(used) car buying advice

[wordoflife]

well my car got totaled recently so I'm out for a new car. I found a 2007 Accord but it has 100,000 miles so I'm a bit nervous about buying it. On one side, my old car was reaching 100,000 miles, but on the other side, this 2007 is obviously used (so I don't really know how the owner treated the car).

The car has a clean carfax and it's only had one owner. I'm assuming that since it's only an 07 Accord with that many miles, most of them were highway miles. I'm still a bit nervous about it as the car does not come with any warranty.

I was just looking for advice on buying this car, buying used cars in general (what to ask and look for), and anything else relating to this.

Also, if any of you guys know, do you need to replace timing chains? The guy at the dealer said about 105,000-115,000 miles, but the interent says that they last for the life of the engine.

 

[Pink∆Floyd]

Bring a Honda mechanic with you for inspection and it's called a timing belt, yes replace it before 100k miles, it's called preventative maintenance

 

[wordoflife]

Thanks for the reply. I'm actually buying this from the Honda dealer. And there's specifically a "timing chain", not belt. I understand the belt should be changed every 80-100k miles, but haven't heard anything about the chain.

 

[maceleven]

Pray to higher power for Blessings

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.

 

[Abyssgh0st]

I know where you're coming from.

I recently bought 2007 Nissan Sentra that had 80,000 miles at the time of purchase (almost a year ago), and I was upgrading from a 2003 Corolla that had 90,000 miles. For there being a four year different in models, I was a bit way of getting a car that obviously driven "harder" (just in terms of miles/year) and I haven't had a single issue yet. I was also buying from a Nissan dealer, so it was clean and also had a clean CarFax (single owner).

I say go for it! See if the dealer offers some sort of cheap/free limited warranty if that will give you peace of mind.

People are driving their cars A LOT now a days (I know it sounds silly, but really.) Even as a high school student with a 20 minute commute (city) and a job within 5 miles, I racked up about 18K miles per year through high school. That means on a 2007 car I myself would have put nearly the same mileage my car (2007) had on it.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.

I thought god was the "great physician," not the "great auto mechanic?"

 

[wordoflife]

I know where you're coming from.

I recently bought 2007 Nissan Sentra that had 80,000 miles at the time of purchase (almost a year ago), and I was upgrading from a 2003 Corolla that had 90,000 miles. For there being a four year different in models, I was a bit way of getting a car that obviously driven "harder" (just in terms of miles/year) and I haven't had a single issue yet. I was also buying from a Nissan dealer, so it was clean and also had a clean CarFax (single owner).

I say go for it! See if the dealer offers some sort of cheap/free limited warranty if that will give you peace of mind.

People are driving their cars A LOT now a days (I know it sounds silly, but really.) Even as a high school student with a 20 minute commute (city) and a job within 5 miles, I racked up about 18K miles per year through high school. That means on a 2007 car I myself would have put nearly the same mileage my car (2007) had on it.

Thanks for sharing that - it's really reassuring. I didn't feel concerned about the miles on the car when I was at the dealer since the car looked to be in top shape, but I had some doubts when I came home to think about it.

I'm going to stop by my Nissan and Toyota dealers to see if they have anything. Overall I'm pretty happy about the 2007 Accord since it has many more features over my old one, but I think I'll look around to just make sure. I was planning to drive my 04 Accord into the ground so I wasn't really expecting having to buy a new car anytime soon. That's why I'm just trying to look for a good deal so I can replace my old car and break even (or as close to even as possible).

 

[RITZFit]

Is that accord a 4 or 6 cylinder? If its the 4, I know from experience that those motors are very stout (k-series). The timing chain should last the life of the motor. Either way, try to get a compression test done on the motor. The results can alteast give you some indication on the motor's health. Its just a handheld gauge and most garages can do it for you.

 

[mgartner0622]

Also- with 100k miles on the car, the transmission fluid should have been changed at least once. Check that, it should be a nice red color, not black like used oil.
Over 100k, if you drive reasonably hard on either the four or 6 cylinder version of that car without changing the transmission fluid, the transmission will start having problems after 150k or so. By problems I mean hard shifting, ect. I'd also ask the dealer if the coolant has been changed, and any of the other fluids such as the power steering fluid, as most of these wear out with high mileage in my experience.
Just this last weekend, my 2005 Honda Accord V6's power steering pump went out. I've never changed the fluid on that, and the car has 88k miles. According to a mechanic if I had changed it earlier the car should have been fine. (I ended up ignoring his advice and just changing the fluid multiple times, and that fixed it.)

 

[wordoflife]

Hey guys thanks for the advice. The engine is a 4 cylinder. Also as far as I can tell, all the fluids were done.

Anyways I turned down the car.

Thanks again for your help.