Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
About the accident:
1st of all, ask the seller about it. Did she own the car in 2003 when carfax shows the accident?
2nd, try another report companysuch as AutoCheck: http://www.autocheck.com/?siteID=0
I have seen a post on the forumwhere a guy bought a car from a dealer. Carfax showed the car was accident free, but AutoCheck showed it was in an accident and had frame damage.
1st of all, ask the seller about it. Did she own the car in 2003 when carfax shows the accident?
2nd, try another report companysuch as AutoCheck: http://www.autocheck.com/?siteID=0
I have seen a post on the forumwhere a guy bought a car from a dealer. Carfax showed the car was accident free, but AutoCheck showed it was in an accident and had frame damage.
#8
05-31-2007, 11:56 AM
RE: Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
ORIGINAL: 00AccordLX5spd
1st:
Here are some basic questions I have for you and I will tell you what a reasonable price is: What model is it? Is it a DX, VP, LX, or EX? Is it a 4 door or a two door? I just want to make sure the price is about right.
2nd:
The automatic transmissions on this generation Accord have had many problems in the past. I know Honda replaced a lot of transmissions for free, but at 150k miles, it would be out of the mileage range for Honda to do anything about it. So, if the trans messes up, you will be out a lot of money. Of course, there may not be a single thing wrong with the trans. I just wanted to warn you there. Hopefully someone who knows about transmissions can tell you something you could look for while test driving it. I would say make sure the car shifts smoothly through all gears. You don't want any heavy jerks or jolts when it upshifts or downshifts.
3rd:
The car has a timing belt which should be changed every 105,000 miles or every seven years, whichever comes first. This car should have had a timing belt change done already. If not, that belt needs to be changed ASAP. Most honda repair specialists will recommend changing the oil seals and water pump while the timing belt is beingchanged. This is a good idea as you have to remove the timing belt anyway to get to the water pump and/or the seals. The whole job can cost anywhere from $500 to 800 to have done. I had mine done on Tuesday and it cost me $630.
4th:
As long as the car has been well maintained and you haveall the routine maintenance done regularly, I would imagine it has another 150kleft on it. I cannot guarantee that, but these cars are known for their reliability.
I hope this helps. Get back to me on the questions I asked first and I'll let you know what I would pay for it if I were you.
I have2000 LX 4door 5spd (Cloth interior, no sunroof.) I bought it from a dealer (I normally would not havebought a used car from a dealer but I couldn't pass this one up)with 104,500 miles on itfor $5,500.
1st:
Here are some basic questions I have for you and I will tell you what a reasonable price is: What model is it? Is it a DX, VP, LX, or EX? Is it a 4 door or a two door? I just want to make sure the price is about right.
2nd:
The automatic transmissions on this generation Accord have had many problems in the past. I know Honda replaced a lot of transmissions for free, but at 150k miles, it would be out of the mileage range for Honda to do anything about it. So, if the trans messes up, you will be out a lot of money. Of course, there may not be a single thing wrong with the trans. I just wanted to warn you there. Hopefully someone who knows about transmissions can tell you something you could look for while test driving it. I would say make sure the car shifts smoothly through all gears. You don't want any heavy jerks or jolts when it upshifts or downshifts.
3rd:
The car has a timing belt which should be changed every 105,000 miles or every seven years, whichever comes first. This car should have had a timing belt change done already. If not, that belt needs to be changed ASAP. Most honda repair specialists will recommend changing the oil seals and water pump while the timing belt is beingchanged. This is a good idea as you have to remove the timing belt anyway to get to the water pump and/or the seals. The whole job can cost anywhere from $500 to 800 to have done. I had mine done on Tuesday and it cost me $630.
4th:
As long as the car has been well maintained and you haveall the routine maintenance done regularly, I would imagine it has another 150kleft on it. I cannot guarantee that, but these cars are known for their reliability.
