2002 CRV EX AWD - Please help me determine if it's a lemon!!!

[Wendy27]

Dear members,

I would appreciate if someone could please help me: I have NEVER EVER bought a used car before, so it's safe to say I have no clue what to look for when buying one. I have been checking autotrader.com, craigslist (I'm from LA) and other sites for used cars (especially Honda CRV's and Toyota RAV4's) in the past 2-3 weeks and so at least know what the price range of such cars is...

Today I came across a car listed at ebay (2002 Honda CRV EX AWD) and while the "buy it now!" price was $7500 (already quite low for what other dealers are charging), the seller also accepted offers from buyers ("make an offer" option). Not really expecting to win the auction, I offered $6500 and to my surprise, the seller accepted just moments later. Now, before making an offer I did check the history record with Autocheck.com and it reported no problems (I believe the rating was 89%), and I also checked the private-party value of the car at KBB ($7400) and at Nadaguides.net ($6400), assuming the car is in "good" condition. Still, I feel uneasy about the whole thing, since dealers usually price these cars around $9-10k...

I also noticed that the listing has been viewed quite many times (200+ views), meaning if this were indeed such a good deal, someone would have probably bought the car before me. Thus, I'm just wondering if high mileage (most older CRV's come with high mileage, though!) and the fact that the car was towed and/or anything else is the reason the car was offered at such a price.

I'll have the car inspected by a mechanic of my choice before I buy it, but I'd prefer saving me the whole ordeal of meeting with the seller, having the car inspected, etc. if it is obvious that there's something fishy going on here and that the car might be a lemon.

So, here's the link: Honda : CR-V:eBay Motors (item 350263587365 end time Oct-15-09 20:00:12 PDT)

I'd appreciate any feedback or just your thoughts about the whole deal. As I said, I have no clue about used cars (or used CRV's in particular), so I'd be really grateful if someone knowledgeable could tell me a thing or two and just point me in the right direction...

Thanks!

Wendy


PS-I'm aware of the radio not working, and the car having manual transmission (which I prefer to automatic). I'm also assuming the car has been regularly and well serviced - if it turns out that it wasn't, I'll just turn around...

[splink48]

Looks good to me. The price isn't out of the ballpark either. Keep in mind that there is a huge difference b/w private party and nada guides. To find out what the dealer paid, take about $1000 off of trade in value and you'll be pretty close. Dealers like to give wholesale prices on their trade-ins so they can make more off of them later if they sell them.

It looks like a pretty good deal to me, just make sure a mechanic checks it out, especially the 4wd aspect of the suv. If it was engaged while it was being towed, it could spell trouble.

[PrimeTimeV6]

Aren't the CRV all time 4x4

[splink48]

I can't remember....thats what kinda makes me worry about them being towed. If they are and they can't disnegage the transfer case, then it would probably be lead to problems. I can't think of a full time 4wd that does well being towed.