Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

I'm sure you all know what happened to my car by now (still no update), so now I need something else to drive besides my moms shitty van. Honestly I am a dumbass when I buy cars, I see something I want and end up paying WAY too much for it. I have decided, at least for now, to just get another honda (had planned on it anyways). For one I know more about hondas than any other cars, I like them, there cheap, good gas mileage, etc... It has to be a 92-95 VX/CX hatch in decent shape and driving condition.

Here are some of the things I have thought to ask the seller:

1. How many owners
2. How many miles (body, motor, etc...)
3. If it has a clear title
4. Details if it has ever been wrecked
5. Condition of the frame/sub-frame/whatever
6. Has it been aligned recently (kinda goes with the last question)
7. What mods have been done (suspension, motor, etc...)
8. What maintenance does he do regularly

That's about all I can think of right now. Of course I plan on giving it a good look over inside and out for rust, oil leaks, broken parts, etc...

I'm not in any rush, but this looked like a pretty decent deal depending on condition. I'd like it to be as stock as possible. Here is the canidate and I am going to look at it today... http://portland.craigslist.org/car/167568496.html

Looks like it was in a wreck because the hood, bumper, and driver side corner panel is not the same color. Looks like it is missing a turn signal light on the passenger side as well. It says there is a cd player, but I don't see one in the picture (don't care about that really).

Also what kind of price do you all think is an okay deal for the hatch I am looking for? I always hear about hondas selling for very cheap, but I think that's more being in the right place at the right time. Usually I see decent VX/CX hatches going for over $2,000 easy.

Any other advice or tips would be great.

-Pat

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

that looks like its in ok shape but the front end does look like it may have been tapped once before... pop the hood and look inside the bay for any signs of the metal haveing wrinkles in it.. if there are that's a very good sign of a wreck, drop the price $200

make sure the clutch is in good shape, if you can put it in third gear and not kill it right away, it needs a new clutch, drop the price $100

check the brakes, make sure it has no cel's.. pull a sensor to make sure no one disabled the cel light to hide it (that's happend to me)

other then that look for obvious signs of abuse or repair and you've got yourself a decent car

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

According to your location

http://portland.craigslist.org/car/167623714.html
http://portland.craigslist.org/car/167626220.html
http://portland.craigslist.org/car/167615983.html (Tell him you don't need a ------ stereo)

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

I have already had an EF hatch... http://users.adelphia.net/~pshickey/...irst%20Car.JPG

I'm looking for an EG hatch. :)

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

one way to tell if the car has some bad damage or un-aligned is to always take it up to a speed of 80+ (the faster the better) that way you can tell if the car is comfortable at those speeds or not. because you dont want to buy a car your going to take to the track or what not and not be able to control it. and it depends on what you want. do you want a good deal with some damage. or do you want to pay for a mint car. the h-t hatches go for easy 5,000-6,000 all day for that year. the ones that been in wrecks and have multi-colored body parts go for less. a lot of people think sence it is a honda there sitting on a gold mine. sometimes you just have to tell them there are tons of them and yours is nothing special.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

I'm looking for a good (cheap) deal without any major damage (fucked frame, motor blows the next day, etc...). I don't really care about mileage or looks because I will eventually swap another motor in it, upgrade the suspension, paint it, interior, etc... So if it has a few dings, scratches, rips in the seats... that will be better for me because I can get it cheaper. I would rather buy it and fix it up the way I want instead of spending 5k or more for something that isn't exactly what I want. I'm just need it for a car to get to work now.

So I'll add tothe list of list to check: Brakes, CEL lights, clutch, taking it on the freeway.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

a simple one but not everyone does it. but check all the fluids to make sure there filled up right and look pretty clean. you can sorta tell how they keep up with the car by looking at the fluids. if the anti freeze is either dry/rusty, oil real dirty or underfilled/overfilled, just makes sure everythings good and no leaks.just depends on how much the guy lets you check out and how much time you got with the car. better to overcheck then to find out stuff later. remember to bring a level head friend/dad. make sure you dont get caught up in the moment with a good deal just to find out later that you could of talked him down and theres more wrong with it then you thought.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

what happened to your coupe? nevermind found the thread. Good luck finding a clean eg hatch. i would say 2-3k is fair for one in good condition

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...en&cardist=124

poW! theres your hatch

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

Yeah that looks like it might be a CX.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

id say tap on the rear quarters and feel for bondo but it looks like none of the hondas have rust in your state... lucky..

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

possibly, but it has side moldings. I think it may be a dx, hard to ------- tell from the picture. :-\

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

Whoops.... I remeber you saying you just needed one badly.

