Hi folks. I'm not a Fit owner yet but am looking at purchasing a pre-owned one for my daughter. There's one I found recently which was salvaged and rebuilt, has very low mileage and seems to be a decent price.
Today I borrowed it from the seller and took it to a AAA mechanic to get a pre-sales inspection done on it. He found a number of issues, some what I was expecting and probably fairly easy to fix, but some are more serious.
I'm hoping I can get some advice so I don't get ripped off, so hopefully this kind of question is appropriate for the forums!
In a nutshell, the car is:
- 2013 Honda Fit
- 11K miles
- Carfax shows it was corporate owned, wrecked/rebuilt in 2016
- Carfax shows airbags deployed, no structural damage, no flood
- Seller is asking $6,999 for it

Mechanic's inspection lists this:
- Panic button doesn't work (also noticed that hitting the lock button multiple times doesn't give a 'chirp' like most cars do). Horn works.
- Driver front wheel bearing is loud
- Cabin filter is 'dirty' (actually looks like mouse droppings!)
- Driver's power mirror doesn't work (passenger does)
- TPMS codes 11-1, 15-1, 17-1
- Electric power steering code 21-03 Canvs on (not sure what that means)
- He said the evaporative condenser code (?) was showing 'n/a', which means there's either some issue that it's turned off or maybe the car hasn't been driving enough miles to set it, or could be simple like faulty gas cap or fuel line
- Passenger CV acle boot has zip ties and will leak (other side has the metal brackets)
- Splash shields missing below engine, transmission
- Drivers side radiator fan not mounted properly
- Right front tier looks to be in bad shape

Otherwise the car is great. It feels pretty much like driving a brand new car. Am I crazy for thinking about this? Or is it overpriced given the issues?

Thanks for any advice! I'm looking forward to being a Fit owner. If this goes well I may get another one to replace an older Nissan my son is driving.

 

In this "everybody sues everybody" world we living in now, auto insurance companies are WAY too quick to declare a car totaled. There are lots of rebuilt titles out there now, probably with the vast majority of them having suffered little damage, especially to areas not involving a head on collision and engine damage. The head ons are the ones I would avoid. Too many things can go undetected after an engine has been pushed around. I would have no problem buying a "rebuilt" titled car after having it inspected like you have done. I think I am in the minority however. I think most owners who choose to get their cars fixed and retitled usually find that they have a terrible time trying to sell it down the road. That is where a smart buyer comes in and gets a deal. One other issue however: check with your insurance company to see what they think. You could find yourself paying much higher insurance, making the the whole "deal" not such a deal after all. Good luck.

 

Thanks. As far as resale goes I'm not too worried about that. I typically buy a car then run it into the ground until it's worth nothing. I'll also check insurance and see about that, but not sure they really care if I get liability only insurance.