mrschwabe

Hi there, my girlfriend and I are looking to buy our first Honda Civic. We want to find a great bang-for-your-buck kind of deal.

It didn't take long before we were able to line up a potential car.

It's a 2007 Civic, automatic, with 60,000 miles on it... and that's all I know so far! But will be checking it out in person tomorrow. So later I'll update this thread with the complete specs and perhaps some pictures too.

In the meantime, I'd like to ask - what should I be looking for when I check out this Civic ?

I'm new to buying cars in general, so any tips are appreciated (especially those that regard the 07 Civics). Thx !

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

2001+ civics are very iffy. some are good and some are a disaster. i personally would not recommend newer civics anymore because the quality has gone way down from what they used to be. but if you are set on it, make sure you take it to the dealer and have them check the recalls. there is the cracked engine block issue, defective rear camber arms (you will go thru tires every 10k miles), and a few others. the other problem is buying that old of a car. you dont know what the previous owner did. the trans fluid may never have been changed, same with oil, brake fluid, etc. all of which can cause serious problems down the road even if you change them all now (which you will have to do). just getting the car up to speed with maint i would factor in at least an extra $1k to the price. i would inspect the car VERY carefully. check all the fluids, make sure the power steering and brake looks light yellow, the ATF looks red, oil looks medium honey, coolant is blue. peek in the engine thru the oil cap and see if there is any carbon buildup. open the trunk and hood and push down hard to see if the suspension is good. the car should bounce right back up quickly. if it bounces more than once or is slow to come back up, you need new shocks ($500+). check the tires carefully for wearing. look all around the body and under the car for rust or accident damage, look under the hood, see how clean it is. test all the exterior lights and signals, brakes, all the interior accessories radio and climate controls. basically spend a good hour looking over the car. if they say no you cant, walk away.

lazlong

gearbox pretty much covered everything. I would add: look for ill fitting body panels and absolutely no salvage/rebuilt titles. Ask for maintenance records.

MindBomber

Gearbox is a bit cynical when it comes to 2001+ Civics, but I'm much more of an optimist. I continue to consider my purchase of a 2002 excellent and wouldn't hesitate to buy an another, because I've never had to replace a part outside of standard maintenance.

Almost every car from every manufacturer has some minor design flaws and the cracking engine blocks is hardly a common issue, I wouldn't be concerned in the least about that issue when purchasing a 2006-2008 civic. Typically when the blocks crack the engines are between 60-70k miles and it's only occurring in a small percentage of cars, furthermore Honda has released an 8 year unlimited mileage warranty against cracking blocks effective from the date the original purchaser drove the car off the lot and the warranty transfers ownership. Refer to honda's interactive network under warranty extension bulletin number 10-048 for more details.

With the car currently being four years old I would be shocked if the camber arms have not been replaced, but if they haven't it's a quick fix and I'm sure you could negotiate that into the purchase.

At 60k miles suspension components like shocks and struts, ball joints and tie rod ends are beginning to reach the end of their life. Pay attention to the amount the car bounces when you push down on one corner, then take a slow drive over lots of speed bumps and tight turns to listen for cracks or pops that would indicate suspension components needing replacement.

Have a compression test done on the engine to do a quick and reliable check of it's health. After that check all the fluids, as mentioned by gearbox. Maintenance records are always great of course.

Overall, you should expect to do a bit of maintenance when you purchase any used car privately. Whether it be a Civic or a Quattroporte that's a reality, so don't be to scared by small issues like somewhat low tread on tires or an ageing suspension.

Cheers

mrschwabe

This helps a TON, bigtime thanks!

Your tips have been noted and I'll be bringing them along so I have a checklist to reference when looking at the car tomorrow.

Will post pics after seeing it. You might be mortified as there is one other detail I intentionally left out... anyway, will keep you posted.

MindBomber

I'm gonna take a shot in the dark, is the detail a rebuilt title?

mrschwabe

Okay, here it is...





Yep, not exactly a pretty sight. It's a 2007 Civic LX. Being repainted. After some body work to repair hail damage that happened earlier this spring (I remember that storm in fact, it was in my same area).

@MindBomber is it a rebuilt title? Maybe. Honestly, I'm not sure. The seller claims it is not, because hail damage doesn't "flag" a vehicle - and that this particular car is "active" and can be registered & insured for the same rates as any other 2007 Civic.

But he had to buy it at a salvage auction, so it was indeed a write-off. Says that the original owner got more money from his insurance company with a write-off rather than having them pay for repairs. So naturally, being a body mechanic he thought this would be a good project to fix and flip.

Everything seemed to check out OK. I went through the checklist you guys helped me compile and only noticed a couple issues.

- ATF was a rather dark shade red, not much brightness to it.
- when I pressed down on the front suspension seemed normal, if anything perhaps a little sluggish to pop up. On the back it was opposite, the car had a quick bounce and seemed to keep bouncing a few short seconds too.

But perhaps the big issue is that he's go no maintenance records available. I don't know what kind of condition the original owner had it in - and now with all this body work it might be difficult to tell.

The seller seems to to think he can get about the same value as any other Civic on the market. At the very least his goal is to make what he bought it for plus cover the cost of the body work and new paint job. Maybe I'll throw a lowball offer at him, but otherwise will take your inevitable recommendations to walk away (unless anyone thinks this is still a deal worth considering).

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i would ****** it if it was cheaper than another comparable car without the damage. i know its being fixed, but body work is never better than the factory. otherwise look elsewhere. another thing is how long has the car been out of action (not being driven). if its been more than a month, i wouldnt take it.

mrschwabe

Cool, the advice is much appreciated. I'll have to clarify how long its been sitting. Either way, I still need to test drive and he won't have it ready for 2 weeks.

In the meantime, I will keep looking and will post about any other Civics I view in person. Still shopping around.

CiviStang

the 01 we just bought was sitting for 1 year while the owner was in Iraq.. what should we expect gearbox?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

cars that sit age very rapidly compared to cars that are daily driven. the rubber parts and belts/hoses get messed up sooner, most of the fluids are not able to be used (and if you do drive with one year old fluids you are in for serious problems down the road), tires will have flat spots and could be cracked a bit on the bottom (not usable), etc. the list goes on and on. ofcourse this assumes the car was just parked with nothing done to it. if you prep the car properly like putting it up on jackstands, drain and fill new fluids at the end, then its not as big of a deal.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

you should create a new thread and post the question there. high-jacking a thread is not a great idea

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

hey mrschwabe, do you plan on puttting full coverage (insurance) on this civic?

because many insurance agencies will not allow you to put full coverage on the car if it has a salvage title.

any you never buy a salvage car for the running price of the car (check craiglist to see what its going for)

because u will regret it in the long run.... lets say u need to sell it in the future and get a bigger car, it will be extremely hard to sell that car for any decent price.