Hey gang, first time to these boards... I am looking to buy a 'slightly used' Accord Coupe (EX V6 w/ Navi) and there don't seem to be that many around (I'd like one under 26K in miles). I'm pretty attached to it being Silver too. At least it's good to know what I want though, lol!

Anyway, I did find one in TX (I'm in Denver) that meets my requirments (it's an '04 w/ 18K miles and she wants $22k for it). But I'm a little nervous making any commitments from so far away. I called the local Honda Dealer and they said they'd do a 40 pt inspection for like $40, so I'll go with that for sure... any other coaching about making a long distance purchase would be appreciated.

Now my specific question. She sent me some pics of the vehicle and made a point to show me the damage to the front bumper that she says often scrapes on steap driveways and such.

Here are the pics she sent:










I'm not exactly sure exactly what part of the bumper that first shot is from... and that last pic looks pretty nasty. She says you can't tell unless you look underneath it...

Is this really that common? Or should I take this as a red flag and pass on the vehicle? What do you think? What would you do?

The rest of the car looks to be almost perfect, you can see more pics here.

Any input regarding this will be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks

 

looks to me like somehow she bottomed out the rearend and it scrapped along the pavement? ... I have no idea how that could be possible... what the hell is going on in those pictures!?

or is that the front end? I can't tell.

if it's the front end, she's going down hills too fast and bottoming out at the bottom, etc.

 

i wouldn't say it's abuse just a woman driver

But seriously looks like she just bottomed out on a large curb or something.

 

looks like she pulled into a driveway WAAAY too fast

 

yea she probbaly went off a driveway 2 fast and scrached it.

 

Hmm....it would help if you could tell if it was the front or back. I don't see how she could possibly scrape it on driveways unless it was lowered. She's probably bottomed it out a few times.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Advan06 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">looks like she pulled into a driveway WAAAY too fast</TD></TR></TABLE>

either that or she took it off roading...

 

Hmm... not interested in a vehicle (at least not an Accord Coupe) that's been off roading.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by craiger33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmm... not interested in a vehicle (at least not an Accord Coupe) that's been off roading.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i was joking man... lol, just like the above replies she prob drove up a driveway too fast or simply curbed it... you should go on a roadtrip... bring your money and if its nice go for it... if not, at least you didnt waste your money.

 

if she damaged the front bumper like that... I would be curious to see more pictures of the front underside of the vehicle (both, zoomed out and in).

I know when I did that kind of damage to my prelude (stock height) back in the day... I also bent both tow ears in front (replaced), dented my oil pan (replaced), dented my header, grind on the crossmember, etc... because of a speed bump I did not seeon night until too late (I was a new driver then and did not pay attention).

crazy **** happens... be careful and good luck, you should have no problems since you seem pretty savvy.

btw that first picture has me puzzled... maybe it is the perspective of the picture but thats seems like a really odd scratch pattern which streaks perfectly right over the bumpers edge.

 

The last 2 pics look to be the front bumper, passenger side. Scrapes like that are not uncommon when people aren't too careful about inclines, or don't know how to drive up/down them. Generally speaking, scrapes in those locations are hard to notice when standing in front of the car unless looking from a low angle, since the scrape seems to be facing nearly straight down.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Intense2.2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i was joking man... lol, just like the above replies she prob drove up a driveway too fast or simply curbed it... you should go on a roadtrip... bring your money and if its nice go for it... if not, at least you didnt waste your money. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh, I knew you were joking... funny thing is way back when I drove a Chevy Nova and that thing acted like it was going to run forever... I wanted a new/different car so bad one time we went drinking and took the sucker off roading outside of Vail and I went so far in it got stuck and I had to leave it there! Had to come back with my buddy's Bronco and tow it out of there... I made SURE it was time for a new car!

Anyway, it's a tough call... I get the wisdom of not commiting until I go down there, but then I'd have to buy a round trip ticket just to make sure (even more money to spend).

I think I'm going to get TWO shops look it over (the Honda Dealership & an independant) and listen carefully to their recommendations. Then I'll get some quotes on what it would take to fix the bumers "like new".

I'll start with a fair price of that car in great shape, at let's say $21K and then subract:
-cost to fix bumpers
-cost to travel down there to pick up vehicle
-cost to have the car inspected

and that's the number I'll offer. She can take it or leave it.

Meanwhile, I'll keep looking.

 

The first pic looks like the top of the rear bumper is scraped from putting in/taking things out of the trunk. The other two appear to be fairly normal driveway rash scrapes. Doubt there is any real damage other than cosmetic since that part of the bumper sits quite low compared to any major parts. Plus it seems like she is being pretty upfront about damages, she could have just sent you a front picture of the car. You really wouldn't notice that unless you were looking for it.

Other than that it's a very clean looking car. Too bad it's not a 6sp though, they are so much more fun to drive.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AccidentproWn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i wouldn't say it's abuse just a woman driver

But seriously looks like she just bottomed out on a large curb or something. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree. Pull of the oil cap and see if the rockers have oil burned onto them. They should not be all brown and crusty, though it is probably still too new to tell.

 

that looks like classsic steep *** driveway, even if its stock, she might know someone with a steep *** driveway that she doesnt go there often enough to remember but enough to scrap the bottom of the car, and where that is you wont even notice it, but you can talk her down with it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pearlcfcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that looks like classsic steep *** driveway, even if its stock, she might know someone with a steep *** driveway that she doesnt go there often enough to remember but enough to scrap the bottom of the car, and where that is you wont even notice it, but you can talk her down with it</TD></TR></TABLE>

my fiance's car scraped because of the incline of the driveway, thats normal wear and tear kind of stuff. you should be fine.

if anything that looks like a front lip you can always take it off and have it repainted.

 

That is NOT abuse at all, if you pass up a car that was maintained (get her service records) just becuase of a few scrapes on the bottom of the bumper, that's pretty sad.

 

i say you keep searching and try to find a car closer by so you would be able to see it up close......but you can also make that long *** drive and go see it for yourself? i dont know though its up t you

 

That is not abuse by any means thats an, "oh ****, i hope i didnt... **** i did"

 

22 thousand seems kinda steep, what are they brand new like 26??? seems it would be better just to go with a new one as you wouldnt have to goto the worst place in the world/texas and you would have a longer warranty

 

My '99 LX has very similar scrapes from hitting parking curbs. You can't see it unless you are on the ground looking up at the car.

If this is the only thing wrong with the car, and you are happy with the price, I wouldn't worry about the scrapes on the bumper cover.

 

I wouldn't get it because if your paying $22g's for this, there's no warranty? For $22g's you might wanna look around before throwing out your money like that. Its a nice car thou, but theres no guarntees.