State of used cars?

[Jim 1]

I had an eye opening experience today whilst out looking for a new car with a friend. He's decided he wants a Honda Civic Type-R (EP3). His budget should net him a good condition 2002-2003 model with average mileage.

 

We drove to look at two today and I was rather disappointed. Both were up for sale with dealers. The first was a very nice guy, no problem letting us take the car out for a test drive.. but within minutes of us arriving I noticed countless little issues with the car:

 

* Alloys corroded to hell (apparently a Type-R problem)

* Paintwork in a pretty poor condition with stone chips aplenty

* Grotty interior, many contact points (switches, etc) all worn away

* Engine bay looked pretty tired, noticed there seemed to be an oil leak from the rocker cover gasket

* Lever missing from the seat tilt for letting passengers in the back

* Brake pads looking pretty worn all round

* Missed services in the service book, very few useful receipts for any work actually done

* Battery flat, windows all misting up…

 

Driving it didn't get much better. I was immediately concerned at how the car didn't really want to go into gear some times, and clutch bite point seemed very far down on pedal travel.

 

Then drove to see another one - lower mileage, and seemed OK but countless bits of overspray, mismatched paint, scratched trim, rust starting to appear. Engine sounded OK but didn't even bother with a test drive as I didn't want to waste the guys time.

 

I don't know if I'm just expecting too much from a 10 year old hot hatch (which will no doubt have been ragged by every owner) and I think perhaps I've been spoiled by surrounding myself with folks who are enthusiasts for the cars that they drive, here on the Corrado Forum and in the CCGB. Aside from my engine sounding a bit tired, my VR looked far more loved and 'complete' than either of those cars despite being almost twice and old and having done twice as many miles! I think it spoke a lot that we got back into my friends previous generation X reg Civic - interior is mint, drives really nicely, doesn't feel clapped out…

[Portent 0]

I found the same when looking for my Golf last year. Most people don't care about their cars and just treat it like something disposable.

[bendunstan 10]

I think its possibly the car your friend is looking along with possibly a bit of bad luck on your part. That specific type r was extremely popular when it came out because it received multiple exellent reviews and was seen as the hot hatch to beat but also they blew the pant of all other cars in terms of cost. If I remember correctly they sold for £14k brand new. That's peanuts for a brand new top end hot hatch and also within most peoples company car money! I wouldn't expect it will take your friend long to find a nice example but because of the popularity the chances of them being ;

 

*crashed\repaird

*tuned up and spoilt

*used as a hack with not much love

 

Are all going to be vastly increased. There definitely some nice ones about though. Your right to walk away from those examples though, that civic was renowned for its slick and positive gearchange so anything other than that is probably an

Alarm bell, and overspray would/also have me looking around more thoroughly.

 

To put the cost of the civic into perspective we have a 2004\2005 Citroen c4 family hack, just a 1.6 vtr+ for daily stuff but it cost brand new more than that civic new...... Mental! Has me again questioning why we chose what we did, although I'm sure my wife will inform me of the need for 5 doors, cheaper tax, cheaper insurance and running costs

 

Keep at it though, there are some crackers out there! Real good bit of kit for the money! I'm off to look in the classifieds …....

[seanl82 23]

I think we wear our enthusiast glasses when going to view cars. You've got to remember that the vast majority of people simply don't know how, or really don't care about looking after their car. A quick wash with a gritty sponge and washing up liquid does a lot of damage and really dulls paintwork, and your advantage person wouldn't really care if the gear change was a touch sloppy. They'd probably associate it with the gearbox and shy away from getting it looked at if they don't have a warranty. It's just a tool to use to get to work in for most people.

[davidwort 0]

People who look after cars tend to hang on to them, you always have to ask why someone is selling a car, ok sometimes it's genuinely that they need something bigger or more economical but they'll always be outnumbered by the 'it's starting to cost me money, time to get rid' types.

What really surprised me was how worn, damaged and also poorly repaired, many sub three year old ex fleet cars there are on the market, I've seen some really rough ones at some car supermarkets

You've just got to keep searching for a good one, can be demoralising though!