Pre purchase inspection - San Jose
#12
ive heard stevens creek dealers are pretty shady, ive also had bad experiences with them when i was looking for a car, they wouldnt even let me test drive a car on the lot.
i would check the car in and out, make sure all the original vin# are there, nothing fishy going on, everything is lined up correctly, etc etc. even if carfax says its clean, not everything is documented in carfax. personally, id like to look at the car myself before purchase so you won't be disappointed.
i would check the car in and out, make sure all the original vin# are there, nothing fishy going on, everything is lined up correctly, etc etc. even if carfax says its clean, not everything is documented in carfax. personally, id like to look at the car myself before purchase so you won't be disappointed.
#14
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Bay Area, CA
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stevens creek honda let me test drive plus take the car for a few hours to do pre-purchase inspection at Blacktrax. however i didn't like their price so i purchased from socal instead.
#17
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: BAY AREA & SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
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#18
Registered User
What are you looking for exactly? Just an overall lookover of the exterior and interior for imperfections? Test drive to see if it drives like a normal regular s2k w/o any funky noises? I had someone do the same for me when I bought my s2k out in So Cal so I'll pay it forward.
If it's something like that, I can do it for you. If you're looking for compression test and something down that road, that i can't do.
If it's something like that, I can do it for you. If you're looking for compression test and something down that road, that i can't do.
#19
Just got back from checking out the car. Overall, PASS.
The Bad:
- Front bumper, passenger fender, rear bumper and soft top has been replaced. All 3 of those pieces are missing VIN and the soft top has non Honda glass and the stitchings are white instead of black.
- Scratch on front bumper
- Knick on driver door edge
- Front bumper doesn't fit correctly around headlights
- Rust on 2 front bumpers
- Rear bumper doesn't fit correctly around tail lights
- 2 small plastic pieces in the rear by the trunk have been repainted and are chipping at the top where it meets the soft top black seal
- Replaced body panels don't match OEM panels
- Rust on suspension pieces. I don't know what it's called, but see pic.
- Random scratches throughout the sides of the car
- Idles really loud. Almost like a slapping noise. Not as rapid sounding as a bad TCT, just has a loud slap sound to it. I had the sales guy fire up another S on the lot (also a PASS), and the other S was a lot quieter.
Didn't bother test driving the car since I knew something was different with the way it sounded when it was started and figured if you're anywhere near as meticulous as I am, you would pass on the car.
I took a bunch of pics, mostly of the imperfections.
Front bumper missing VIN
Rear bumper missing VIN
Driver fender with VIN
Passenger fender missing VIN
Hood VIN
Trunk VIN
Passenger door VIN
The Bad:
- Front bumper, passenger fender, rear bumper and soft top has been replaced. All 3 of those pieces are missing VIN and the soft top has non Honda glass and the stitchings are white instead of black.
- Scratch on front bumper
- Knick on driver door edge
- Front bumper doesn't fit correctly around headlights
- Rust on 2 front bumpers
- Rear bumper doesn't fit correctly around tail lights
- 2 small plastic pieces in the rear by the trunk have been repainted and are chipping at the top where it meets the soft top black seal
- Replaced body panels don't match OEM panels
- Rust on suspension pieces. I don't know what it's called, but see pic.
- Random scratches throughout the sides of the car
- Idles really loud. Almost like a slapping noise. Not as rapid sounding as a bad TCT, just has a loud slap sound to it. I had the sales guy fire up another S on the lot (also a PASS), and the other S was a lot quieter.
Didn't bother test driving the car since I knew something was different with the way it sounded when it was started and figured if you're anywhere near as meticulous as I am, you would pass on the car.
I took a bunch of pics, mostly of the imperfections.
Front bumper missing VIN
Rear bumper missing VIN
Driver fender with VIN
Passenger fender missing VIN
Hood VIN
Trunk VIN
Passenger door VIN
#20
Driver door VIN
Soft top replaced. non oem glass and white stitching
Rear bumper doesn't line up correctly and paint chipping at the top where it meets the rear qtr panel
Front bumper with rusted bolt. There's 2 of them.
Scratch on front bumper
2 plastic pieces near the trunk that have been repainted (don't match the OEM color) and are chipping at the top where it meets the seal to the soft top
Chip on driver door edge
Front bumper fitment on passenger side
Front bumper fitment on driver side
Rust on suspension parts
Driver side bolster
Engine bay
Unmatch paint. Not sure if you can really tell or if this is an accurate depiction, but there's a difference between the bumper (replaced) and the driver fender (oem). Bumper is like 2 shades darker than the fender.
Soft top replaced. non oem glass and white stitching
Rear bumper doesn't line up correctly and paint chipping at the top where it meets the rear qtr panel
Front bumper with rusted bolt. There's 2 of them.
Scratch on front bumper
2 plastic pieces near the trunk that have been repainted (don't match the OEM color) and are chipping at the top where it meets the seal to the soft top
Chip on driver door edge
Front bumper fitment on passenger side
Front bumper fitment on driver side
Rust on suspension parts
Driver side bolster
Engine bay
Unmatch paint. Not sure if you can really tell or if this is an accurate depiction, but there's a difference between the bumper (replaced) and the driver fender (oem). Bumper is like 2 shades darker than the fender.