Buying a 2010 Honda Civic...

[Mark Gallego]

I am a 20 year Old student that is looking to buy a reliable car that will last me long and get me around places. So I'm looking to buy a 2010 Honda Civic, 95500kms for $9000 negotiable price. The owner allowed me to take it to a mechanic to inspect if everything is good! Long story short, Everything was good except! When the mechanic checked the oil, there was barely any or it was really low. Keep in mind that the owner had majorly serviced the car at 93000kms. So in the span of 2500kms it drained heaps of oil. My mechanic told to try get it down to 7k because of the oil problem. Is this problem common problem that can be maintained or is it a major issue? please leave your thoughts and opinions. thanks!

 

[dancam]

$2000 is a lot to take off the asking price if it was a fair price besides oil burning. Especially since you dont know that for sure. Could be that it didn't get filled all the way at the last service. You didnt say how low it was. One litre? 2? Its not an issue if you dont mind adding oil. I drove a car that burned a litre of oil every 600km. Every time i filled up with gas i added a litre of oil. Wasn't a big deal to me and didnt affect anything else.
No one else can advise you on a fair price with no location, pictures or other info like trim level, rims/tires, body damage, auto/man trans... Your mechanic would be the best to advise you on weather or not to buy it as he actually looked at it. He would be the one to tell you if the burning oil (if it is burning any) is serious. He could check the pcv system, check spark plugs and intake manifold for oil, check oil pressure, check to see if maybe its just leaking and not burning and so on.
Burning oil or leaking oil is usually more of an annoyance than a serious problem that needs to be fixed right away.
If you have any more details or other questions let us know


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[Mark Gallego]

$2000 is a lot to take off the asking price if it was a fair price besides oil burning. Especially since you dont know that for sure. Could be that it didn't get filled all the way at the last service. You didnt say how low it was. One litre? 2? Its not an issue if you dont mind adding oil. I drove a car that burned a litre of oil every 600km. Every time i filled up with gas i added a litre of oil. Wasn't a big deal to me and didnt affect anything else.
No one else can advise you on a fair price with no location, pictures or other info like trim level, rims/tires, body damage, auto/man trans... Your mechanic would be the best to advise you on weather or not to buy it as he actually looked at it. He would be the one to tell you if the burning oil (if it is burning any) is serious. He could check the pcv system, check spark plugs and intake manifold for oil, check oil pressure, check to see if maybe its just leaking and not burning and so on.
Burning oil or leaking oil is usually more of an annoyance than a serious problem that needs to be fixed right away.
If you have any more details or other questions let us know


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Thank you so much for taking your time to help me out! Yeah makes sense!

 

[HeX]

Did your mechanic mention if he noticed any oil leaks? Did the car owner specify if the dealership performed this supposed maintenance? Its possible that either you have an oil leak, such as the oil pan gasket or valve cover gasket, or if the service was performed at a dealership that the stupid mechanics put the wrong amount of oil. I know nothing of Australia's dealership reputability, but in the US you don't trust dealer mechanics.

 

[dancam]

I know nothing of Australia's dealership reputability, but in the US you don't trust dealer mechanics.

Same goes for Canada



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[HeX]

I forgot to mention, inspect everything oil related and see if you notice something missing like the crush washer for the oilpan bolt, if the valve cover is loose, etc. Even reputable mechanics can have an off moment. If you.notice its something simple, dobt mention it and use the heavy oil leak as a bargaining chip in your favor.

 

[Mark Gallego]

He offered to to get the car serviced before selling it to me and brought it over to 2 separate mechanics just for my peace of mind, cause i think he knows how paranoid I am now. Showed me all receipts, stamps and ticks of all service done and even took a video of the service LOL. Thanks everyone! Buying the car tomorrow!