Looking at buying a 2005 Honda Civic EX

[Bull Dog]

My Dad's 2001 Civic EX with 370,000 miles recently got hit by another party and was totaled.

He is looking to replace it with this 2005 Honda Civic EX.

According to the Auto Check Report. It looks like this car was stolen, then recovered, in 2009. The dealer also sent over some paperwork of some work they did to the car when to took it on trade in.

The oil all over the hood thing is a bit bizarre. Maybe a quick lube place changed the oil, drove the car out after forgetting the cap and then replaced the cap and hopefully the missing oil after realizing the mistake? They replaced the forward O2 sensor. I'm also not quite sure what the Oil Pressure Switch on page two is all about. Could this have been damaged by low oil?

Dealer isn't sure if the timing belt has been replaced. So if we did buy the car that would be one of the first things that gets done. ~$500 job at our local Honda Dealer.

Dealer is asking $6,986; Nada clean retail is $6,975. Tires are are at 60%. With the timing belt and the fact that the car only comes with one master key and the key-fob may or may not work, I'm currently thinking of offering $6300-6400

Is there anything that sticks out as a major issue and that says we shouldn't buy this?

 

[Mide]

That's a lot of miles. I think you can get an RSX with 100k miles for the same price.

 

[PottedMeat]

this sounds like a bad idea

stolen once
reregistered a year later (not recovered?)
stolen again for a thanksgiving joyride or something
oil spray (that the dealership didn't clean for some reason - seems like something they'd do)
one questionable key
timing belt not done? (are they 110k on civics?)

 

[996GT2]

That's way overpriced for a car with that many miles and that kind of sketchy history.

 

[TridenT]

That's way overpriced for a car with that many miles and that kind of sketchy history.

This, even for a civic.

That car is worth $4,000 on a fucking great day.

I'd look elsewhere, OP. Go private market and use your common sense. Dealers are more sketchy than private sellers and are hired and kept based on how well they can sell a POS to you. Those folks are going to take you for a ride otherwise. The replacement part for a Honda O2 sensor is <$150. The labor is maybe $20-40 on that. (It literally takes 15-30 minutes to swap out) $350+ is bullshit.

Go to dealers for new cars only. Craigslist has TONS of Honda Civics in the mid 2000s range for much cheaper. I'm looking at $4k-$6k on craigslist right now and there's some stupid people asking way beyond blue book, but look around and you'll find a great deal. ($2500 for a civic with 1 owner and full service history with miles under 130k, seen that before... You'll NEVER find that at a dealer.)

This guy is asking a bit much for the miles, but it looks pristine.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/4433104984.html


EDIT: Btw, why are you not looking at other car models? I have a civic, but if I was your Dad I would look at a Prius. That's going to cost significantly more but gets way better gas mileage and much more room. (Especially in the PNW) And Craigslist is going to be a pile of shit for that because Toyota Priuses sell faster than they're listed here. (Except for Salvage titles, you want to stay far away from)

But I am assuming your Dad put a lot of miles on that civic and it didn't just come with 300k.

 

[Bull Dog]

My Dad bought his 2001 Civic EX in 2003 with 12k miles on it. Right now he wants to keep the same generation of vehicle.

You guys are right, 7k, even mid 6ks is vastly too much, esp considering the shady history.


Trident thanks for pointing me onto Craigslist, I had kind of forgotten about it.

 

[996GT2]

My Dad bought his 2001 Civic EX in 2003 with 12k miles on it. Right now he wants to keep the same generation of vehicle.

You guys are right, 7k, even mid 6ks is vastly too much, esp considering the shady history.

Trident thanks for pointing me onto Craigslist, I had kind of forgotten about it.

So he put 288k miles on it in 11 years? That's over 25k miles a year.

With that kind of mileage, I second TridenT's recommendation that he consider a Prius or another hybrid.

A Civic will do ~30 mpg with some city/mostly highway driving, so that's about $3000 in fuel cost with 25k miles of driving a year. A Prius would save over $1000 in year in fuel costs.

 

[TridenT]

So he put 288k miles on it in 11 years? That's over 25k miles a year.

With that kind of mileage, I second TridenT's recommendation that he consider a Prius or another hybrid.

A Civic will do ~30 mpg with some city/mostly highway driving, so that's about $3000 in fuel cost with 25k miles of driving a year. A Prius would save over $1000 in year in fuel costs.

He put over 350k miles on it in 11 years. He would be blatantly ignoring a great alternative. Your Dad would save $882 a year at $3.80/gallon and 30k miles/yr if he got a combined 48mpg on the prius and 35mpg on the civic. (You do not get 35mpg combined on a civic, btw. That's no traffic 60-65mph freeway only gas mileage.) And over 10 years, that's nearly $9k...

And I don't expect gas costs to get cheaper or even stay the same over the next 10 years.

I'm guessing your father does the Seattle to Olympia commute. It would be a wise decision to get a Prius...

 

[996GT2]

He put over 350k miles on it in 11 years. He would be blatantly ignoring a great alternative. Your Dad would save $882 a year at $3.80/gallon and 30k miles/yr if he got a combined 48mpg on the prius and 35mpg on the civic. (You do not get 35mpg combined on a civic, btw. That's no traffic 60-65mph freeway only gas mileage.) And over 10 years, that's nearly $9k...

And I don't expect gas costs to get cheaper or even stay the same over the next 10 years.

I'm guessing your father does the Seattle to Olympia commute. It would be a wise decision to get a Prius...

Misread. I thought he posted 300k miles in the OP. with 370K miles...that's about 30k miles of driving a year.

I think he should definitely at least consider a hybrid like the Prius, 1st gen Honda Insight, Civic Hybrid, etc.

 

[TridenT]

Misread. I thought he posted 300k miles in the OP. with 370K miles...that's about 30k miles of driving a year.

I think he should definitely at least consider a hybrid like the Prius, 1st gen Honda Insight, Civic Hybrid, etc.

1st gen Honda Insight would be really good since it can get 70-80mpg. (Something no other hybrids are going to get near without mods or absurd driving)

 

[Bull Dog]

I probably should have mentioned earlier that my Dad lives in Lewiston, ID. He is self employed and his business requires a lot of driving (the 30k miles a year), and he usually gets between 38-40 MPG with his 2001 Civic.

Excellent point about getting a higher efficiency vehicle. I will bring the subject up with him again. However, right now he is wanting to replace what he had (with maybe a small upgrade) without having to outlay too much extra in the process.

Edit: After scouring Craig's Lists in a huge swath of the pacific northwest for 2003-2005 Civic sedans with manual transimissions, I've found one that looks promising: http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/cto/4436965972.html