Seems to me like he is trying to flip it. I would ask him how long he had owned it and it the title is in his name. I doubt it is. If it isnt i would stray away and wait for something else.

 

As we all know these are very reliable cars with the biggest problem being the IMA battery. With this vehicle having a verifiable new one that takes a lot of it's potential negatives out of the picture.

128K is still fairly low mileage for the price. I've seen those with 50-75K or less selling for 8K and up.

So while he might be a flipper or perhaps a short term owner, his asking price isn't out of line in this era of $4 per gallon gas. It might be worth a trip or phone call to the Honda dealer to verify it's local history if any, plus ask how much it would be for an overall inspection. If they do find some defects there might be some potential bargaining chips to negotiate on the price.

 

As long as title is in his name, and is not a salvage rebuilt title (carfax), and he actually has the receipts for the ima battery change, its not a bad deal. The only thing that i noticed, is that the engine and interior is super clean (steam clean engine), meaning the guy is probably illegally using a dealer's license to sell it...

 

I checked it out today and also got the autocheck.

Positives: looks clean, title checks out, battery receipt checks out. Seems to drive ok.

Negatives: Autocheck (here) shows 2 accidents and says 6 owners but I think it is actually 4. One accident he described as a fender bender, that's the most recent one autocheck describes as 'minor'. Other accident I'm not sure about.

Also, no maintenance records, owner claims to do maintenance himself. From how he described it, he seemed to know what he was talking about, how to take particular care of the car, etc. Seemed to be a hobbyist. He was taking care of the car for his father, or so the story goes.

Thoughts?

 

so is the title in his name?

 

Technically it's in his mom's name, but I checked his ID and the last name and address are the same as on the title.

So yes, title's in his family's name.

 

Meaning you have to do the final deal with her at the table. No proxy handovers. Those are loaded with problems.

 

well that makes me feel better. your link for the autocheck doesnt work but if you pm me the vin I will run an autocheck and look it over.

 

If you have the VIN number you ought to call the dealer where any work was done and see if they may tell you what work was done. (Your going to be taking the car there etc etc.) If you call another dealer they normally won't bother to look it up in the national system.

You can input the VIN at the following link to see if there is any outstanding maintenance recall work that is outstanding. (Probably none but it's worth the effort.)

Safety Recalls | Honda Safety | Honda Owners Site

 

did a google of the vin and came up with these:
VIN: JHMZE14794T000250 - Honda : Insight DX 2004 Honda Insight CVT ***New Battery pack......
you can call these people and see if they have any info.
http://www.ecarlist.com/cgi-bin/pdf.pdf?mode=window&id=161485&d_id=1681
just think they are worth a look.

 

off topic, but thanks for that link! I have 2 recalls not done (not going to either) lol

 

That looks to me like a fine car. 5-7 more years should be no problem at all, provided you keep up on maintenance.

Most likely problem I foresee: with only 10k miles per year based on your estimate, you likely won't be exercising the battery as much as you should, and could lead to its premature death.

I wish everyone posting used car ads would post that many pictures.

Consider this: there are several MY2000 insights with 500k+ miles on them, still on the road. This car, a MY2004, at ~125k mi, is comparatively a baby.