I'm thinking of buying one of these, the (independent) dealer is asking a (reasonable?) £3.5k for it. Mileage is very low at 17,000 which immediately makes me suspect shopping trolley lifestyle, but there is no mayo and everything looks healthy. All the docs check out and SH is immaculate. Has new tyres, exhaust and timing belt is done. How much should I pay for this car? Does anyone have specific experience with this model? Cheers.
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Sounds a reasonable price, BUT new tyres on an auto Civic at 17K?
Are you REALLY sure it's not clocked?
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Six year old tyres wouldn't have been in great condition, regardless of mileage. There is nothing else to indicate that 17k is suspect, but I agree, it is very low. Perhaps I'll have another peek at that HPI certificate before I part with my hard earned. Cheers.
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I agree with TP.
A '96 car with 17k on it?
80 per cent of cars passing though independant dealers are clocked. This one *must* have been.
However lets give it a chance of the doubt. If it's one owner give him a ring and ask what the mileage was when he sold it.
Obviously if it's not one owner it will be clocked. One guy buying a car he dosn't use would be a unlikely. Two is just not credible at all.
As for signs of mileage there won't be any. People I know with company cars chop them in at 2 or 3 years with well over 100 k on them. Even at that mileage there are no detectable signs of wear. (Steering wheels and pedals are still fresh and chunky.)
And yes. I've seen one of my dad's old ones with 120k on it in a garage showing 66k at 3 years old.
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
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I bought her indoors a 1996 Civic Coupe LSi 1.6 litre 29,000 miles £3,600 recently. I bought from Steve Gill who trades from his own home in SW London. The car had one female owner (with a sea side address in Devon). Full service history plus MOTs.
The car is excellent - like new in some respects. We have not had it long but I just have a good feeling the car will last and last. I am a big Honda fan - the build quality is unbelievable and all reports say very reliable.
If I were you I would do the HPI check as regards mileage but otherwise for the money I think its worth taking a chance. I don't believe a lot of statistics quoted at me - how does anyone know if 80% of cars are clocked?
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"I don't believe a lot of statistics quoted at me"
As someone said once - "96.246% of statistics are made up on the spot"
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I don't believe a lot of statistics quoted at me - how does anyone know if 80% of cars are clocked?
Fair point. I heard the statistic on a car show that was doing an investigation into clocking. I have no idea how you would find out such a figure; sending dealers a questionaire seems unlikely!
Interestingly this show caught main dealers at it as well.
Your one owner car can't have been clocked. You would only have to call her to check.
Even so a 96 car with 17k on it is silly. My bike has weekend use only and has more mileage than that!
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
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Well, if you have seen a car you know is clocked why not ring Trading Standards?
I bought an 18 month old car with under 4K on the clock, the car was only ever used to take the kids to school, and the footprints all over the interior showed the mileage was genuine.
Front tyres were identical to the rears (Michelin don't make the same Energy ones IIRC)
Ben
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Well, if you have seen a car you know is clocked why not ring Trading Standards?
Sound advice.
I bought an 18 month old car with under 4K on the clock, the car was only ever used to take the kids to school, and the footprints all over the interior showed the mileage was genuine.
And if it one owner it's easy to check with a phone call. I still maintain a lease company owned car will get clocked as soon as it leaves the auction. I fully believe the 80 per cent figure.
Front tyres were identical to the rears (Michelin don't make the same Energy ones IIRC)
...And of course the previous owner would have confirmed the mileage.
Let me ammend my rule. Assume a low mileage car is clocked unless it's one owner a quick phone call will determine if this is the case.
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
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Thanks for the advice on this. Previous owner confirmed the vehicle's history, mainly shopping trips, as suspected, and the Honda garage which (over)serviced it all its life also assisted in curing the paranoia. Collected the car just before Christmas - it's lovely. We've now done more miles in two weeks than it did in the previous ten months!
On the subject of clocking, it obviously pays to be sceptical when dealing with low mileage cars due to the vast numbers of dodgy vehicles on our roads. But there are exceptions, and assuming well serviced and sound mechanically, I'd say they represent excellent propositions for those in need of a mile muncher on a budget.
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