Advice on buying a used car ('07 Civic EX)
 

Hello RS,

I'm looking to buy a used 2007 Civic EX and waswondering if you guys can give me some advice and let me know if there are steps I have missed as far as due diligence is concerned.

One particular ad I'm interested in:

2007 Honda Civic EX
Mileage: 96,000 KM
Transmission: Automatic
Title: Clean
Asking price: $9800

The seller says he has maintenance records going back two years and that the car was mainly driven by his wife.

One thing the seller was upfront about was that the tires have low tread. I don't know how low but he said you can probably get 4-5 months out of it.

I don't know too much about cars so I was hoping you guys can help me with the following questions:

1) Is the asking price fair? Obviously I plan on negotiating down a bit but what do you think is a fair price to pay?
I went on the Canadian Black Book website and the average asking price on there is ~$9,400 (but obviously it varies a lot based on mileage and condition of the car). A friend of mine bought the exact same car in 2010 for $13.5k (20k mileage at the time). Based on this, $9,400 seems kind of high to me? Or it could be that my friend got a really really good deal back then.

2) If assuming I do a test drive and things go well, should I put down a deposit to hold the car? That would give me time to have the seller bring the car to a Honda dealership or maybe BCAA for a pre-purchase inspection (I pay, and the report only goes to me unless the seller pays for half). I will also run a Carproof report to ensure there are no reported accidents or liens on the car.

Anything else I'm missing? I'm thinking if the inspection goes well and there are no major issues, I can use the condition of the tires as basis for negotiation (along with the expected few hundred off the asking price for pretty much any used car). If there are repairs needed, I can walk away or factor that into the negotiation of the price.

Appreciate the advice! Thanks

2007 Honda Civic EX for $9,900 in COQUITLAM | autoTRADER.ca

look like this is the one you are buying. I would say it's in the fair retail price compare to other dealer listing. But why would you want to buy privately when dealer offer similar price and you will get piece of mind on lien and accident report without a penny out of your pocket? Of course choosing honest dealer is another issue.

You can use point above to talk down on the price, or even other private listing could help you too. Such as this one with lower KM, asking for $8k only.

2007 Honda Civic for $8,000 in DELTA | autoTRADER.ca

Appreicate the response

First link:
Yeah that's the one lol
I guess compared to other ads it's not too expensive. You're right it seems a lot of the dealerships are selling for a similar price but the mileage listed on a lot of the cars I've seen is higher (130k+). I guess what this tells me is that the equivalent car in a private sale should be priced lower. At the same time, after adjusting for the lower mileage in the first link....you might end up back at the same price. lol hmm

As for the second link
I called the guy selling the $8k one and he confirmed it's a rebuild so I don't think I'll be pursuing that.

A lien and accident check is $70, so that dealer price better be really close.

Yeah if only you only pay it once...when I was shopping on craigslist, I did over 10 times on different vehicles because everyone seems to lie or hide the accident history...
That's $700 out of my pocket easily. Or maybe it's just me.
Not saying going to dealer is your only opinion but you can always negoticate with dealer..