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YACT: Used 2004 Civic

F

flyboy84

Golden Member

I'm looking at the following used car:

2004 Honda Civic EX Coupe (Blue)
Automatic Transmission
23,499 Miles

Asking price is 16,495.

According to Carfax, the vehicle was registered Feb. 5th 2004. So in 14 months, this person drove ~23.5k miles, compared to the industry average of 15k. Is this a warning sign? Should I not worry since the Civic can "go forever" anyway?

Assuming I get around to going to the dealer, how much does one think I could talk them down? I'd like to pay 15k including tax, title, etc, but I'd be willing to go a little over if it could be something I really want (this is exactly what I want minus the color, and I can certainly live with blue, it just wouldn't be my first choice).

Thanks 🙂
 
Yes, that's a lot for one year.

I've had my car for less than 6 months and there's already 11k miles on it. I drive close to 260 miles a week. And it's a lease, so I'm gonna get it hard when the lease is up.

Edit: I just read the rest of your post. I'm sure the car can handle it, but I'd try to talk them down as much as possible because of the mileage. How much to talk them down, I'm not sure.
 
Originally posted by: TheGoodGuy
i drive on avg 30k per year. My car is over 2 years and i am closing 100K on my focus.
Click to expand...


Right. I'm not afraid of high mileage cars in general (my dad's '91 Blazer has 235k miles on it and it runs great -- but he takes good care of it) it's buying a used car with "high mileage" (really, "high mileage for that time span") because who knows how the previous owner treated it.

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
asking price is pretty close to new price... and yes that is a lot of miles.
Click to expand...

Base price (MSRP) for that car in 2005 would be ~18,500 (and in my searches have had as low as 17k offered to me, but I've decided to look for a used one instead).
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
asking price is pretty close to new price... and yes that is a lot of miles.
Click to expand...

it's obviously a rip-off price. since the new model is coming out pretty soon as well. i say $11-13k is more reasonable, with that milage and all.

oh, flyboy, i don't think many people pay full MSRP, for a civic. offer him about $1-2k lower than KBB private would be more reasonable.
 
That's a crapload of miles for one year, but...if it has that many miles, chances are high that most of those are highway miles. And highway miles are much gentler on the car than city miles.
 
I would ask to see the maintenance records on this vehicle. The oil change interval is 10k in manual for normal usage. I've been running my g/f out to about 10k with Mobil 1 syn.

However, that much driving could be considered extreme conditions depending on what he is doing. If it is mostly highway time then he could run that probably. Hopefully he has been changing at least every 5-10k with a quality oil.

Ask for the maintenance records
 
Originally posted by: sniperruff
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
asking price is pretty close to new price... and yes that is a lot of miles.
Click to expand...

it's obviously a rip-off price. since the new model is coming out pretty soon as well. i say $11-13k is more reasonable, with that milage and all.

oh, flyboy, i don't think many people pay full MSRP, for a civic. offer him about $1-2k lower than KBB private would be more reasonable.
Click to expand...


Right, I'm thinking of offering 14.5 Starting? Or should I go lower?

Originally posted by: jagec
That's a crapload of miles for one year, but...if it has that many miles, chances are high that most of those are highway miles. And highway miles are much gentler on the car than city miles.
Click to expand...

yep, the car is in the area of Middletown NY, mostly highway driving around there.

Originally posted by: Rhin0
I would ask to see the maintenance records on this vehicle. The oil change interval is 10k in manual for normal usage. I've been running my g/f out to about 10k with Mobil 1 syn.

However, that much driving could be considered extreme conditions depending on what he is doing. If it is mostly highway time then he could run that probably. Hopefully he has been changing at least every 5-10k with a quality oil.

Ask for the maintenance records
Click to expand...

It's at a Honda dealer, will they have the records?
 
Originally posted by: flyboy84
Originally posted by: sniperruff
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
asking price is pretty close to new price... and yes that is a lot of miles.
Click to expand...

it's obviously a rip-off price. since the new model is coming out pretty soon as well. i say $11-13k is more reasonable, with that milage and all.

oh, flyboy, i don't think many people pay full MSRP, for a civic. offer him about $1-2k lower than KBB private would be more reasonable.
Click to expand...


Right, I'm thinking of offering 14.5 Starting? Or should I go lower?
Click to expand...

KBB gives me $14225 private with excellent condition. i say starting at $12k or so would be fair. with $14k, you can get a Si, with slightly higher miles and maybe a year or two older.
 
Originally posted by: sniperruff
Originally posted by: flyboy84
Originally posted by: sniperruff
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
asking price is pretty close to new price... and yes that is a lot of miles.
Click to expand...

it's obviously a rip-off price. since the new model is coming out pretty soon as well. i say $11-13k is more reasonable, with that milage and all.

oh, flyboy, i don't think many people pay full MSRP, for a civic. offer him about $1-2k lower than KBB private would be more reasonable.
Click to expand...


Right, I'm thinking of offering 14.5 Starting? Or should I go lower?
Click to expand...

KBB gives me $14225 private with excellent condition. i say starting at $12k or so would be fair. with $14k, you can get a Si, with slightly higher miles and maybe a year or two older.
Click to expand...

Interesting...so you're saying I should start at 12ish...where do you think the negotiations might end up falling? 14? 15? I'm new to the car scene, especially used cars.
 
