I do agree with Sean, it can't hurt to offer him less or whatever you're comfortable paying. If he's really hurting for cash, he might take it. You never know. Sometimes being in the right place at the right time works too. When I bought my 99, I called the guy up, as I really wanted to talk to him, but he was actually out having dinner with family. I caught up with him the next day, and we worked out a deal and I bought it. At the time, I was looking at it as a parts car for my wife's 00 Accord (he was asking 350 for it). What I found was that the lower pulley had come loose, wore out the crank key slot in the pulley, and eventually jumped timing (retarded). I got a new pulley and key, reset the timing, and fired it up, listening to hear any "expensive" noises (these are interference engines after all). Having heard none, I put a timing kit on it (didn't know when the belt had been last changed), then proceeded to find the power steering leak, then fixed it. I've been driving it ever since. Yeah, I've put more money into it (tires, exhaust, fuel tank, brake lines under the car, and the rest of the lines for the power steering) but it needed those items. Living in the rust belt, some of that is common. But then I've been driving it for over 3 years now.

 

Good advice and I will tell you I feel ready to move on((reluctantly) I think it is getting strange. the things he is texting me do not add up from one text to the next. First when I asked him if he did all the work himself he said he did ,and that he just did not have the time to do the engine mounts right now. I assumed when he wanted me to pay the $200 for labor he wanted me to hire him not somebody else , he also said it would cost $42 each for the mounts so the total for the car would be about $2200 but I then asked him if he would have the time to do it since he already said he did not have any time, and now he responded that he has a mobile mechanic to do it he wanted me to hire ,and he sent me a new link to a place that charges $50 each for the mounts instead of $42, so that conflicts with what he wrote earlier . I responded and I took the advice of the other poster and asked him to have the work done himself before I bought the car, so now he replied that if I put a deposit on the car he will do the work. This is all confusing to me. First of all the car is listed as being in excellent condition, Correct me if this is wrong but I thought excellent condition meant you did not need to still pay $400 dollars for a repair? That there was nothing wrong at all. Second I have not heard of putting a deposit on the car a private owner is selling to have him fix a problem before I buy it,. Is it me or is he jerking me around ?

You want me to offer $1400 for the car and give him $200 to for the cost of mounts for him to repair it for me? Or do I just offer $1400 and find my own mechanic ? I have not even seen the car yet. I have to keep reminding myself how much I want this car because starting to want to move on. He also did not answer me when I asked if anyone had smoked in the car, as a non smoker it would be a turn off for me if the car smelled like cigarette smoke . I do not know how many other offers he has so far, but he just put up the ad a few days ago, and may come down in price on his own .

 

I agree I think he will come down in price if he is hurting for money he just put the add up a few days ago. I currently have a problem in that he is over an hour away and my car is driving badly. I need to get a car quickly. I may rent a car for a week or so and try to look around at what is for sale to purchase a used car . Either that or figure out what is wrong with this car to drive it just until I get another car , but right now in it's current state, my car is not safe to drive, it just died in the middle of the road and then turned back on by itself after it was towed home. I can't drive there to see him with it acting like that and I still need to find someone to come with me to inspect his car for me .I have wanted this particular Honda car for a while now. I have been researching used cars and have come to admire it. My theory is that my car just needs new battery terminals and wires but not sure yet. At this point I do not really trust that the Honda he is selling is in the excellent condition he describes. I wish I knew as much about cars as you do . As a female I was just not brought up to learn about them. I have been trying my best to learn but I feel really confused a lot about it all.

 

If that is what you suspect on your car just clean the terminals and put caps on the battery posts. The way you described your car cutting off then back on leads me to believe that one of you terminals are not snugged on the post. It's happen to me a time or 2 with my 07 accord but I knew what to look for.

With you not having a good feeling about the car just told you everything you need to know. Let your intuition make the decision for you.