Probably buying this 06 tomorrow

[SeventyGTX]

Being in a small town away from large cities makes it tough looking for one of of these. But I have been conversing back and forth with a very pleasant salesman at a Honda dealership about 3 hours from here. I sent him good clear pics of my wife's immaculate 03 Accord EX V6, and he sent me more pics of the MDX. We agreed on a deal, and I will be heading out in the morning to most likely pick this one up.

Its not my favorite color, but the wife likes it and it will be her vehicle. We aren't concerned about the high miles as she has only put 11k on her Honda in the past 5 years. It has gone through Honda's 150 point inspection and is confirmed that everything works as it should, brakes have been replaced, all fluids changed, etc. I'm really liking it having the tow package. Here is a link to the vehicle, and any input is appreciated. The Carfax shows two owners, only because the original owners gave it to their daughter and she traded it in on a new Honda. Oh, and that price is much more than what we will be paying.


Used 2006 Acura MDX 3.5L w/Touring/Nav/Onstar 4WD For Sale | Shingle Springs CA .

[Tyler]

Looks good, did he fix the passenger side air vent? The piece is broken, have them fix that..
When was timing belt changed?

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Being in a small town away from large cities makes it tough looking for one of of these.

No reason you can't do a regional (or even national) search, on sites like Autotrader. Make all the arrangements, and when you pick it up, the deal is contingent on no surprises when you do your final inspection.

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Its not my favorite color, but the wife likes it and it will be her vehicle.

Then her opinion on color is the only one that matters.

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

The Carfax shows two owners, only because the original owners gave it to their daughter and she traded it in on a new Honda.

As Tyler implies, it would be very helpful if you could get the service history on it, so you can know when each of the recommended services (including the timing belt) was last done. Which lets you figure out when it's due again. (Acura does not keep centralized records, but if you can find out, or figure out, the dealer that serviced it over the years, they can provide you a service history.)

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Oh, and that price is much more than what we will be paying.

Since you've been shopping around, I'm sure you realize that that mileage is way, WAY above average for a 2006, which means the price should be way, WAY below average, much more so than the asking price shown in the listing.

Good luck with the purchase!

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Looks good, did he fix the passenger side air vent? The piece is broken, have them fix that..
When was timing belt changed?

Not sure what you are seeing with the air vent.

I will find out tomorrow on the belt and everything else that has been done do it.

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by nsxtasy

No reason you can't do a regional (or even national) search, on sites like Autotrader. Make all the arrangements, and when you pick it up, the deal is contingent on no surprises when you do your final inspection.


Then her opinion on color is the only one that matters.


As Tyler implies, it would be very helpful if you could get the service history on it, so you can know when each of the recommended services (including the timing belt) was last done. Which lets you figure out when it's due again. (Acura does not keep centralized records, but if you can find out, or figure out, the dealer that serviced it over the years, they can provide you a service history.)


Since you've been shopping around, I'm sure you realize that that mileage is way, WAY above average for a 2006, which means the price should be way, WAY below average, much more so than the asking price shown in the listing.

Good luck with the purchase!

Nxtasy, the salesman said they have all service records on the vehicle, so I will examine them before I commit. Yes, the mileage is up there, but we wont put that much more on it so not concerned too much about it especially seeing ones in the high mileage thread with over 300k. Being a new car dealer, I expected to pay more, because they usually take in clean cars and wholesale the bad ones. Plus they generally do more service to it than a regular used car lot or even some private owners for that matter. Its hard to say exactly what we are paying for this, because we got a fixed number, plus her car. But I would say about $12k outright, or her car and $5500 including tax.

How clean the car is overall is important to me, and this one looks as good or better than any I have seen. I didn't want to deal with shipping our car to another party, which we had to use for trade to keep from having car payments. Besides, buying one sight unseen is a crap shoot even with pictures. At least I will physically be able to check this one out. Like I said, I have not commited to it yet. But it looks promising when compared to others I have seen. If it doesn't work out, I will keep searching.

Edit: I just sent the salesman a text asking about the timing belt. He said it was done at 115k.

[Tyler]

The vent on the passenger side is missing the clip that helps move the vent up and down, side to side.

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Edit: I just sent the salesman a text asking about the timing belt. He said it was done at 115k.

That's great that you're getting the service history. Note, the recommendation for changing the timing belt is after 105K miles or 7 years, whichever comes first. Since your wife won't put a lot of miles on it, you'll want to know what year it was done, so that you can have it done when 7 years have passed from that point, assuming it hasn't reached 220K miles by then.