I hope this helps. Get back to me on the questions I asked first and I'll let you know what I would pay for it if I were you.
I have2000 LX 4door 5spd (Cloth interior, no sunroof.) I bought it from a dealer (I normally would not havebought a used car from a dealer but I couldn't pass this one up)with 104,500 miles on itfor $5,500.
Thanks for the feedback man. Its a 4 door LX, clothinterior, andwith no sunroof. I have heard about the tranny issuetoo, but, from what I've seen,it seems like its a v6 tranny issue...don't quote me on this though.
BTW,my Stratus has 112k on it. Its been pretty cost effective, but here are my concerns about it:
1) The brakes suck. I have the 4 cylinder model which has very small discs in the front and drums in the rear. The front discs are so small that they look like they belong on the neon. I will say that this is the first generation Stratus and that the second generation has better brakes on it.
2) I question the side impact safety of it (after having the doors apart and seeing how they are designed).
3) I had two things break that on most cars don't break from normal wear and tear which had the potential to be disasterous...a) one of the tie-rod ends snapped, b) the rear sway-bar snapped. I drive very non-aggressively and I haven't been in an accident.
4) Its super difficult to adjust the headlights for the proper angle.
5) The seats are uncomfortable.
6) The side mirrors are solid, they don't flex or turn.
7) When you replace a side view mirror
, its really hard to getthe new partto fit back the way it was (not to mention that the interior of the door is attached by cheap plastic clips which never go back on again.8) For some reason, my trunk light goes on when the trunk is closed and goes off when its opened.
9) A/C no longer works - needs an evaporator core - evaporator core = $200 - time required to change out the evaporator core = 10 hours (I'm not sure if this is really correct, but I've been told that it takes a long time)
Anyway, so basically, there are alot of problems with this car as far as safety and engineering goes. I figure that even if an Accord gives me trouble, atleast I would feel better about spending money on something that has been engineered well.
#9
05-31-2007, 01:38 PM
RE: Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
Your trunk light issue is probably just a reverse wire job... easily fixable but it sounds like the rest of the problems make the car boring and almost painfull to drive. As for the tranny it would seem that about 7 out of 10 of them are on the V6's and on occasion the 4cyl has an issue. Run the VIN through the webiste below to see if it was even part of the settlement/problem. Did you find out about the accidents/Timing belt?
http://www.hondatransmissionsettleme...php/login.php#
http://www.hondatransmissionsettleme...php/login.php#
#10
05-31-2007, 03:11 PM
RE: Possibly buying first Honda today, have questions before purchase
I ran a price on Kelley Blue Book. It gave about $6,445 for a good condition Accord LX 4 door auto with 150k miles (I saw you were in Pennsylvania, soused a Pliladelphia area code when I ran the value.) Here's the link to my results: http://www.kbb.com/KBB/UsedCars/Pric...izConditions=0
I think KBB might be a little on the high side sometimes, but they are usually pretty accurate. Of course, that is a value for a car that has never been involved in an accident before.
She is probably pretty close on the price, but I would want to find out a little more about the accident, and if the t-belt had been changed yet. Unless you have pretty extensive knowlege about working on cars, you might want to leave the t-belt seviceup to a Honda specialist. If that belt breaks or comes loose somehow, you are in deep doo doo.
I trust sir_nasty on the tranny issue as well. I figured it may be more of a V6 problem, but you can never be too safe
I think KBB might be a little on the high side sometimes, but they are usually pretty accurate. Of course, that is a value for a car that has never been involved in an accident before.
She is probably pretty close on the price, but I would want to find out a little more about the accident, and if the t-belt had been changed yet. Unless you have pretty extensive knowlege about working on cars, you might want to leave the t-belt seviceup to a Honda specialist. If that belt breaks or comes loose somehow, you are in deep doo doo.
I trust sir_nasty on the tranny issue as well. I figured it may be more of a V6 problem, but you can never be too safe