Had an EG in IL that was flat black for the same price, lowered and some toher ----, but was gone :(

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

i'd say you really consider that even if it is a DX, looks like a dealer trade in that was probably auctioned off by the "big" dealership and now this little dealership has it, so it's most likely stock 100% an untampered. It's a whole ------' lot better than that 2200 piece of ---- you were looking at earlier.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

yeah, its pretty hard to find a car that hasnt been tampered with now n days.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

sometimes they have good auction cars, they have salvage titles from being stolen but that doesnt matter because there is nothing wrong with it mechaincally and the price is a decent ammount less

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

buy jeffs, i thought i remember him saying he hates it and is selling?

bring a weak magnet w/ you wherever you go. (like aflate fridge one), use it to look for bonbo, a strong magnet will hold on bondo if there is metal under it. Bondo = signs of smoothing which i know yuo know, but a weak magnet will work on thin layers of bondo.

the thing you really want to avoid is rust, because i know you will change almost everything on the car yourself and parts are easily and cheaply attainable on here and other forums. body work on the other hand sux. lol

good luck pat.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

Ask about wiring. Has any non-oem wiring been done to the car. I've seen some pretty fucked up wiring from a stereo alone.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

same :y

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

When buying a used car always (it`s kinda long but that`s what i cna gather from getting scammed too many times :3)
-Look at it at day time
-Stand 5 feet away and look around the car for any mis-aligned panle.
-Look for bent control arms, missing.tored out splash guard.
-Look for un-even tire wear indication ---- up shocks or bented control arms.
-Look for bent muffler tip/ bent/dented exhaust piping.
-Open up trunk, look inside the spare tire well, look for dented/non-factory welded/mis-shaped frame.
-Open up hood, look at both shock tower and surrounding make sure there are no crack or any kind of re-weld. specially the edge of the firewall.
-Look at radiator support for mis-matched paint, press on it hard and make sure it does not flex, most aftermarket radiator support flexes.
-Look for any mis-matched bolts within the engine bay, specially fender bolts and headlight bolts indicating crap body work lol
-Make sure vin number on the firewall matches whats on the dash
-Look at the hood latch make sure it is not bent.
-Lean over and look at the steering rack, look for leaks, also check both inner cv joint
-Jump in the car, try to turn on everysingal functional included windshield wiper and such, rool all the window up AND down, leave it open half way when u test drive it and look for abormal noise.
-look for abnormal water stain anywhere within the interior
-turn on headlight, stand about 6 feet in front of the car and look at the light beam, make sure both light in pointing to the same direction.
-Stick the key in, turn the power on make sure all the lights included oil press. cel and srs turns on.
-Set the wheel straight and look at the tire make sure it points straight.
-Jerk the wheel both way and make sure there are no "knocking" noise indicating ------- up rack/tie rod.
-Turn it on,wait till it warm up, at ldle, turn on a/c. defroster/low and high beam light at the same time, most of the time the car will die with a a crap out alternator when there`s too much load.

while test driving make sure you
-Go to the BUMPIEST ROAD EvaR and dirve at both high and low speed. look for problems/ abnormal noise. sqeaking noise from the roof or any piller is a big no no, a crappy re-welded roof could be the cause (from rolling over)
-Test drive on a planted road, let go of the wheel look for problems
-Always take it on to the freeway, go at fast as possible to look for suspension problem and abnormal wind noise from door/window gaps/seals.
-Make sure you MUST make a complete lock to lock u-turn both left and right.
-do an all out brake check unitl it came to a COMPLETE stop, just tell the passangers to hold on tight before you do it LOL

oh and make sure you do a carfax :y

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

that is a huge list o ---- man!!! ??? did any of you guys follow guidlines like this?? man, my car was 1500 and i didnt do half of that.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

Look at the pinch welds.. according to location i guess.. in Mn the ---- gets so bad u cant lift cars by them anymore.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

lol i wrote that ----, which is what i would check everytime when i am thinking about buying a decent car

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

dont buy a honda, end of discussion, didnt you just learn your lesson??


i was checking out this bmw 740iL today, now thats a ------ car. i might have t pull the trigger on it

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

I did learn my lesson, always disable your car. If I would have done that, my car would still be here. :-[

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

pull the trigger on your oxygen supply instead.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

best advice i can give, dont buy a car from a kid.

Re: Advice or tips on buying a used honda.
 

take your compression tester with
look at the oil, if it isn't clean and decent looking thats a sure sign of neglect
drive it slow, drive it at highway speeds, turn corners, use the brakes. do all this stuff and make sure it rides smooth at all speeds, doesnt have any strange noises, and doesnt shake or shimmy
look at the way the body panels line up (hood, fenders, bumper) and look at the frame rails under the hood. if its been wrecked like half the time the frame rails still have twists and dents in them

from there i wouldnt worry about much else, just make sure everything works...from there just use your judgement. there aint much on these cars thats too hard to fix.