YACT: 1 owner, private party, 95 Accord $5000

[Red]

So, I looked into the Volvo wagon, and I haven't discounted it yet, but when I read reviews on autos.msn.com, most of the people said the car was extremely expensive to maintain (turbos and non turbos alike).

So I started looking through last Sundays local classifieds and I called on a 95 Honda accord. It has leather/sunroof, 92k miles, original 1 owner. The guy said he is selling it because his wife just bought a new Accord. I asked about maintenance records and he said he has "some", but has always had the oil changed every 3000-4000 miles. No accidents. He said the only time it's ever been in the shop was at around 40k miles he needed to have a coil replaced.
Does this mean the car is overdue for a 60k timing belt replacement? Should I be worried about the coil? Should I be worried he only said he has "some" of his maitenance receipts?

He also said the leather seats have been treated so they aren't split or cracked or anything. He is asked $5500 but he said he isn't firm AT ALL. Like he was begging me to offer him $4500 or something.

Thoughts?

 

[dabuddha]

I'd be weary and have a mechanic you trust check it out first and maybe get a carfax report. What's the blue book value of that car?

 

[StageLeft]

I had zero records for the maxima and sentra when I bought them. That sounds like a decent price, though not a spectacular one. I don't know what kbb is though or edmunds. It's definitely a much sager choice than the volvo or the 240sx.

Obviously a mechanic should check it out

As you know, buying a used car is a crapshoot. You can take his word on the 3-4k miles, but it's a guess and no way to really know. probably it's been maintained decently, since most cars are maintained adequately, but who really knows? I'd STILL keep the civic

 

[Viper GTS]

Let me say this again:

Keep the Civic or sell it to break even & buy a $1000 beater.

$5,000 is better than $8,000, but you're still looking at the wrong vehicles.

Viper GTS

 

[Spencer278]

clearly you are not the type of person that should be owning a used car. Who in their right mind is going to have nearly 10 years of oil charge records?

 

[SaintGRW]

well my friend just got a 94 Prelude, AWS, Power sunroof, power everything, leather, paint job is mint no accidents engine is in great shape 80k on it for $1,000 for a lady who bought a new one...

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: SaintGRW
well my friend just got a 94 Prelude, AWS, Power sunroof, power everything, leather, paint job is mint no accidents engine is in great shape 80k on it for $1,000 for a lady who bought a new one...

That's unusual though...It's worth more.

 

[Red]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
Let me say this again:

Keep the Civic or sell it to break even & buy a $1000 beater.

$5,000 is better than $8,000, but you're still looking at the wrong vehicles.

Viper GTS

Viper, I know you and Skoorb are giving advice in my best interest to save the maximum dollar, however, I can afford and am willing and able and WANT to spend about $5000-$8000 on a car that I really like.

I fully agree with you that if I were on the verge of bankruptcy or if I simply wanted to maximize my dollar, I could sell the Civic, break even, and buy a $1000 beater. However, in my situation, $5000-8000 is what I'd like advice on =)

 

[radioouman]

Go for lower miles. If you can spend $8,000 and get an Accord with 50,000-60,000 miles, why would you only spend $5,000 and get one with 90,000+ plus?

My Dad has a 95 Dodge Spirit with just under 100,000 miles that he'd sell for $1200. Are you sure that you want to spend 4x-5x that amount to get an Accord with the same mileage?

 

[StageLeft]

Well then get a car worth owning. 95 maxima. Boom! That accord will be slow as hell! You have to wonder if you're going to enjoy a 95 accord more than an 02 civic. I wouldn't

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: Spencer278
clearly you are not the type of person that should be owning a used car. Who in their right mind is going to have nearly 10 years of oil charge records?

I have all mine including the credit card receipts. So am I not in my right mind?

techfuzz

 

[Red]

Originally posted by: techfuzz

Originally posted by: Spencer278
clearly you are not the type of person that should be owning a used car. Who in their right mind is going to have nearly 10 years of oil charge records?

