2000 Honda Civic DX VP sedan - 201k miles

Hi, everyone. I purchased my Honda on the 21st of July from a used dealership although I haven't driven it much because I had to get the windshield replaced (huge crack and illegal in California). Well now I'm starting to experience a whole bunch of problems that they never told me about.

First problem
The gauge cluster for the fuel doesn't seem to correspond with what I have in my tank. The needle moves up and down as I drive which a mechanic says it's normal and the needles does go up once I fill it with gas but I almost got stuck in the freeway because the needle was at about 20/100% full with no low gas notification and kept driving thinking I'm in the clear and wait until the low gas light pops up to fill up but my engine started acting wonky and immediately went to fill it up. All was well after so I'm thinking I have a bad gauge cluster unless you guys think it's something else.

Second Problem (main issue)
On Wednesday I was going to a friends house and as I slowed down to turn a left, my car felt funny once I finished the turn. As I went to hit the gas to speed back up, the mph needle kept going down anyways until it hit 0 mph with the oil and battery lights on and the engine stalled/turned off? I put the car in park, e-braked, and turned the car off. Turned the ignition back on and started up with no problem and didn't have an issue until Thursday night.

Thursday I came home from work and left the car on park with hazard lights on the side of my street for 2 minutes, came back and the engine didn't start the first try. Tried again and it started although a bit sluggish then just like Wednesday, maybe 2-3 seconds after, as I was turning a right from a STOP sign and slowly pressing the gas pedal, the mph went down until it hit 0, engine turned off, only this time it wouldn't turn back on. My grandpa came to jump start the car and it wasn't working, we tried so many times to rev up his car to give mine current but my Honda wouldn't start up. We took the cables off and just sat wondering what to do and as a last resort we tried one more time and it turned on. I parked it near my house immediately as I was scared of it turning off again in the middle of the road. Didn't touch it until Monday (today). Here's the link for Thursday night, engine sputters and all lights come on

Today I went to Autozone to test the battery and alternator. The first thing the guy did is check my battery which they said it's at 0%. I told them if they can check the alternator, they said I'm going to need to turn the car on but are doubtful as the battery is at 0%. Well my car turned on with no problem and they were in shock and continued to tell me they can't check my alternator because the battery is bad or it won't give an accurate response of the status of the alternator because if it's the battery that's bad/dead, it'll also mark the alternator as bad (not sure if this even makes sense?). I told them what happened Wednesday and Thursday and they said it could either be the starter, alternator, fuel pump or just a bad battery.

I just want to fix what ever is wrong with the car and want an accurate response also with all these problems, can I just use the lemon law? I don't much about it especially it's effect in California or if it even applies to a used dealership that has no warranties and bought it "as-is" with a signed agreement. I kinda just want my money back.

 

Lemon law only applies to new vehicles, so you are out of luck there unfortunately.

Best bet is to take it to a reputable shop locally and have them diagnose it. It could be something as simple as a loose wire or the battery connections not being tight. But it could be something entirely different. I would make sure your battery terminals are not corroded and are tightened, as well as the starter and alternator connections.

Good luck with everything.