George's Mile-High Garage

[George]

5943 feet above sea level to be exact, according to a couple of elevation finder websites.

My current ride is a '99 Honda Accord EX 4-cylinder automatic with 203,xxx miles. Some of you saw this awesome machine in person at Fiesta Del F eetwoo in Parker, Colorado a couple years ago. I bought it on 12/31/2007 with 139,xxx miles and it hasn't cost me much to own.

Pros:

Never fails to start and run well and always gets me where I want to go and back
Plain-jane enough to be completely invisible. Can park it anywhere without concern.
Cheap to maintain
Looks okay on the outside and the interior cleans up nicely
I have a set of snow tires for it

Cons:

Has had a cracked windshield for years (no safety inspections in Colorado, only emissions tests in the heavily populated counties, so lots of folks drive around with cracked 'shields on old cars)
Has recently developed a suspension rattle on the front passenger side corner when I hit bumps while turning left
Burns a little oil between changes
Bought with no idea of age of timing belt. That was at 139K and I'm now at 203K. That timing belt can't last forever.
Lately have had to - sometimes, not always - pull back on the shifter lever a little to get the key to turn. I don't (can't) shift out of Park, but just pull back on it to let the key turn. Modern safety stuff, I guess. Have heard about this problem and temporary solution on Car Talk on NPR. A relay is wearing out, I believe.

Obviously with a car like this, one keeps an eye open for the next car. And, like most of you guys, I'm always looking at cars though I seldom buy them. I've only owned five cars in my 30 years of driving.

My neighbor has a '99 (I think) Honda Accord EX (I think) V6 (I know it's a V6) with much lower mileage than mine. A couple years ago I remember him saying he had something over 100,000 miles but not much more than that. I asked him then to please let me know if he ever wanted to sell it. The subject came up again once since then and I again expressed interest.

Yesterday (Friday), we got a message on our home answering machine that they are ready to sell the car and I am the first to know. I called back yesterday in the late afternoon and left them a message to call me. Close observation (they live across the street) last evening and this morning show no activity at their house. They are likely out of town for the weekend, since the kids have a 4-day weekend now for a teacher workday and some government employee holiday or something.

I'm excited about this opportunity to potentially buy a medium-mileage 15-year-old Accord V6 to replace my high-mileage 15-year-old Accord 4-cylinder. I'll keep you guys posted as the story develops.

Of course I don't know what he wants for it nor any other details yet, so this could come to an abrupt halt if the price is too high or if the car has more miles on it than I am assuming it does. I think he, like me, drives five or six miles each way to the local big office park area to work and that's about it. They take their Honda Odyssey van when they travel as a family.

Edited to add: hey, whaddya know? I have a picture of the car in question. It's the only other car (not a truck/SUV) in this picture. Color is dark green, like my wife's last Accord was.

[George]

It's a '99 Accord SE V6 with leather seats (yuck) and 135,xxx miles (great!). Timing belt, water pump, and whatever else done in Summer 2013. They have all maintenance records since they bought it in 2001. New all-season tires. Price: "We're hoping for four to five thousand". Timeframe for their new car is about a week from now. I can test drive it whenever I like but don't plan to without getting the money and the facts straight first. I don't want that awesome V6 power to influence me in what needs to be a purely business decision.

I haven't done any research yet but welcome any opinions. My initial reaction is the price is too high. I'm off to The Google.

[thesameguy]

Unless there is something really wrong with your car, I wouldn't invest $4k+ to end up right back where you started minus a few miles. Nothing says the lower-mileage car will be any more reliable or require less work in some reasonable future increment. At two or three grand I'd jump on it, but honestly they'll probably be able to get their asking price so I don't think I'd play that game.

[George]

Thank you for your wise counsel TSG. Anybody else? Gut feelings about right and wrong and money and cars?

I think they are asking a fair price after as much online researching as I could stand. It's now just a question of do I want to upgrade my car at this time, and if so, is that one the one?

I don't need to buy a car.

I don't like Accords enough to have much emotional involvement here; it's as if I'm evaluating two toaster ovens to take a gamble on their longevity.

Yet here's what appears to be a gently-used car owned for a long time by a couple who take good care of their cars, their house, their yard, and their kids, so it's not a risk of having been a flood car or an odometer rollback or rebuilt wreck or who knows what else when buying a car with an unknown history.

It's a 15-year-old car that's dark green and the paint is still in good shape. It lives in a garage at home and at work, so it's not faded in or out.

The V6 Accords run a different tire size than the 4-cyls, so I'd need to buy snow tires to fit this car.

I figure I can get at least a grand for my car on CL so that drops my net price.

Strongly considering taking it to my mechanic early next week and paying $100-ish to get an eval.

[Yw-slayer]

I'm actually in a similar position. A friend has a (facelifted, even) BL-generation Legacy GT in WAGON format, which was what I wanted from the start. Yet swapping from my car (~35000km) to his (~60000km, 2 dogs) seems a bit silly to me. Ideally, I'd have both, but that's even siller.

[JoshInKC]

I think I'm inclined to side with tsg on this one. I just don't know that 70k fewer miles, leather, a bit more power, and an uncracked windshield would be worth $4-5k to me. As he said, once you get up into that kind of age and mileage there's no way to know if something random is going to fail out of the blue and either cost you a pile of cash for repairs or leave you shopping for another car two months down the line.
With your situation, I'd jump on it if they wanted $2k, but otherwise let it go unless your accord dies or needs major repairs before the neighbors sell it.

[George]

Thanks Josh.

My current plan - subject to change any second - is to take my car into the shop near my office tomorrow (Monday) morning for an overdue oil change and the once-over for other problems. I'm going to present this opportunity to them and get their opinion after they've inspected my current car. If they say I'm good to go for the forseeable future, then I think I'll pass on this car.

If anyone wants to play, here's a challenge: show me what I can buy for $4000 to $5000 that would be a better car than what I have across the street. Turn-ons: midsize cars to seat four people, V6 engines, manual transmissions, AWD, Japanese reliability, not black in color, and common enough for parts to be readily available.

These and similar cars suit my needs, I believe:

Honda Accord
Toyota Camry
Toyota Avalon
Subaru Legacy / Outback sedans and wagons
The large Acura sedan - can't think of the name - TL, maybe?
Mazda 6 sedans and wagons - does a V6/manual/wagon exist?

And I also have a jones for a Honda Element for some reason. Would have to be AWD and manual to be considered.

[Random]

IMO, the Accord's the sweet spot already.

[George]

Which one? Mine or the green one across the street?

[Random]

Yes.

Toyota Camry -- Dull
Toyota Avalon -- Dull with leather
Subaru Legacy / Outback sedans and wagons -- Not as dull, but not as reliable. Poor fuel economy (if that's a consideration)
The large Acura sedan - can't think of the name - TL, maybe? -- The TL is pretty nice, but not as bulletproof as the 90s Accords.
Mazda 6 sedans and wagons - does a V6/manual/wagon exist? -- Don't think the wagon ever got the manual, sadly. Not as reliable as the Accord, though much sportier and more stylish.