Need help and tips for deciding a 2nd hand car.

[kreme]

Hi guys, I've finally managed to amass enough money to buy a 2nd hand car in full.

My target car:
- Honda City 2009
- preferably 1.5e
- Automatic
My specs:
- 1st car owner
- 6ft+ tall
- needs a home-office car (40kms/day travel)
- newbie driver

I've already talked to 2 sellers and seen both cars but have yet to test drive both (busy sched, only took 10-20mins to check the both cars.).

Seller A:
Honda City 1.3 2009 AT
Casa maintained
24T KMS
1st owner

Seller B:
Honda City 1.5 2009 AT
NOT Casa Maintained
16T KMS
2nd owner (so 3rd hand na dating sakin)

Both cars are price the same, and upon final negotiations, both cars' last price difference might be negligible.

I'm planning to test both cars next week.

What if, both cars feel the same when test driven. What do you think should I pick?

Honestly I prefer the 1.5e but the car being already 2nd hand + not even casa maintained makes me a bit worried.

My questions:
1. Which car would you pick?
2. Can I bring both cars to the casa to have a full inspection? (with sellers' approval)
2.a. If both cars passed the full inspection(not sure if such a thing even existed ), which car would you pick? Can I trust the result of this inspection?
3. Bring it to casa to be inspected or bring a mechanic? or Both?
4. What additional clauses can I put in our contract to protect me from a defective car? (both seller reports a nothing to fix ad)
5. Lastly, FC, is it really DRIVER-dependent? or some cars are just good/bad? How do I check it in a test drive?

Any other tips that I might need is welcome.

Thanks in advance mga tsikot masters.

[renzo_d10]

I have tried the 1.5E City and indeed it was a blast to drive, and yes, FC is really driver-dependent. No matter how efficient your car is, if you drive it hard everytime it will result to poor fuel consumption. The 1.5E City averages 11km/L according to the FC meter display on the instrument cluster. Although I hardly encountered any traffic, I've done several hard overtakes during the trip. So if you become easy on the gas, it might actually result to better FC. Haven't tried manually computing it, but it shouldn't differ much. Mga .5km/L less lang siguro difference niya.

Frankly, I wouldn't buy something that's already third hand. So as much as I want the 1.5L City, I have to go with the 1.3L on this one. At least, from the description you gave it's maintained better. And haven't gone through 2 hands already for the past 3 years.

You can bring a mechanic if he's familiar with the car and is knowledgeable enough. Else, bring it to CASA. Maybe you could ask the seller if you could split the cost of the inspection between you & him.

I don't know how the 1.3L performs but with the experience I had with the 1.5L City, I want one since the power is more than enough.

[GTi]

Since you are so tall ever considered getting a 2nd hand FD instead?

Given that both cars are in similar condition, naturally I would prefer the 1.5E. Both are 2009, the 1.5 has lesser mileage, price is pretty much the same. San ka pa? Personally, as long as I can be sure that the car is in tiptop condition, I don't care how many owners it went through or if it was casa maintained or not. Take our cars for example. Almost all are bought 2nd hand. Yet when the time comes to sell, the vehicle condition is always very fresh, there is always nothing to fix since we fix everything (if there is anything to be fixed at all) before selling, and the cars are almost immediately snapped up. I believe two, three or even four careful owners are much better than one careless owner. And you don't necessarily have to have your maintenance done at the casa, honestly, it's like daylight robbery! There are lots of competent and honest garages that would be able to take care of your car just as well, or even better than the casa can.

So ayun, bring your mechanic and inspect thoroughly before buying!

[Gecko Guy]

I agree with GTI on this one, better get a 2nd hand FD instead (due to your height) I've test drove the 1.5 city before but MT, I feel cramped inside (5'6" lang me).

[kreme]

*renzo
Thanks for you input. And also for sharing your FC on your 1.5e, I already satisfied with that FC if I can reproduce that. Also I'm just a newbie driver + 1st car so I don't think I'll be doing any med-hi-speed overtakes.

I haven't inquired at the case yet, but how much do you think a full inspection would cost?

*GTi and Gecko Guy
I'm already locked at the City.(being close minded) As an FD in the same price of a City is around 2-4yrs older and also traveled more or less twice.

Also thanks about your input about the 2++ carefull owner vs 1 sob owner.


*mechanic + non-casa maintenance
Do you guys know a good mechanic in cavite. Or even, how to know if I have a good mechanic?

[Gecko Guy]

*kreme: Hindi rin...my FD is 4 y/o pero 23K+mileage pa lang gusto mo yun na lang? (joke only)
If you're already set for the city then I vote for the 1.3 AT. My reason is simple: why is the owner of the 1.5 AT selling his in the first place???

[kreme]

That's also what I'm thinking. But he can easily create a reasonable story(migration, need rush money, buying a new car, etc). Kung casa maintained, siguro di ako masyado mag-aalala.

Any tips to check when I visit/test the car? Maybe the SOP that a good mechanic would do, so I would know if I got the right mechanic? And also some non-technical things that even a car newbie like me might be able to see?

[Gecko Guy]

*kreme: Since you're a newbie in cars, Casa is your best bet in checking if the car is really well maintained or not. Just bring it to the casa for maintenance check if the owner will agree. With regards to a good mechanic, if you have a honda mechanic or technician then good but if it's just a regular mechanic then I doubt it. (he might not be familiar with the engine at all)

[GTi]

Its not out of the ordinary for people to want to dispose of cars that seem to have nothing wrong with it and at almost new condition. There are rich car peeps who get tired of their cars quickly. Some are used for less than a year and have just a few thousand kilometers on the clock, with most of their time spent in sheltered garages. This seems to be the best reason for the sale of that 16tkms 1.5E. Either that, or it's been involved in a serious accident, was flooded, or was stolen.

[kreme]

*Gecko
Thanks, I'll try to bring it to the casa(Honda Dasma) if the seller will agree.

*GTi
I really hope that's the case. I'm almost sure that it was not Ondoy flooded (Purchased Oct 2009 - Ondoy was Sept 2009), not sure about other floods though. LTO records is clean(texted "LTO VEHICLE abc123" to 2600). Not sure about police records and accidents.