Since like 2017 I’ve been driving my dads old 2010 Honda civic. It just needs a ton of work at this point, the whole underside is like falling apart, so I’m looking to purchase a used car.
I just have no idea what I’m looking at really so was wondering if anyone had any advice. I love that old civic and I occasionally see like other old cars for sale, from like 2013, 2015. Would these cars be a mistake to buy and in like a year I’d get told the same thing, oh your whole underside is rotting away?
Also how much attention should I pay to mileage? And if I do look at an old car, is a low mileage actually worse since it means it wasn’t driven around a lot?
And yeah any advice you can give. Are there any makes/models I should avoid? Any features or specifications I should look for/avoid? Etc. thanks
If it’s a dealership, yeah. They’re almost always going to allow you to do that. If not, that’s a pretty huge red flag especially for cheaper cars. I might feel comfortable using the in house shop to buy a 2 year old CPO luxury car or something, but if I’m buying a 10 year old Honda I would run like hell from any dealership that won’t let me take it to my own mechanic.
If it’s a person to person sale off of Craigslist or something, then they might either want to come with or otherwise be uncomfortable with it.