[SeventyGTX]

Well, I did not get the one I posted. I got up early and drove 3 hours to see it, even with a bad cold/flu bug that hit me. It was in nice condition for its age, but the mileage on it was really starting to get to me. I took it for a test drive and the first thing I noticed was the brake pedal going down quite a bit. Not bad, but felt like air in the lines. Then I hit the freeway, and it started to get a shimmy at 70 mph. The salesman said it was probably a tire out of balance.

So, while they were dealing with that, I told them I was going to go look at another one. The young salesman tried his best to keep me there, but I said I would kick myself if I didn't go check the other one out. Turns out, I ended up buying the other one. It is a beauty. I pm'd nxtasy a link to it a couple of days ago. It is an 05 touring with 129k what they told me was plain white, but when I got there, it was pearl and the body was in excellent condition, as was the interior. The front bumper cover was repainted at some point and doesn't quite match, but that is typical of pearls. They are a pain to match. I know because I have been in the body/paint trade for 40 years.

Anyway, it drives great but does have a couple of issues. The fog lights aren't working and the navigation system is missing the disc. They told me they would send me one. I have no clue how these things work, but I took his word for it. They have already taken the link down, so I cannot post pics of it, but it really looks good and made the 200 mile trip home a joy. Unfortunately, I have no maintenence records, but the Carfax shows one owner, bought in Mission Viejo California and no open recalls. The dealer told me it was traded in to a Mercedes dealer. So that's it for now, I'm tired and feel like crap. lol

Oh, and the best part is wifey likes it a LOT!

[nsxtasy]

SeventyGTX, I think you did very well. When you get a bad feeling about a car, it's usually based on something significant, so it's usually a good idea to walk away. And when you get a good feeling about a car, the same way, it's usually a good idea to consider proceeding with the purchase. Sounds like you made some good decisions.

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Unfortunately, I have no maintenence records, but the Carfax shows one owner, bought in Mission Viejo California and no open recalls.

If I were you, I would place a call to the service department at Norm Reeves Acura of Mission Viejo (949-347-0500) and ask them if they can print out and fax/e-mail you a service history of the car if you give them the VIN. Granted, this assumes that the owner had it serviced at the same dealer where he bought it, which not everyone does, but a lot of people do, and it's one phone call, and you've got nothing to lose by trying! (If they tell you it wasn't serviced there, you could try a few nearby dealerships. Or maybe there are Carfax records that tell you that it was owned/serviced in another locality, where you could try calling the Acura dealership. One other thing you could do is, if it has a nav system and you haven't yet entered your own home address, you could press the HOME button and it may show you the home address of the previous owner, so you could call the Acura dealership closest to there and ask if they can give you the service records.)

Without a service history, it becomes a bit of a crapshoot guessing when the various maintenance services were performed, so you don't know when to do everything again. For example, the car has 129K miles; the timing belt is recommended for replacement every 105K miles or 7 years, whichever comes first. Do you assume it was already done (remember, it could destroy the engine if it fails) or do you assume it was never done (which errs on the side of caution, but means you're spending $700-900 on it right away)? And even if you assume it was already done once, how long do you wait before doing it again? You'd be making the same kinds of guesses for all the other services in the maintenance schedule. That's why I would try making a few phone calls to find out whatever I could about it. It could save you a significant amount of money on service (or worse).

Best of luck with your MDX!

[SeventyGTX]

Actually, it was bought at Tustin Acura also in that area of SoCal. In with all the manuals are some cards with the salesman's name as well as a Roadside Assistance card with the previous owners name. I told the wife I will see if I can locate original owner, who happens to be female and see if I can find out any information. Well, that didn't go over well with the wife, she said the woman would probably think I was a perverted stalker or something. But, I will contact the dealer and see if I can find out anything.

Yea, wondering about the timing belt is kind of stressful. The dealer I got it from did perform a trans service and changed all the fluids, that much I know. They deal in a lot of high end cars like Mercedes and BMWs and have a great reputation. Its not some hillbilly used car lot, which makes me feel pretty good about the purchase. This awesome Z06 Corvette was being looked at by a couple when I was leaving.....

http://www.saceuro.com/2008-Chevrole...8/Details.aspx

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

I told the wife I will see if I can locate original owner, who happens to be female and see if I can find out any information. Well, that didn't go over well with the wife, she said the woman would probably think I was a perverted stalker or something. But, I will contact the dealer and see if I can find out anything.

Yes, try phoning the dealer. If it turns out you need to contact the original owner, have your wife make the phone call.

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

The fog lights aren't working

The first and easiest thing to check is the fuse for the fog lights. It's in the fuse box under the hood. It's shown as #50 in the fuse box diagram shown below, and it should be a 20A fuse.