car buying.... talk me down!

[MadduckUK]

well as people in the LAN thread know im currently carless and on the hunt. and my head had been turned by a 3rd gen Prelude. havent been to see it in person or even made enquiries yet so this might come to naught, but from the pics it looks tidy, or more specifically it looks beautiful.

one problem. its pretty much done 200k miles. now i know honda's are super reliable and everything, its got service history, and i wouldn't be doing huge distances in it... but is that too much? i would never normally consider it but.. i dunno.. talk me down!

[samcross]

To me that feels like too much, even though Honda's are generally good cars, there is only so much you can get out of one. I personally would never buy a car with over 80,000 on the clock.
Mind you, if its really cheap, it may be worth the gamble
Some more info would help, i.e no. of previous owners, Specific specs etc.

[MadduckUK]

3 owners, latest one for a good long time. and its a 2.0i 4WS 16

[hitman67]

I personally would never buy a car with over 80,000 on the clock.

My last three have all done 120k.

If it's super cheap then have a drive and take it, if it's not cheap then wait for a more average mileage one.

[sleepyhead]

Even though the clock may show 200k miles, the engine maybe younger (or older) than that. Have met a few prelude owners (through various meets and shows) who regularly buy lots of "off the road" preludes as donor cars and engine swaps are quite common.

[MadduckUK]

im so crap at this, only driven company cars so not actually had one to call my own. and 90's cars are so much better looking than the modern blob boxes so i think id always go for old.. maybe im getting overexcited

edit: sleepyhead, if that were true and it was only 100-120k in reality id go for it. but there are no signs that this has been owned by anyone who would attend meets and shows or consider an engine swap.. i may be wrong though. if i can get enough backing that this isnt money down the drain by definition then ill give they guy a call on monday i guess

[sleepyhead]

No harm in being interested, viewing the car and assessing it whether it is something you want to part money with.

ALWAYS take a non-biased (but informed mechanically) friend with you. Well, its true in my case as I suddenly wear "beer googles" on a car I set my heart to...

[schmunk]

200k is a LOT!

I would personally not buy such a car.

[Rave]

Lots of engines will do 200,000+ miles as long as they're regularly serviced and run on good oil. Most parts of the running gear of the car like the suspension, bushes, bearings etc. will not. If this 200,000 mile car is a) cheap and b) has a stack of history, bills etc. showing that everything that should have been replaced has been, then I'd buy it assuming it drives O.K.

If it hasn't got any history but it's £500 or less and it drives alright, I'd still buy it, but only because £500 is the kind of money I can afford to take a risk with nowadays.

[MadduckUK]

thanks rave, much to think about and much to check if i do go ahead

[360bhp]

Ive had 3 4th gen preludes, and currently have a 5th gen. For the money, 4th gens are simply the best sports car in that price range! Fitted front, rear and rear tie strut bars to my last one, and the handling was amazing on it. I sold my last one for £400 so see if you can pick one of those up?

5th gen I have now has 1 owner, 78k on the clock, fsh. Cant fault it in anyway! Looks pretty sleek with the motegi kit on too.

If you have the money, get a vtec one with 4ws.

[awm]

I don't know what road conditions are like around where you are. But where I am Japanese cars usually die from the bottom rusting out due to road salt and winter driving. Make sure to look at the bottom of the car for signs of this happening if its an issue in your part of the world.

[Saracen]

I agree with Rave. If the car is properly maintained, 200k isn't too high .... provided you realise you're taking a bit of a chance. It could come unstuck. If it does, it'll be hassle or money, or both, to sort out.

But then, that is true of just about any car, once it's out of warranty.

The issue, to my mind, the the degree of the risk and that, as has been said, means that it's about the price you have to pay for the car. Buying a car with that mileage can be a way to get (comparatively) very cheap motoring, if nothing to much goes wrong. But as mileage goes up, so does the risk of extensive problems and costs.

Are you prepared to risk those costs, or the hassle. If so, buy carefully and you could snag a bargain. Or not. Only time will tell.

On the other hand, if a hassle free life and risk-minimising are high on your priority list, walk away from it.

[Rebel]

Just to add my 2p worth, I bought a focus for the wife a couple of years ago, at auction and at a very reasonable price, on the clock it had about 125K that was why the price was so reasonable.

HOWEVER according to the service history AND the receipts, at 70K Ford Motor company had replaced the Engine and Gearbox with a nice new 1.6 zetek sport one (The warranty for these had only run out a few months before I bought it), so I got a car that had a fair amount of miles on its minor components, but the big stuff was only just out of manufacturers warranty. check the service history before making a decision.

[MadduckUK]

ill reply to this after top gears off, but thanks for all the comments so far! im still here!

oh god no not little crabs

edit:

awm: i be sure to check that ta,

saracen: i dont mind too much if it does die in the future, and im willing to take that risk. what i dont want is something that will only last 10 mins, and i know you cant tell, and no-one can tell, possibly even the seller. but i want some use at least...

rebel: if something similar has happened ill break the guys and off, but im not counting on it

im thinking about this not just as a car but as a bit of an adventure

[SilentDeath]

Service history or not... if you check the car fully and it seems ok they it will probably last a long time. Most stuff that can fail will have already been replaced....... twice do a search for buying used cars.. tehres plenty of guides what to check for... there is far too much for anyone to list here...


Atleast you know the milage is probably genuine, the owner is likely being honest with you and probably well looked after.. becuase at that milage not many cars will look good if they are not.



However if you buy a car with a low milage theres a chance its dodgy especially if its old.. there might be a reson why its so low.. for example my old fiesta was burning oil.. so used once a month to do the shopping...