Originally posted by: flyboy84
Originally posted by: sniperruff
Originally posted by: flyboy84
Originally posted by: sniperruff
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
asking price is pretty close to new price... and yes that is a lot of miles.
Click to expand...

it's obviously a rip-off price. since the new model is coming out pretty soon as well. i say $11-13k is more reasonable, with that milage and all.

oh, flyboy, i don't think many people pay full MSRP, for a civic. offer him about $1-2k lower than KBB private would be more reasonable.
Click to expand...


Right, I'm thinking of offering 14.5 Starting? Or should I go lower?
Click to expand...

KBB gives me $14225 private with excellent condition. i say starting at $12k or so would be fair. with $14k, you can get a Si, with slightly higher miles and maybe a year or two older.
Click to expand...

Interesting...so you're saying I should start at 12ish...where do you think the negotiations might end up falling? 14? 15? I'm new to the car scene, especially used cars.
Click to expand...

you, as a buyer, obviously wants to pay the least amount of money for the car, while the seller tries to get as much money for it as possible.

therefore if i'm selling a car, i'd jack up the price a bit, leave a bit space for negotiation. therefore, the asking price for a car is usually higher than the reasonable price.

in this case, it's a fairly new civic with slightly high miles, so he'll stress 3 things: it's a 2004, the 24k are mostly highway miles, and civics run forever (not true)

so you'll just have to realize that it's a 2004, already with 24k miles on it, highway or not. always assume the worst... maybe he used the car for making deliveries? who knows.

so try with a little lowball-ish price of $12k. of course he'll say it's ridiculous and then counter-offer with a price somewhere along the line of $14k and say that it's already below KBB. but alas nobody wants to pay KBB for a civic. so countinue to bargain with him, maybe offer him $12750?

personally i'd consider something around low $13k to be a reasonable price for this car. good luck.

oh btw edmunds.com gives me $13378 with auto and 25k miles in my zip code (im in queens). so i'd say somewhere around $12k would be a fair price.
 
Originally posted by: flyboy84
with "high mileage" (really, "high mileage for that time span") because who knows how the previous owner treated it.
Click to expand...

High Mileage for a short time span is usually the best deal you'll find on a used car. I'm not going to speak for the price (although it sounds high, I'm not an expert on civic pricing) - but for the wear and tear, typically you can find great deals on used cars where the owner has driven them 15k-25k a year for a few years. This *typically* just means that somebody had an absurdly long commute to work, which falls into the "best kind of miles" to have. A 2004 with 20k miles should be mechnically fine - and should be pristine inside.

The big downside is that the warranty will likely end up expiring on miles before time.

As for purchasing - the problem you'll have is that car dealers are so shady, they can easily trick people into buying "barely used" cars for the same price as new ones, because they'll just wait for some gullible sucker to walk in the door, who was almost ready to pay sticker for a new one - and show him what a "great deal" they can give him on this one... buying high milage (for the time span) used cars from an individual is easier, because usually the individual "Feels bad" that the car has so many more miles than all the other ones for sale, and thinks he will have to cut you a deal to get rid of it.
 
I'm not sure if tbis applies to that car or not, but don't think of a 2004 car as 14 months.

New models come out way sooner than the year starts, usually mid-year to fall. So because of that, if the person had bought the cara new in 2003, the car could be more than 1.5 years old.

(For instance, I bought a new '02 VW GTI in 2001 (~July))

If so, 24K miles isn't too much for an 04.

 
I actually got a brand new 2005 Civic also Auto for $16,000. Might want to check on that if you are still looking in that price range. BTW I was in Virginia.
 
Originally posted by: Otaking
I'm not sure if tbis applies to that car or not, but don't think of a 2004 car as 14 months.

New models come out way sooner than the year starts, usually mid-year to fall. So because of that, if the person had bought the cara new in 2003, the car could be more than 1.5 years old.

(For instance, I bought a new '02 VW GTI in 2001 (~July))

If so, 24K miles isn't too much for an 04.
Click to expand...

See, OP, car was registered 2/04

Originally posted by: InstincT
I actually got a brand new 2005 Civic also Auto for $16,000. Might want to check on that if you are still looking in that price range. BTW I was in Virginia.
Click to expand...

Cool, I'm thinking that they are high balling the price though, and I'm hoping to get them in the 14 range. I'm in NY State, so prices might be higher up here. Good deal tho 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Tremulant
Yes, that's a lot for one year.

I've had my car for less than 6 months and there's already 11k miles on it. I drive close to 260 miles a week. And it's a lease, so I'm gonna get it hard when the lease is up.

Edit: I just read the rest of your post. I'm sure the car can handle it, but I'd try to talk them down as much as possible because of the mileage. How much to talk them down, I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

If you drive that much, why would you lease ?
 
If it is a 2004, it could have been sold in the fall of 2003, therefore making it almost 2 years old. I don't feel like the mileage is unreasonable, but the price isn't the greatest. You certainly have negotiations ahead of you young grasshopper.
 
Yes, that's a lot of miles and like other have said price is also high. You're talking about a Honda, 23K miles means nothing. The Civic will easily last 150K miles with regular maintenance.
 
Originally posted by: radioouman
If it is a 2004, it could have been sold in the fall of 2003, therefore making it almost 2 years old. I don't feel like the mileage is unreasonable, but the price isn't the greatest. You certainly have negotiations ahead of you young grasshopper.
Click to expand...


see OP, car registered feb 04
 
Yes, that is well above average for 1 year.

But if it's all highway, it doesen't mean it's a bad thing... especially if the price is right.
 
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