Thinking about buying, need advice....

[Jsknaub]

Hey guys, I've been looking at a 1996 Honda Civic DX 2dr hatchback for a little while now, but before I go into what I need from you, let me give some back story.

Back in July of '06 I bought a 1986 Honda CRX HF from a co-worker who swapped out the old engine for a new one, and he got all the work professionally done. I paid 1500 cash for the car. Before I bought it I had it inspected by my mechanic and he said it all looked good. Soooo after 3 days of having the car, the water pump crapped out, which in turn ripped off the timing belt, which THEN in turn bent ALL of my timing valves completely totaling my engine, and leaving me w/o a car. Since then I've been working on paying off the loan and saving for another car.


So fast foward to the present day and the loan is paid off and I'm looking at another newer honda from a dealer this time. My question is, what do you guys think of this purchase? I'm a 21 year old full time employee that goes to school part time, so the car is going to be my only transportation. And I'd like to keep it until I atleast graduate from college in 4 years

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...ce=&cardist=27

[bluevp00]

The timing belt is supposed to be replaced at 100,000 miles so make sure first that that work has been done. Ask for the service reciept. If it hasnt been done then maybe you could deduct about $300 from the price to cover the service. I'd try negotiating with the dealer a little bit too, $4488 is a little too much to pay for a `96 hatchback, if the dealer won't go below $3800 then I would just go elsewhere. Go to kbb.com to get the real value of the car and take it to the dealer to start negotiating.

[Jsknaub]

Originally Posted by bluevp00

The timing belt is supposed to be replaced at 100,000 miles so make sure first that that work has been done. Ask for the service reciept. If it hasnt been done then maybe you could deduct about $300 from the price to cover the service. I'd try negotiating with the dealer a little bit too, $4488 is a little too much to pay for a `96 hatchback, if the dealer won't go below $3800 then I would just go elsewhere. Go to kbb.com to get the real value of the car and take it to the dealer to start negotiating.

Well it wont tell me what the price is if it's in good condition, only in excellent. Excellent says its worth 5225$. At Good condition at private party values it at 3600$. I think the car probably falls into Good Condition, but problem being that it's not a private seller.

Any further advice?

[bluevp00]

When you go to the dealer, ask to see the invoice papers. That will tell you the price the dealer paid for the car. Hopefully though they will give you the real papers and not try to rip you off by printing out a bogus invoice.

[smebbs]

That's a rip off, you can get such a better car for $5K.

I'd only offer $3.5K for that car if I was you, it's a DX and a manual.

[Jsknaub]

Originally Posted by smebbs

That's a rip off, you can get such a better car for $5K.

I'd only offer $3.5K for that car if I was you, it's a DX and a manual.

What would you suggest I look at for 5k?

[smebbs]

Originally Posted by Jsknaub

What would you suggest I look at for 5k?

CHeck your local craigslist. Most chances are, if you are buying it privately you can negotiate the price lower than their asking price, you should know sellers rarely sell it at their asking price. Before you go see it, buy a carfax.com account for $25, you get access to their site for 30 days which allows you run vin numbers to see the vehicle's history report. If it's clear, go for it, if it has had too many owners, or accidents, or faulty odometer readings during inspection, run. For $5K you could get a older civic ex, corolla automatics around 100K miles more or less. You have much more buying power if you are paying in full with cash. Go meet the guy, check out the car, test drive it and listen for engine noises, take it to your mechanic to have it looked at before you even make your offer to the guy. Do your own research, you'll get the info you want rather than asking questions on a forum and hoping people will help you out.

[smebbs]

I noticed in the autotrader link it says the location is in Englewood, Co. So I took the liberty of looking through craigslist for ya. Just because the private owner you bought your old car off of went bad doesn't mean all private owners are bad.

1997 civic ex 5-speed http://denver.craigslist.org/car/271405684.html

or here, look through this link to see the available civics:
http://denver.craigslist.org/search/...ic%20englewood

And remember, just because it's listed at a certain price doesn't mean you should buy it at that price. You could knock off $500 easy if you knew how to negotiate.