I have all mine including the credit card receipts. So am I not in my right mind?

techfuzz

That's what I don't understand... why wouldn't people keep things like this? I don't know a single person in my immediate family who doesn't keep every single piece of paperwork related to their car. Maybe not carwash receipts, but anything maitenance/repair related.

 

[StageLeft]

I bought mine through auction, so they had none. Personally I now keep receipts ONLY for big ticket items, like an alternator. In regards to oil changes I keep no receipts but I have a piece of paper which has the date and mileage of the last oil change. Since I change at 5-6k intervals and most people think they need to be done at 3k (since they know no better) I would probably not even give that piece of paper to a potential buyer anyway.

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I bought mine through auction, so they had none. Personally I now keep receipts ONLY for big ticket items, like an alternator. In regards to oil changes I keep no receipts but I have a piece of paper which has the date and mileage of the last oil change. Since I change at 5-6k intervals and most people think they need to be done at 3k (since they know no better) I would probably not even give that piece of paper to a potential buyer anyway.

And if they asked you would say you changed it every ____k miles? Then again, you could be planning to run it into the ground anyway.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: dxkj

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I bought mine through auction, so they had none. Personally I now keep receipts ONLY for big ticket items, like an alternator. In regards to oil changes I keep no receipts but I have a piece of paper which has the date and mileage of the last oil change. Since I change at 5-6k intervals and most people think they need to be done at 3k (since they know no better) I would probably not even give that piece of paper to a potential buyer anyway.

And if they asked you would say you changed it every ____k miles? Then again, you could be planning to run it into the ground anyway.

I'm not sure, since most people do still mindlessly subscribe to the $3k ideal.

And yeah I do plan on driving it into the ground!

 

[MrBond]

Originally posted by: Spencer278
clearly you are not the type of person that should be owning a used car. Who in their right mind is going to have nearly 10 years of oil charge records?

When I bought my truck (95), the owner included a nice excel spreadsheet with every maintence record listed on it as well as a copy of all the dealer reciepts. It's damn handy for me, because I can see what was changed and at what mileage, so I know what to watch for failure.

 

[Thegonagle]

It sounds like a potentially good deal, but a Carfax and mechanical inspection is always a good idea. The timing belt will need to be changed (it's actually every 90,000 miles for most Hondas), and the water pump should be changed too. These should be replaced with NEW genuine Honda parts. If a place that gives you a low-ball estimate is only going to put in a rebuilt water pump from Napa or Autozone, I'd just leave the original water pump in. And I would trust only the Honda timing belt, because if they go cheap and get a low-quality one, the stakes are too high on most Honda engines if it fails early. The Honda belts are of known quality. That's not so for imitation parts.

If it's an auto transmission, the fluid should be changed, probably two three times in a row to get most of the old stuff flushed out, if this oft-neglected item hasn't been taken care of regularly (every 30-60K miles). It's easy to do on Honda transmissions because they have a drain plug and most have no filter to change. As per the recommendation in the owner's manual (and corroborated by a very competent Honda mechanic I used to take my Hondas to), use Honda brand ATF from the dealership.

Factor the required maintenance into your negotiations.

 

[HokieESM]

Originally posted by: Redhotjrm

Originally posted by: techfuzz

Originally posted by: Spencer278
clearly you are not the type of person that should be owning a used car. Who in their right mind is going to have nearly 10 years of oil charge records?

I have all mine including the credit card receipts. So am I not in my right mind?

techfuzz

That's what I don't understand... why wouldn't people keep things like this? I don't know a single person in my immediate family who doesn't keep every single piece of paperwork related to their car. Maybe not carwash receipts, but anything maitenance/repair related.

I have all my major maintenance receipts.... but what if you change your own oil? I change mine like clockwork every 3 months or 5,000 miles and have an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with it... but there aren't going to be any "receipts". (in my opinion, its kinda silly NOT to change your own oil now that you don't have to grease the joints--it takes 15 minutes one evening... and you can ensure that the grease monkey at Jiffy Lube--or scarily enough, the dealership--isn't going to destroy the threads on your aluminum oilpan by overtightening the plug).

On major maintenance, however, I agree. I have a file folder with the receipts for all three sets of tires that have been on my Civic, plus the timing belt change, and any "dealer" trips that have been made.

