Hi,
So a private party is selling a used 2004 Honda with 200k. The owner says the car has never given him problems of any sort. The only thing he changed was the rear suspension. Work is 3 miles away but I also want to use this car as a commuter car for farther distances and daily errands. Lastly, I have read that with the proper maintenance these cars can last up to more than 300k miles. I plan to take it to a mechanic before making a deal to run a diagnostic. The question is: should I buy this car?
thank you.
Just check if the maintenance was done correctly, in Europe cars with these mileage go for very cheap. Around $1000-1500. My Brother bought a 99 toyota yaris manual with 190k miles on it. No issues so far, just check if everything is alright. For sure this can be more reliable than a newer car who has got worse maintenance for example.
nope.
Scrape some more money together and keep looking
I wouldn't. Too many miles for me to consider it as a commuter/daily driver.
That’s a tough one. I currently drive a 1999 Honda Accord with ~270K miles as my daily driver. Had it since new. It’s the devil I know, so I know everything this car has been through, and I know the maintenance and repairs that were done. So I am comfortable using it as a daily driver and long commutes.
If I were the one maintaining the Civic you are looking at, I would have almost no qualms using it as a daily driver and a commuter.
With that said, I would have to research the automatic or CVT Transmission on the specific model, because that is just around the time that Honda had some trouble with their Accord transmissions. If it is a manual, it should be fine.
I would also take into account the timing belt if it hasn’t been changed. or prepare to change it. I believe Honda was still using belts at that time for the inline 4 engines.
There may be a few models that got the timing chain, so that wouldn’t be a concern.
Thank you for your input, I took into account and will continue my search.
If it is true that the car is in good shape and maintenence has been done regularly, negotiate the price down to $2000. I think it is a good price. You have to keep in mind that money has inflated badly since the gov signed free checks for everyone. $2000 today is $1600 in 2019. Most people are still valuing miney in the 2019 and prior years.
For a daily, no. If you want it as a knock around car, I would try to offer less.
