I'm looking to buy my first car. I found this little 2012 Honda Civic EX coup with 64k miles on it. It's a 5 speed automatic. It's going for 9k from a dealership. I was looking over it with my dad and he pointed out that the average fuel meter says it's 16 mpg (it's rated at 28/39 city/hwy) with a range of 351 miles. That didn't seem right with my father and I'm wondering if that's an indication that there's a problem with the fuel system and/or computer display (etc.) I haven't test drove it. Also, is buying rental cars really so terrible? I hear horror stories. I just need a car that'll last a decade or two. That's my main concern but lately I see a ton of the rentals being sold. Thx. {black}:hi:
Stay away from rentals. Do you really want a car that’s been abused all it’s past life?
Coming to this Civic, it should be good if a mechanic checks it out before you buy it, and she’s given a clean bill of health.
Don’t be too flustered by the average fuel consumption as idling the engine for extended periods will skew the onboard mpg numbers. If you really want to test the mpg, a quick trick is to reset the average mpg reading back to zero before you start your test drive. Then drive the car for a good 30 mins over a mixture of highway & city driving and check the average mpg display at the end of the drive.
I’d be more concerned with the mechanical health of the vehicle though, rather than the gas mileage because that depends a lot on the driving style.
Bargain the price down as best you can, and also look at Corollas if they catch your fancy.
Good luck!
Everything you said I agree with but I would also consider a different year because 2012 was a very low quality year compared to 2011 and 2013 driving dynamics steering interior quality etc. I would also check out a Corolla like you said.
Which is why the mechanic needs to check it out. A good mechanic will know what to look out for in a used car, especially the model’s history. But if it checks out good, why not?
Rental cars can be abused but sometimes they are in excellent shape. For example, I bought my 2009 Kia Sportage from enterprise in 2010 and I still have it with no issues. The 2012 had very low quality compared to the earlier and lower years that is why I can find many for 6 7 grand even in california that is expensive. I also encountered some where the average fuel meter says like 8mpg or something but that is usually because they started the car up and changed the location in the parking lot. If after 350 miles it only gets 16mpg then something might be wrong. You need to have a mechanic check a car out before buying to check for mechanical things like that.
if they reset the trip meter to zero, the mpg will be low until it is driven on the highway, when i bought mine it was at 35 mpg, after reset it dropped to 12, now back up to 28
Yes I would test drive it a bit and let the gauge be more accurate.