 

[HokieESM]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
It sounds like a potentially good deal, but a Carfax and mechanical inspection is always a good idea. The timing belt will need to be changed (it's actually every 90,000 miles for most Hondas), and the water pump should be changed too. These should be replaced with NEW genuine Honda parts. If a place that gives you a low-ball estimate is only going to put in a rebuilt water pump from Napa or Autozone, I'd just leave the original water pump in. And I would trust only the Honda timing belt, because if they go cheap and get a low-quality one, the stakes are too high on most Honda engines if it fails early. The Honda belts are of known quality. That's not so for imitation parts.

If it's an auto transmission, the fluid should be changed, probably two three times in a row to get most of the old stuff flushed out, if this oft-neglected item hasn't been taken care of regularly (every 30-60K miles). It's easy to do on Honda transmissions because they have a drain plug and most have no filter to change. As per the recommendation in the owner's manual (and corroborated by a very competent Honda mechanic I used to take my Hondas to), use Honda brand ATF from the dealership.

Factor the required maintenance into your negotiations.

Good points. The timing belt/water pump change on an Accord isn't "cheap"... roughly $400 from a competent mechanic (its a long day if you do it yourself and you're not used to doing that sort of thing, too). Oh, and most will also drain/replace your coolant when you do this (which is never a bad thing).

And the auto-transmission fluid is VERY easy to do at home, if you're so inclined. Especially if you want to do what Thegonagle is recommending (which you might not get at most service places).

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
It sounds like a potentially good deal, but a Carfax and mechanical inspection is always a good idea. The timing belt will need to be changed (it's actually every 90,000 miles for most Hondas), and the water pump should be changed too. These should be replaced with NEW genuine Honda parts. If a place that gives you a low-ball estimate is only going to put in a rebuilt water pump from Napa or Autozone, I'd just leave the original water pump in. And I would trust only the Honda timing belt, because if they go cheap and get a low-quality one, the stakes are too high on most Honda engines if it fails early. The Honda belts are of known quality. That's not so for imitation parts.

If it's an auto transmission, the fluid should be changed, probably two three times in a row to get most of the old stuff flushed out, if this oft-neglected item hasn't been taken care of regularly (every 30-60K miles). It's easy to do on Honda transmissions because they have a drain plug and most have no filter to change. As per the recommendation in the owner's manual (and corroborated by a very competent Honda mechanic I used to take my Hondas to), use Honda brand ATF from the dealership.

Factor the required maintenance into your negotiations.

In all fairness even if the shop doesn't use Honda parts some shops do use quality parts. I had my buddy order me parts for my car through his shop. Timing belt was $6, made by Continental in Germany. Granted, the parts place screwed up and gave me a belt for a Civic but it was a quality belt. Same thing with the water pump. Non-honda but new from Japan ($25). It all depends on the quality and reputation of the shop. I do agree that you should NEVER use rebuilt water pumps or parts-store timing belts tho.

I agree completely on the ATF issue tho I've been reading that some people have been doing well with non-Honda ATF (but I can't recall what they're running).

 

[techfuzz]

Originally posted by: HokieESM
I have all my major maintenance receipts.... but what if you change your own oil? I change mine like clockwork every 3 months or 5,000 miles and have an Excel spreadsheet to keep up with it... but there aren't going to be any "receipts". (in my opinion, its kinda silly NOT to change your own oil now that you don't have to grease the joints--it takes 15 minutes one evening... and you can ensure that the grease monkey at Jiffy Lube--or scarily enough, the dealership--isn't going to destroy the threads on your aluminum oilpan by overtightening the plug).

On major maintenance, however, I agree. I have a file folder with the receipts for all three sets of tires that have been on my Civic, plus the timing belt change, and any "dealer" trips that have been made.

You could include your receipts showing the purchase of the oil, but you do have a good point. An Excel spreadsheet would be handy to give to someone should they inquire about it when you intend to sell your car. Not many people I have ever dealt with have asked for any documentation what-so-ever, then again I was driving and selling 10+ year old cars.

techfuzz