Rep Power: 0

It's a 1998 Honda Civic HX with about 104,000 miles. I got an inspection from inspectmyride.com, they do a very basic inspection which doesn't constitute much mechanical inspection. They took it on a test drive and the report said it started in 2nd gear, but the thing is it's an automatic with the CVT so I'm not sure how that's possible. He also said it seemed sluggish. The seller says the transmission is fine, and that he has personally driven the car over 500 miles without problems. He has 100% positive feedback with 273 sales, included a full history report in the listing and specifically encouraged prospective buyers to feel free to get an independent inspection.

The report says there's no CD player. There's a factory CD player right in the dash, the seller sent me close-up pictures. The report says the hood release cable is broken, the seller says the cable is fine but the cap just broke off and he's already ordered a new one. The hood is open in the pictures. The report shows several really minor dings which aren't even noticeable in some of the pictures and labels the part of the car where they are as being in "very poor" condition because of them.

The seller tells me the guy obviously knew nothing about the car and this is apparent. He may not have known anything about a CVT or about Hondas, while the seller appears to know a bit about them. This seller has a good reputation and this inspection company doesn't necessarily. I just ordered their inspection because they're partnered with eBay now so that was a lot simpler than contacting some local mechanic and trying to arrange something myself.

My question is this: The report was obviously put together by an amateur, yet he still brings up an issue with the transmission. Do you think there's any credibility in his claim to transmission issues even if he may not have known much about what was wrong with it? The report was very simple and vague, it didn't expand on the details of anything mentioned, it simply said that the transmission started in 2nd and was sluggish. I still want to have the car checked out by a local shop or dealership when I go to get it (it's 8 hours away), before I pay and take it home. But now I'm fairly worried there could be a major problem or problems that the seller may even have been unaware of.

Here is the report: Reports

And the listing, technically he already accepted my offer so it's ended but I haven't paid yet and he's willing to let me change my mind if I find out there are major problems: Honda : Civic | eBay

Thanks.

 
Rep Power: 811

its really hard to say without driving. ofcourse any civic will be sluggish with less than 100hp. im not sure if thats what they meant or there is a problem with the trans holding gears. those older cvts were usually pretty solid. maybe it just needs a fluid change with the special honda cvt trans fluid.

 
Rep Power: 234

Auto trannys only start in Park or Nuetral. While the CVTs are pretty durable once they go, they go pretty quickly. They also don't take HP/torque gains well. Definitely find a real mechanic in that area and have them inspect the tranny. Don't take any chances when spending that kind of money.

I personally wouldn't buy unless I inspected it in person first. And eBay usually isn't the place to buy a big ticket item. Just my 2 cents.