The dealer told me that he got the car at auction and the title is "clean". When asked about any issues, he denies that there is anything wrong with the car (big surprise). He is willing to pull the carfax and is willing to have it inspected by my own private mechanic. He says the tires are at 80%+, there is no rust. It is a 4-cylinder automatic and he denies any transmission issues. The "out the door" price after tax, title and license is about 3800$ (MN resident). Couple questions: 1. is that a good deal? 2. they do not know whether the timing belt has been replaced or not, they do not have "those records." if i bought the car not knowing whether the timing belt has been replaced or not, should i just do it for good measure? thanks

 

First of all, how many miles are on the car?

With the timing belt if you are unsure, check it for cracks and wear. If you want to be on the safe side you cna replace it. TASauto.com sells a timing belt kit.

I think 3300 is a better deal, but it depends on the milage.

 

Sorry. The mileage is 140,000.

 

You seem very skeptical about it.

Run the CarFAX

Run the BlueBook values

Run the NADA values

Do a search on like AutoTrader for similar vehicles in your area and see what they go for

The Timing Belt is a major service and without knowing when it was done you SHOULD do all the major service related stuff (water pump, timing belt, all the fluids, etc) You're approaching the lifetime of the belt regardless because of age, it should have already been replaced once.

 

Please help me out. You people are invaluable to a guy like me. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

Not skeptical, just distrust used car dealers. I want to know what you guys know. I want to go in there knowing something. I don't want them to be able to rake me over the coals. I want to be an informed consumer, and without youse guys' help, i know jack ****.

 

Things that I look for:

- Fender linings (bought one without it they're $40 a pop for the front)
- Radio (is it aftermarket? how did they do the install? ghetto spliced wires or nice purchased wire harness?)
- Condition of seats (stains/etc, the more you see the more mistreated it probably was)
- Broken, hanging, misaligned plastic panels

Other things

- Those year Accords are notorious for slow windows, just a bad design, but make sure they all work
- Door lock actuators, buzzing or locking/unlocking is bad
- Verify speedo and odometer are working right (bad clusters can cause it - not expensive but a pain)
- Bushings/Ball joints/etc (your mechanic would inspect this stuff)
- Watch for rusty exhausts - mine went through 3 over owning it

 

I ran the carfax. It said there were 2 owners. The odometer reading offered by the auto lot is exactly right, however the salesman told me it was a car from Kentucky while the carfax says Ohio. The title has no record (according to carfax) of salvage. There is nothing negative on carfax except the confusion as to where the car came from. Is that a serious issue?

 

No, I doubt its a serious issue, maybe the owner moved or went to school there. You never know. If you are very concerned have a mechanic look at it

 

May have been an Ohio car sold/bought in an auction in Kentucky - wouldn't have to be registered there. Where did it say the auction was located at?

 

the salesman never told me where the auction was held. is that something i should ask?

 

Might be on the CarFAX, if not I wouldn't worry about it too much - so long as the VINs match up motor and chassis and the CarFAX is clean, your mechanic finds no major issues I'd buy it.

 

thanks.

 

buy it thats is a good deal i own one and i lovet. just look over the car really good beford picking it up. good luck