Found a 2009 Fit Sport with 94,000 miles on it. The guy I'm buying it from said he took care of it. It has a new paint job, recently detailed, and according to Carfax the maintenance history checks out. When I drove it it ran smooth. I'm not a mechanic or have the best knowledge of cars but I couldn't find anything majorly bad with it. The engine didn't sound the best, and I included a video below, please check it out. I ran it with the free OBD2 scanner they give you at Auto Zone and the only code that popped up was a short in one of the front seat belts, which I don't think is a big deal?

Two of the tires felt a little old. They weren't dry rotting but I did the Lincoln Penny Test and two of them were a bit low. He said he bought them about 9 months ago.

He listed the car at $9500, and came down to $9200

The VIN is: JHMGE88689S023761

Here is the CARFAX

Here is an album of videos/pictures Please listen to the first video and let me know if the engine is supposed to sound like that. Is that ticking normal?

When I googled the VIN number it popped up on an auction site: site 1 This aligns with the Carfax I suppose. The rust on the sides looks bad, and according to the Carfax there was some damage on the left and right. Maybe that is the damage? It could be frame damage, I'll have to check again when I go to see the car a second time.

The guy selling said he was selling because he had 2 other cars (a bmw and mercedes I think) and wanted to get rid of this car. The insurance for all three was a lot. When I asked why didn't he list the price higher as he claimed it was worth like $12/13k, he said he wanted to sell fast and that his wife and him needed the money. He claimed to be a cop and Christian as well.

Do you guys think it is worth it?

I'm going to look at it again on Saturday/Sunday. If it looks good, I'm willing to buy it. Anything I should look for in particular? Any common problems with fits that are of this age/mileage?

For reference: This is my first car, I only need it to go to the train station and maybe the occasional trip to the mall or up the east coast to a different state. I really like hatchbacks and I was about to purchase a Corolla Hatchback until the insurance qoutes were insane (I'm 22, sort of new driver, so). The fit was my backup option, and I'm willing to learn to be good with cars to take care of it.

 

Unless I know the person I'm buying a car from I don't believe anything they tell me. Your seller is apparently a Christian police officer who spends his weekends doing autobody repair and painting cars. He normally drives European luxury cars, so you know he has taste, but he also appreciates economic utility (hence the Fit). Most importantly, although he knows that he's got a $13,000 car he's willing to give it to you for $9000 because you seem like a good kid...

It's possible, but makes me suspicious.

If you're not car-savvy ask the seller if you can take the car to a mechanic that you trust (or that a trusted person recommends to you) for an inspection. Any honest seller should be cool with that. It will cost you a bit, but could save you $9000 in this case.

Trouble codes can be reset before you arrive to look at the car.

With the tires, you don't have to go by feel or what the seller tells you. Get a tread depth gauge for a couple dollars at Walmart or Autozone. New tires should be 10/32 or 11/32 inch. All tires have a date code that will tell you exactly how old they are. Learn how to read the code and you won't have to guess or believe what the seller is telling you.

More generally, it's difficult for anyone to make a car buying recommendation without seeing a car in person. The current pictures make the car look pretty nice, but a full detail can do that. The auction pictures, on the other hand, show rust around the rear fenders and maybe on the rocker panel (under the side skirts) as well. That's not unexpected for a 10+ year old car in the NE US, but it's definitely a no-no for me when it comes to buying a car. Before I would even consider buying this car I would need answers to several questions.

Question 1: How bad was the rust? From experience, if you see visible rust on the exterior of a car you can expect it to be much worse on the underbody. Did you check? You should before handing over money.

Question 2: How was the rust repaired prior to the repaint? Proper rust repair is expensive. Slapping some bondo on a fender and sanding it reasonably smooth is not. Both can look okay for a while, but one will look like trash in a year, especially in the salty NE US. I have a hard time believing that someone would drop thousands of dollars to repair rust on a Fit they were going to sell, as there's little chance you would recover that investment in the sale price, even with the current inflated used car prices.

Question 3: Why was the car repainted? I love my Fit, and might consider repainting it some day, but I have a hard time believing anyone would repaint a 10+ year old (rusty) Fit they were planning to sell. A good paint job is expensive, and again I don't think you would recover that value selling an older Fit.

Basically, the story doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

The engine sounds like a Honda 4-cyl engine. At that mileage it's time for the valve clearance to be adjusted. If that hasn't been done it would likely remove some of the clicking. There's all sorts of other maintenance that should be done around 100K miles (consult the maintenance section of the owner's manual or look for many posts here). As above, unless the seller can show me receipts for what they say they've done, I assume I have to do it all.

Unfortunately this is a horrible time to buy a car (new or used) because of the horribly inflated prices. If you can go a while longer without a car I would do that, as the prices have to come down at some point. If not, you should definitely consider getting a pre-purchase inspection on any used car if you're inexperienced in identifying common (often expensive) issues.

Good luck.

 

All of this ^^
I wouldn't buy it.

 

I second the idea of asking to take the car for a pre-purchase inspection. It'll be a couple hundred dollars that can possibly save you $9k.

 

Ya, there's a lot of polished turds out there these days. A fresh paint job etc are great ways to hide previous damage.
Gotta really look things over closely to ensure you are getting exactly what you want.

 

where are you located?
some areas of the upper-midwest and east coast, cars dont last much longer than that (rust)
I live in the PNW, and cars last alot longer, usually till the engine/transmission arent worth fixing (300K) or till you get hit and the car is totaled

according to KBB.com (Kelly Blue Book), it's worth about $7500 (Private party, Good condition)

I'd say, with the rust (repaint may be hiding more), curbed wheels, needing tires soon, as well as it's 100K service (spark plugs/valve adjustment) being right around the corner, she's probably worth closer to $6500

remember, if you get hit and the car gets totaled, insurance wont give you much over low book value


it's probably a decent car for your needs, you just dont wanna be spending too much on something you'll never be able to get out of


Edit:
for a point of reference, I paid HIGH BOOK (Very Good Condition) at a dealer for mine
I picked up a 2013 with 5,700 miles on it (garaged, RV tow vehicle that wasnt used), back in summer
but my car was a bit of a unicorn