I am currently looking to buy a used car in the Phoenix metro area on a bit of a tight budget. After a lot of searching, I finally found something that seemed somewhat reasonable given the current state of car prices. It's a 2013 Honda Civic with 95k miles, body and interior are in great shape. No CVT. Seller was asking $12.5k originally, but agreed to $12k. We took it in for pre-purchase inspection today and found out the struts need to be replaced which mechanic said would be another $600ish with parts and labor. Seller said he could do $11,800 with that in mind. Others advised me to walk away from it with bad struts, but I have mixed feelings.
Should I take it at $11.8k and get the struts fixed or move on?
If all that's wrong with it is needing new front struts I would not consider that a reason to walk away as long as it's not due to collision damage. As far as whether the price is reasonable that's hard to say in this market. It seems high to me but kbb.com (Kelley Blue Book) pegs the value at around $11K-12K.
Exactly what @chucktobias but just want to add since you didn't mention who you took the car too for inspection make sure you take it to your own trusted independent mechanic and ask him if he suggests you to buy it or not. Then decide based off of that.
Thanks for the responses. It was to my trusted mechanic and he was leaning towards no, but did say the car was in good shape otherwise The wear was due to age/use. Clear history report with no accidents. It would be both rear struts that would need replacement. I did see the KBB value around what you said too and agree, car prices are wack at the moment. Seller is firm at $11.8k. At 95k miles, it seems like it would probably have a lot of life left in it and I'm sure other vehicles of similar age/miles will probably have similar repair needs, so I might be being unrealistic.