Honda Car Forum

The car has 126,000 miles, new brakes, a CD player, and minimal rust damage. The person I'd be buying it from is a friend, so I know they wouldn't give me a bad car, but is $1000 a fair price?

yes,, it sound great..just remember that it is over 17 yrs. old.

Well that is plenty for a car that old. I wouldn't pay more than $800. Just look in the paper and see what you could get for $1000 and see how it compares to that car.

yes, that sounds reasonable

a friend and I figured out a formula for old car valuesany car that runs/drives and passes inspection=$750add $500 if it's a good brand name like Honda or Toyotaadd $750 if the ac worksask your friend when the timing belt was changed.it needs to be done at every 90,000 miles,and change the water pump at the same time,that job runs about $500Sounds like an ok deal to me.

Depends where the rust is. Rust in the wrong places can structurally weaken the vehicle and possibly make it uninspectable and very unsafe.Japanese cars while well built do use a thinner guage steel than American cars and with age rust faster and harder. Engines don't die the body does. Get in up on a lift and have a QUALIFIED EXPERIENCED MECHANIC look it over.

sounds good...check the rust area too....like he said rust in the wrong areas might not be "minimal"...

I think that it's a fair deal. Does it drive well?

It sounds like a good deal. Make some comparisons with similar cars selling for that price. Ask about the details of the car, was anything replaced? Any new parts? Has there been any problems with it lately? Will you be able to have enough maney to fix the future broken parts? Make sure you know what problems it had before and what could be a potential problem. A car that old with that many mileage will eventually or had problems that was already fixed.I have a 1988 Honda Accord with almost 170,000 miles on it and it had its problem areas and I had always fixed it. But this time I think it is on its last leg. I will have to replace 2 front axle and one ball joint. Replace 2 front tires and maybe replace or fix transmission. It doesnt have air condition, it ran out of freon 2 summers ago. It is having problems of staying running when I stop, the engine sometimes quit when I stop. Just last month I had to replace my battery and alternator, that cost about $400. And over the years I've had many other problems that I had to fix.It really is a hassle to constantly fix old used cars. If you have the time and money to do that then you might think it is worth it. On the positive side. Honda is a quality car. Sometime when I think something will fall a part it would just stay and last for much longer than I thought. I am hoping it will last through the Winter and Spring before I sell it for about $500. Yes there are people who will buy my broken car out there!

Its KBB (kelly blue book) value is 2,760 with the details you gave me. You can get a more accurate value at www.kbb.com