Getting a Civic, but some things are a bit "sketchy"

[illusion88]

It's from a dealer. It's a 97 Civic DX (2 door coupe) with 125k miles on it. It is black, with a rear spoiler and a single CD player. The exterior is in good condition with one small dent on the hood (it looks like hail or a large nut or something, no big deal). The interior is in good condition too, no tears or obvious wear on the seats/dash. The steering wheel has some wear to it but it's what you would expect with a car that old. The Carfax is clean with an accident (reported to the police, it struck another vehicle) in 1997 8 months after it was bought. It didn't specify what kind of damage (which is weird), but after looking at the car I believe it was quite minor. It is not a salvage title

Here is the "catch". It's obvious it wasn't maintained. The oil change is 7000 miles late. The oil is low and real thick looking (like it hasn't been changed in 10,000 miles har har). The brake fluid is low and the coolant is also really really low (like a half inch in the overflow tank). The coolant is green with no signs of rust. It Runs great though. It accelerates fine, it will still chirp into second gear. All gears shift smoothly, the alignment is spot on (needs new tires in about 5k miles) and there is no "knocking" or rattles or any noise that would cause alarm. When I mentioned it's state of disrepair they dropped the price $500 for me (to $3500 total, so I am out the door in $4165 or some such). They WON'T let me take it to a dealer or mechanic to see if it is mechanically sound. And this is what bothers me most. All I really want is for them to check it over, check the compression ratio and see if it is a good deal. They claim that people have been taking their cars and switching parts or some such (they also deal in fancy cars like Lexus and such).

If I buy it, get new tires and get it tuned up, do you think it will run ok, even though there are some causes of concern right now? Do you think that it will continue to run good if I start maintaining it or do you think this is temporary? I have a good feeling about the car, my gut says nothing is permanently damaged, I just wanted to ask the collective car minds of ATOT.


EDIT: just for good measure, here is the CarFax history

02/06/1997 15 Ohio
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Irving, TX
Title #4700496562

Title issued or updated
First owner reported

02/15/1997 Ohio
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Vermilion, OH

Registered as
lease vehicle

12/02/1997 Ohio
Police Report
Cleveland, OH
Case #19972200905

Accident Reported
Vehicle involved in crash
with another motor vehicle

07/13/1999 23,311 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Sandy, UT
Title #8937381

Title or registration issued

07/13/1999 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Salt Lake City, UT
Title #8937381

Title or registration issued
Loan or lien reported

03/26/2001 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Sandy, UT
Title #8937381

Title or registration issued
Loan or lien reported

04/30/2001 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Sandy, UT
Title #8937381

Title or registration issued

06/20/2002 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Salt Lake City, UT
Title #8937381

Title or registration issued
Registration updated when owner moved
the vehicle to a new location

11/26/2002 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Salt Lake City, UT
Title #8937381

Registration issued or renewed
Passed safety inspection

04/28/2003 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Salt Lake City, UT
Title #8937381

Registration issued or renewed
Passed safety inspection

06/20/2004 81,733 California
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

Title issued or updated
Loan or lien reported

06/30/2004 California
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

Registration updated when owner moved
the vehicle to a new location

06/30/2004 California
Inspection Station

Passed emissions inspection

08/15/2005 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Draper, UT
Title #8937381

Registration issued or renewed
Loan or lien reported
Passed safety inspection
Registration updated when owner moved
the vehicle to a new location
Vehicle color noted as Black

08/29/2006 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Draper, UT
Title #8937381

Registration issued or renewed
Passed safety inspection
Vehicle color noted as Black

03/21/2007 Utah
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Draper, UT
Title #UT7168194

Title issued or updated
Correction to record
Loan or lien reported
Exempt from odometer reporting

 

[BigJ]

Run far, far away from this.

 

[hysperion]

 

[hysperion]

+1

Enjoy your week off
AnandTech Moderator

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: BigJ
Run far, far away from this.

 

[Tyrant222]

look at the 00, 01 sentra 2.0 SE. sr20 powered on the cheap.

