Hey all - This is my first post on the forum - I stumbled upon you guys by Googling. I am interested in buying an Accord Coupe (an upgrade from my old Civic Si), but I do not know what to look for and what to watch out for.
I would really like to get a 2004 - 2006 Accord EX Coupe V6-6MT, but they all seem to be around $19,000 in this area (with some above $20,000, which is insane in my opinion). I stumbled across a company in Virginia that has two 2005 EX V6-6MT for around $14,000 (with about 25,000 - 26,000 miles each). I called them up and asked them why the price was what it was, and they said because they are a wholesaler. I do not know what that means, but I did not push it any further. They have a lot of other vehicles as well - some Accord sedans, a Pilot or two, a Scion, some Acuras, et cetera. They did not have maintenance records for either of the 2005 coupes they have, but I am thinking I can run a Carfax to determine where the car was sold (perhaps it was serviced where it was bought or around there). With that, I might be able to piece together the maintenance records myself.
From the few pictures of the car on their site, it looks like it has a Virginia Inspection tag in the windshield. So either it was just inspected and passed, or the original owner had the car inspected, and that is the existing sticker. From the free Carfax I ran against it, it said the car had one owner, it was always in Virginia, and the basic stuff checked out (odometer rollback and all of that). It said no accidents or airbag deployments too, but I gather I cannot really trust that.
This is my first time buying a used car, and I am not sure what to look for. I am pretty sure they would let me drive the car to a local mechanic, but since I am not from Virginia (I live in Maryland), they would probably not let me take the car across the border to the mechanic I know. So I was thinking of taking it to the local Honda dealer down there. I also know next to nothing about what to look for when I go down there and test drive the car and inspect it visually.
So my question is, should I drop the $30 to get the Carfax for both cars (despite what people say about it being so unreliable)? Or should I just avoid this whole thing altogether given the price is so low? Also, if I do decide to pursue this, what are some tell-tale signs that something is wrong and I should run away? I read the thread on what if the price is too good to be true, but I am still left wondering (especially with all of the problems with Carfax).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, since this is a big purchase, and I want to get it right.
