Looking to Buy - What to watch out for

[stormyday]

I have been looking to buy a 1st Gen for a few years. I have finally found one locally. I can get no informaiton from the used car deal (it was purchaced at auction).

Is there anything that I need to check before making my offer?

It is an 01 - 144K - CVT

[jkbrushaber]

I would check to make sure it has a clean title, not salvage. Check carfax. That car only has 6k miles left on the battery warranty (10yr/150k). I would check with Honda and find out if the battery has ever been replaced. If it has sat around without being driven for weeks or even months, the battery pack will likely fail within a year. You can have the pack repaired when it fails by hybrid-battery-repair for around $1000. Keep that in mind when negotiating price. Otherwise, just investigate its general condition as you would any used car. If you are interested in max mpg, make sure the stock tires are on it, as any other type or size will decrease your fuel economy quite a bit.

[stormyday]

Thanks jkbrushaber.

Picked it up today. Drove it home (40 M) and averaged 52.6 MPG running mostly interstate @ 65-70. It had the 150K service already done by the dealer including CVT fluid change and new spark plugs. Cannot find anything out about the batteries. Under the hood looks like all new hoses. It has a few rattling noises that I will have to figure out. The "spoiler" on the back has a broken bracket that I will have to fix. I plan on taking it to one of the local Honda dealers to see what I can get out of them as far as past maintenance. The only thing that I know that does not work is the rear hatch will not open without the key (I hear something run but will not unlatch).

I have a lot of questions about the vehicle and I am sure that I can find answers to most of them on this forum.

Are the any suggestions or mods that are low cost and will help the performance? My first things to do to the vehicle is clean it and replace the radio and see if I can get the headlights cleared up.

[Varak]

You need a new rear hatch actuator (part# 74840-S3Y-003). $80+ at dealer or $60 online.

The spoiler is around $100 to replace, or you can do like I and others have done and simply use clear silicon to glue it in place.

If you give the Vin# to the dealer, they should be able to check on what warranty work was done on it, including a new battery, if any.

[jkbrushaber]

I would highly suggest getting a ScanguageII, this will let you moniter throttle position (to keep it as low and steady as needed), as well as many other parameters such as engine temp, mpg, speed, rpm, air intake temp etc.

Not very useful for anything but comfort, I really like my armrest from armrestking.

A radiator block (cardboard) is the cheapest mod there is for getting up to operating temp faster and maintaining it.

I haven't done it yet, but the hot air mod is pretty useful and pretty cheap as well.

Best of luck with you new car.

[stormyday]

I have a ScanGuage that I put in my Tacoma. I love it and I went from 22-23 MPG to 25-26 MPG. I will defiantly check out the armrest. I doubt I would use the radiator block because it stays fairly warm here and I will probably drive my truck in the snow.