 

[Pepsi90919]

er, don't buy this car.

 

[CrackRabbit]

If they won't let it be checked out that would be a deal breaker for me.
Civics are a dime a dozen, find another that has been properly maintained and from a seller that has no qualms in letting their car be inspected.

 

[Alone]

They WON'T let me take it to a dealer or mechanic to see if it is mechanically sound.

Lol, bye.

 

[HiTek21]

I'd pass and look for something else

 

[nboy22]

wow.. is that whole list like 10 different people that owned the car? Like the transfers of the title? if so.. I would definitely not give this thing a second look.

 

[chuckywang]

They need to drop it to $3k out the door before I would even consider it.

I think if you walk away, the dealer would change their tune about whether they'll let you take it to a mechanic or not.

 

[RedArmy]

I tried writing 2 different replies to this since I'm a big fan of Honda engines for their reliability and cheap maintenance but for such visible signs of not being taken care of and the fact that they won't let you take it to be inspected I guess the simplest thing to say would be not to buy it.

 

[KK]

This should fall under using your common sense part of the brain.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Eh, Hondas really can take a beating, but from the looks of it, this thing wasn't maintained worth sh!t. Go find another car.

 

[thedarkwolf]

There are so many nicer newer cars with a lot less miles you can buy for that much money. Civics are way over priced.

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: BigJ
Run far, far away from this.

But it's a honda, it'll run forever on 2 cylinders if it has to

 

[0roo0roo]

naw, people exaggerate on reliability. civics still die, esp when treated like sh*t by that many owners. unless they severely slash the price considernig number of owners and poor maintenance theres no way you should pay that much

 

[RossMAN]

They have something to hide.

Pass or you will regret it.

 

[BobDaMenkey]

I got my 95 Mitubishi Mighty Max (Generic japanese compact truck) from a dealer for 3700 total. It had 77k miles on it, and a fiberglass topper. Pretty much everything was in good condition, power steering and A/C worked just fine and it came with a CD player.

If I can find something like that from a dealer, you can find a lot better. 4200 for a car with more mileage than my truck has NOW that's been abused and neglected is just a bad move.

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

Get away from this. First, any "dealer" should let you take it to the original dealer for a check up or something. Second, look at the carfax, in and out of three states. GTFA from this car and look elsewhere.

Edit- Exempt from odometer reading? Maybe the miles are fake too.

 

[jagec]

If it was $500 maybe. But a car that hasn't been maintained at all, with what looks like a LOT of previous owners, that they won't let you inspect, for over $4k? How are you even considering this?

 

[illusion88]

It just really drove smoothly. Of the cars I looked at today, I thought that one was the best deal. The other cars either had odd noises, were in need of some repair or just plain sketchy (like salvaged titles or inaccurate odometer readings) You guys are right though, I should hold out until I can find what I am looking for.

I just don't have a lot of money to spend. I have $5,000 to spend. I could go a bit over (for instance dealer fees/registration etc.) but would prefer not to. I, unlike a lot of ATOT, am not a rich engineer or recently graduated college student. I am a broke Ski Instructor. I am trying to buy a car and still have enough money to get new tires. A lot of used cars you see are in need of new tires, or need them in a few months worth of driving.

All I am looking for is something in that price range, with around 120k miles or less and gets awesome gas mileage (and manual transmission if I can help it).

 

[CrackRabbit]

Just a quick search on autotrader with your zip code (guessed there are 8 listed for your city) showed quite a few cars under 5k that would fit the bill.
Example. http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c...=&fuel=&doors=&style_flag=1&cardist=19

 

[illusion88]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Just a quick search on autotrader with your zip code (guessed there are 8 listed for your city) showed quite a few cars under 5k that would fit the bill.
Example. http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c...=&fuel=&doors=&style_flag=1&cardist=19

Actually I am in Salt Lake City, 84121

EDIT: but that was close to where I used to live. And I have been using Autotrader. Love that site.