Well went to see the £9995 '98S Accord 2.0ES auto 38k at a local Honda main dealer on Friday.
The car had numerous scratches on the bodywork, barely legal rear tyres, the dash SRS warning light was lit, the gear lever was sticking using the sequential mode, the last service was 7k miles too late, there was an irritating rattle from the dash, it was dirty inside and out, and the expected CD-changer was absent.
Was still willing to do a deal if the price was right and problems sorted. Best price-to-change the dealer would do with my '99V Focus 2.0 Ghia 5dr 20k was £2.7k with CD-changer after fair bit of haggling. Told him I'd think it over then decided thanks but no thanks.
He phones me back yesterday offering me a great finance deal "to help me out". What's the interest rate I ask? 5% he says then gives me the monthly repayments. Tell him I'll think about it again then work out the repayment figures he's given me are more like 10%APR.
What are these guys like?
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For goodness sake Phil have the strength to walk away from a car like this without looking back.
18mths ago I bought my TD Xantia for just over £2K. It was clean, almost blemish free, good service history, nothing missing, no major faults, no rattles.
There is no way you should put up with that series of problems on a £10K car. In fact that Honda has more wrong than the VW Polo we've just bought as a second car for a few hundred pounds. Many Honda owners keep their cars like new, look for one of those.
The world is full of s/hand cars, leave the dross and get a "minter".
David
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The only place to buy a decent Honda is from a Honad dealer. You may pay a bit more, but at least you know the car is in good shape. Hondas that end up outside the dealer network tend to be those that have been poorly looked after, as you've just found out.
If the car is as bad as you say, then it's not worth more then 7K. Leave it well alone.
Andy
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You could have a look at Fords of Winsford www.fow.co.uk they have many nearly new cars at low prices. I bought a 6 month old, fully loaded 2 litre Vectra turbo diesel saloon with 7K miles on for £9500 in A1 condition in Feb 2001, which has proven to be an excellent purchase. Some of my friends have bought cars there with no problems. Might be worth a look!
I had a quick look earlier and thay have a 2.0 V-tech, 'W' reg, 5 door hatch in blue, with 9K miles for £8999 which is fully loaded and even has cruise control!
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£7000 more to buy a year older car with another 18k miles-just walk away.
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Thanks for the update Phil.
Everybody else has said it ... walk away there are so many used cars available...
Might be worth advertising your Focus just to see what response you get.
I agree with Andy P most of the nice hondas are within the Honda network or if you live on the south coast (like me) with the Bournemouth/Eastbourne OAP's.
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Dealer was probably quoting flat rate of interest - which is approx half the apr figure!
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£23,997was £24,197Details
£11,489was £12,289Details
£29,995was £30,995Details
£38,014was £39,022Details
