None of those listed will attract me. I drove military vehicles as a U.S. military civilian, company cars all those years getting replaced every 3 years(I got them at book value most of time and gave to family members or sold for some profit). Now I drive my own paid for new car already 7 years old. Looks like have to get another one B4 I go, smaller one so wife can handle, she will drive longer than me for sure.
Check history. bought new by? in? and when? Traded in where and when? sent to auction by that dealer? Any insurance history?
The car may have been traded in by a young couple who needed a bigger family car - and bought a non-Honda vehicle. The dealer didn't want it on the lot so sent it to the auction. With a clean car-fax and documented service records (mileage) it could be a fantastic deal
Then again, it could have been a tornado damaged car from Oklahoma that was repaired and sent to auction, or a flood damaged car from Alabama, or a hurricaine damaged Florida car.
It could have been a daily rental car, possibly one that had suffered minor damage. Rental fleets often don't repair damaged vehicles - they sell them off to a used car lot that has them repaired. Some rental fleets self insure, so the damage may not show up on CarFax - but the chain of ownership should.
It may even have been (gasp) a MICHIGAN car!!!!!
The salt water issue is very real. My Coronet had holes rusted through THE ROOF!!!. It spent the first 10 years of it's life in California with a surf-board rack on the roof...
Actually, seashore salt is worse than winter salt. Corrosion is very slow when it is very cold and dry. It is quite fast when it is warm and wet.
If a northern "rust belt" car is well washed in the spring, and oiled yearly, there will be very little rust (as my 19 year old rustbelt Ranger and 13 year old rustbelt Taurus prove) while a coastal southern saltwater car litterlly soaks in brine all year, and is unlikely to have rust-resit treatments done.
I've noticed one thing among our farmer customers. They don't seem to mind repairing equipment as much if it can be DIY. It seems to be more of an issue if they need me out to do the repairs. I think there's more to it than the cost. It just bugs people more if they can't fix their own.
That shouldn't be hard to find, particularly a 2012. I don't know how many would show up on an auction lot unless a dealer that took it in trade wasn't interested in used cars at all. Have you tried out of state craigslists?
By special I had more in mind something like a Suzuki X-90. It really isn't that bad a little ride but it's sort of weird looking and there were never too many imported. Compared to it there's a Civic behind every tree.
Good luck! Does the Kissimmee dealer have a CARFAX on it? Quite a few of the local dealers provide one to prove it's not a franken-car from a salvage sale.
If you look in the western states rust isn't much of a problem. Few use salt and it's pretty dry throughout the year. The mileage tends to run high but today a 100,000 mile car is just getting broken in and it's difficult to spin them anymore so the miles are accurate.
I bought once out of province, a first car my daughter wanted in HS a Subaru Impreza with certain color which was not around locally. I had to pay insured transportation charge on top of negotiated price. Being a brand new had no concern of any issues.
My only convertible was a '62 Austin Healy Sprite. It was a fun little car but the convertible top, frame and side windows lived in the trunk. When it started to rain, you got the frame out, dropped into two sockets, spread the top over it and snapped in down all around. Then you attached the windows with the knurled screws. It wasn't all that waterproof either so you were resigned to having a wet ass if it rained.
Oh, and then there was the Fiat Spyder but the less said about that the better. Italians design some sharp looking machinery. Actually working reliably is way down on their list.
All in all, if I want fresh air I'll jump on one of the bikes.
The Sprite's gas gauge was non-functional (I think Lucas had a hand in it) and I ran out a few blocks from home. It was level ground and the car was so light just walking beside it with a hand on the steering wheel and pushing was no problem. Then I came to an intersection with a cop directing traffic. He stopped traffic and I crossed but his parting shot was "Do you always take your car for a walk?"
Then there was the startled deer that headed straight for me. I wasn't sure if it was going to try to jump the car or join me in the cockpit. fortunately, it veered off.
Or the time I stopped at a road construction site. They skimped on the blast mats so when they set the charge off the sky was filled with rocks, all seemingly with my name on them. Fortunately the only damage was a headlight as the guy in front of me tried to back up out of range.
I don't know about the traffic jam part. I've been parked on my bike on an LA freeway and it wasn't all that much like a park bench. Unless your parks are heavy on exhaust fumes, that is.
You're right. I'll go back to ignoring him. I guess I wanted to give a paeon to convertibles. I never understood religious missionaries until they stopped making American convertbles in the 70's and I started telling everyone how wonderful they are, compared to sedans.
I forgot to mention that they are good for carrying things. I've carried doors, plywood, a desl. and a 4-drawer file cabinet in the back seat at various times, all standing up, and when I had a full size car, twice I moved a spinet piano. Put a double bed mattress on the trunk and where the top goes, and drove at about 25mph where the road was very good. 10mph were it was rough. Lots of other big things fit back there when the top is down.
I only saw his post because Ed quioted it.
Rbow, I've heard that small foreign sports cars have tops that are a pain, and I saw one in "The Graduate" but for all of my ragtops, I haven't even had to get out of the driver's seat. I push the button and latch the top when it reaches the windshield.
That was technically a "roadster"
I've had the pleasure over the years of driving a '65 Pontiac Parisienne convert, a Sunbeam Alpine, an MGB, and MG TD, a Jeep CJ and a chopped off VW Beetle. Didn't own any of them but had custody of them for extended periods over the years. Had no top for the TD or the Vw. The Poncho was nice and snug. The CJ was cold and drafty. The B and the Alpine were lots of fun and reasonably weather tight.
None were particularly practical cold weather vehicles - not a problem with the Alpine or VW as they were in Africa -and I'd never have any of them as an "only" car,or a "winter" car.
Today's cars are more electronics than mechanics, days of shade tree grease monkeya is gone....
Now it's computer Geeks that enjoy working on cars - - - - - -
The good news is, they need far less service on things like spark plugs. No more oints and rotor, plug changes 1t 100,000 instead of clean at
5000 and replace at 10,000.
and the exhausts last virtually forever too.
Oil change interval too.
On 04/02/2015 10:35 PM, Tony Hwang wrote: ...
Tell that to the PS high pressure hose I had to replace last week...
If it was a new Honda Fit (or one of litteraly dozens of other recent vintage vehicles) even THAT has gone electric/electronic. About the only pressurized fluid left on many vehicles is gasoline, engine oil, brake fluid, and windsheild washer fluid.
So, what is it, some variable-torque electric-drive gearmotor arrangement?
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