Hey Guys-
This would be my first post here, as this is the first time I've even been close to owning a Honda. Hopefully I'll be sticking around for quite a while after this.
I've been looking for a new car lately, as I had to get rid of my 05 Mustang. My budget for a car is about $4500 or less, as I'd like to have money left for insurance (I'm a 19 year-old boy, insurance is insane), gas, repairs, etc.
I've been talking to this guy who's selling his 95 Del Sol. It's got the VTEC engine, a custom baby blue paint job (which needs some waxing badly), custom exhaust, front and rear torsion bars, cold air intake, underglow, aftermarket sound, rims, grille, etc. I know aftermarket stuff doesn't really affect resale value, but I wanted to mention the amount of work this guy's put into his car.
He took me for a spin in it for about 10 minutes to show me how it rode. Shocks and suspension seemed good... it rides real low but it was smooth and I only heard it scrape a TINY bit when he had to cross some railroad tracks going uphill. When the engine was idling, it wasn't rough or skipping at all, and while we were driving I never heard anything out of the ordinary (the engine has 160,000 miles on it but still sounds new). As far as the transmission goes, it shifts smoothly, and I didn't hear any RPM spikes or anything like that while we were driving. I will say, though, that he was driving like a maniac. I hope he was just trying to show off what the car could do, and that he doesn't drive like that everyday. If he does, there's a good chance that there's not much time left before that transmission needs to be replaced.
He originally was asking $4000 for the car. After he listed it, the car got nailed by a hit-and-run that did some damage to the rear driver's side tail light, fender, and bumper. There's also a small dent in the center of the trunk, on the edge right above the Honda H-symbol. He's already had the damage looked at and has the paperwork showing how much it'll cost to repair - he says he has some hookups for the paint and whatever else.
So I guess I have a few questions, and this seemed like a really good place to ask.
1. Without the damage, would the car have been worth $4k?
2. Should I have the guy get the repairs before I purchase it?
3. If the transmission does need replacing soon, where would be a good place to find a decent replacement?
4. How much $$$ should I offer this guy for the car?
For those of you that actually read all that crap, thank you... I know a lot of people don't like reading posts that are more than a paragraph long. Hopefully a few of you will be able to give some input that'll really help me. Thank you.
This would be my first post here, as this is the first time I've even been close to owning a Honda. Hopefully I'll be sticking around for quite a while after this.
I've been looking for a new car lately, as I had to get rid of my 05 Mustang. My budget for a car is about $4500 or less, as I'd like to have money left for insurance (I'm a 19 year-old boy, insurance is insane), gas, repairs, etc.
I've been talking to this guy who's selling his 95 Del Sol. It's got the VTEC engine, a custom baby blue paint job (which needs some waxing badly), custom exhaust, front and rear torsion bars, cold air intake, underglow, aftermarket sound, rims, grille, etc. I know aftermarket stuff doesn't really affect resale value, but I wanted to mention the amount of work this guy's put into his car.
He took me for a spin in it for about 10 minutes to show me how it rode. Shocks and suspension seemed good... it rides real low but it was smooth and I only heard it scrape a TINY bit when he had to cross some railroad tracks going uphill. When the engine was idling, it wasn't rough or skipping at all, and while we were driving I never heard anything out of the ordinary (the engine has 160,000 miles on it but still sounds new). As far as the transmission goes, it shifts smoothly, and I didn't hear any RPM spikes or anything like that while we were driving. I will say, though, that he was driving like a maniac. I hope he was just trying to show off what the car could do, and that he doesn't drive like that everyday. If he does, there's a good chance that there's not much time left before that transmission needs to be replaced.
He originally was asking $4000 for the car. After he listed it, the car got nailed by a hit-and-run that did some damage to the rear driver's side tail light, fender, and bumper. There's also a small dent in the center of the trunk, on the edge right above the Honda H-symbol. He's already had the damage looked at and has the paperwork showing how much it'll cost to repair - he says he has some hookups for the paint and whatever else.
So I guess I have a few questions, and this seemed like a really good place to ask.
1. Without the damage, would the car have been worth $4k?
2. Should I have the guy get the repairs before I purchase it?
3. If the transmission does need replacing soon, where would be a good place to find a decent replacement?
4. How much $$$ should I offer this guy for the car?
For those of you that actually read all that crap, thank you... I know a lot of people don't like reading posts that are more than a paragraph long. Hopefully a few of you will be able to give some input that'll really help me. Thank you.
