buying a used accord

[quickness]

i plan on going and looking at a car being sold by a private party. he lives about an hour away from where i live but i talked to him on the phone and hes basically in his mid-twenties and is selling the car because he got a job overseas. what are some things i should ask and do? hes asking a few hundred over the blue book value so should i try to talk him down any? i kinda wanted to take the car to a mechanic but do i just take it to some random mechanic in that area that i have never been to? what others things should i ask and do? car is a 99 accord 2dr ex v6 with 74k miles

[AccordCodger]

First of all, over the Blue Book price for a private sale? (If it's over the Blue Book for retail, that's W-A-Y over). Ask him why. Is there anything special about the car that makes it worth more than book? If he blows you off, then you are better off not buying.

Should I try to talk him down?

Of course - always. Virtually nobody pays the price a private buyer is asking.

Have you ever bought a used car (private) belore?

[quickness]

i looked up the bluebook price for private party. it was about 300 over. i have never bought a used car from a private party before so any suggestions would be helpful. how much should i try and talk him down? i don't want to ask him too low and make him mad or anything but is around 1000 pretty good? he has to sell it cause hes going overseas so i guess i have some leverage there.

[mpumas]

Has he had any transmission problems if it is an automatic and is that year covered under the Honda extended transmission warranty program?

[AccordCodger]

Get him mad? Mad? How much do you want the car? I'm never concerned about making the seller mad - HE wants to sell the car! If your offer is absurd (like $100) then he will (and should) laugh). But otherwise, expect a counter-offer from him.

but is around 1000 pretty good

I'm confused. $1000? Good? It's about 1/10 of what the price should be!

You've made life a little tough (on us) by 1. not telling us how much he's asking, and 2. not telling us if the car is stock, modified, has extras etc.

[quickness]

lol sorry about the confusion
you are right about making him mad. what i meant about 1000 is should i ask for 1000 less than what he asked for? the car is a stock 2dr ex v6. i used kelly's blue book and matched with what he had listed as options and features it had and kbb said $9130 for a private party and he is asking for $9500.

[RSX-S777]

So basically he found the BB value and raised the price by about 400 so when you make an offer thats 400 less he still gets Blue Book value. It's car sales 101. I'd make an offer of 9000 and walk. Let him call you. After a couple of days he'll either make a counter or accept, unless of course some sucker pays what he's asking.

[quickness]

9000?
other people have been saying 7500 and negotiate from there. i did the edmunds true market value and it said around 8133 and thats with milage adjustment.

[quickness]

whoa i just found another accord for sale 2000 accord ex v6 2dr
here is their description:
grey metallic with black Leather interior, V6, Automatic w/OD, 57053Miles, Tilt, Cruise, AM-FM, Air Conditioning, Power Windows, Power Locks, Power Mirrors, Power Seats, Rear Defrost, Spoiler, Sunroof, new tires, factory mag wheels, great gas mileage, garage kept, very pleasant to ride and drive, very dependable , it is a honda
they are asking $6500. this has got to be too good to be true right? theres just no way its this low right?

[AccordCodger]

quickness, we can't do your car shopping for you. There are just too many variables. If you don't have the guts to risk a private sale, then go to a dealer (though you're still getting someone else's problems, and maybe with a layer of confusion covering it). You want us to say "yeah - that's a good deal - buy it," but we aren't going to do that.

[quickness]

im just asking opinions about sales i see. i am fine with going through a private party but i never have before thats why im asking about price negotiations. obviously there are several factors and i don't know many of them but im just asking for suggestions as to how to go about this as im sure several of you have done this before. just trying to learn from past experiences. the last post i made about $6500 accord just seems to unbelieveable that they would sell it for so low and was asking the opinion of you all and seeing if they matched my initial assumption that there must be some kind of defect with it.

[quickness]

ok so i looked at the car i first posted about and it looks to be pretty good. drives well and mechanic and auto shop said it was good. there are only minor things: couple dings on the truck lid, cd stuck in cd player, cracked plastic cover in front of the odometer, speedometer, tachometer, etc. and it was pretty dirty. all of which can be fixed but cost money. i also looked at another car 2000 accord ex v6 2dr with 100k miles. it was very clean and the owner seemed like he cared for it VERY well and completed all maintenance very well. the only problem with it was there was a tear in the driver's seat leather and also the driver's seat rocked back and forth a little. he was asking 8700. im kind of leaning toward the first one simply because of the color, black on black and lower miles. my question is how i should try and play the price game. i would like to spend no more than 8000 if possible. is that reasonable? what should be my starting offer and what price should i not go above?