my friend is looking at a 98 accord V6 auto for $9,000.00 at a local homebrew stealership.

the KBB.com says with 110,000 miles it should sell for $10,195

i will be going to look at it tomorrow after work. run a compression test and all the normal things like that.

what are the quarks i should check out? are there major tranny issues or anything like that i should be looking for? that was really the most common thing i saw in my search.

TIA

 

KBB always has high prices, there's a reason why dealers use it for comparison purposes.

Use http://www.edmunds.com , it'll give a more realistic value. And for this car, the dealer price it shows is: $8,869, though this is after a $1,223 drop for high mileage and a $2,091 drop for “average” condition (average meaning: May have a few mechanical and/or cosmetic problems and may require a considerable amount of reconditioning.) I think the "trade-in" value was a little under $6,000.

Yes, definately check out the automatic transmission, I've heard bad things about the automatic transmissions in 6th generation Accords (I have a '99, but with manual transmission).

 

thanks man,

besides running it through the gears and seeing how smoothly it shifts what can i check on it? ive never had an automatic before, and i dont know **** about the J30 (think thats the engine code )

damnit, why cant more cars have the H22

 

the J30 is awesome, the 6th gen V6 has descent aftermarket support too,
BUT their trannys are a worthless POS, mine has 126k miles on the original tranny and im considered lucky, most trannyis dont make it to 75k, and thats real.
they dies like its cool. Honda is aware of it too, which is why they offer an extended warranty just on the trannies.

be sure to go on http://www.ahm-ownerlink.com if you do buy it.
also http://www.v6p.net is an extremely abundant source of info, but its got BS politics, so dont get banned like i did. http://www.honduh.com, has some info too.

as far as mods, for the V6 they have intakes (plenty) puleys, stay away from (AEMs tho), headers, catbacks, axleback, coilovers, springs, shocks, strut bars, lower rear ties, headlights, tailights, LED @ http://www.99accord.com, tell Entcee i sent you. and wheels of course.
the alternator is also a POS but if its got that much miles, its been upgraded to a better one. and as soon as you buy it put on an external tranny cooler and/or filter, and flush the ATF fluid for piece of mind. Other than that they are awesome.

 

Recently bought a 98 Accord V6 EX Coupe with just under 50,000 miles and very good condition for $9900.

First thing you want to do is do a carfax. See if it is a salvage. Then, just get a feel for the car. Does it look it was taken car of or not? It doesn't take a genius to quickly get a feel for a car. Try all the little things like horn, lights, brakes, etc. If a few of these things are not working properly, that is a good sign that the person did not take good care of the car.