2005 HCH - To buy with >100k?
Created April 20, 2008, at 6:18 pm by SharkTank
There is a local 2005 HCH (5 spd) with almost 100k miles for $13,000. I've purchased other Honda products with more miles than that and had great success. I'm not familiar with the hybrid long term reliability or battery life. Can anyone tell me if this is a horrible idea to even consider buying a hybrid with this many miles? The car fax is clean and states there was only one previous owner. I do a lot of driving that is work related and am only considering this particular car because of the price and the CA HOV stickers. There are plenty of Civics and Prius in the area with HOV stickers, but people are asking $3-$10k above blue book simply because the sticker is there.
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3 years ago
If the car is "clean" then it should be warrantied for a little longer still.
To be sure though, I would have the car checked out by a Honda service department - only they know how to check these cars. If that cannot happen I would request the VIN number from the vendor and check with a dealership to see if it has a service history. If no history exists or it is minimal then I would not touch the car for that money.
On the other hand, this car can offer better fuel economy than a Prius, but only if driven correctly.
Cheers;
MSantos
3 years ago
I just bought a 2005 HCH w/MT for a little under 14K, here in PA, with 70K miles on it and it was Honda Certified which with that and the extended warranty bumper to bumper to 100k I am pretty sure any major problems will probably rear its head before then. Like you I was well aware of Honda's long term reliability of other vehicles from 3 that I had driven to well over 250K miles and then gave away and one that was killed by a delivery truck at 175k miles.
I would pay the $ to have a Honda service department check it over as MSantos suggested and see if there is anyway an extended warranty can be purchased for it, if not from Honda there are other sources out there. Just be sure it would cover the battery pack and IMA as that would be my only concern if the car checks out mechanically. From what I know about California, that is a good price for that vehicle, especially with the HOV stickers. Looks like the pricing out your way is between 11K and 15K depending on if you are buying from an individual or a dealer and if it has AT or MT. Never hurts to try and talk the seller down. ;)
Might want to check the 2 trip odometers and see if the previous owner never cleared one of them to see what kind of mpg it was getting. Just press in one time on the switch to switch from odometer reading to trip 1 and again to trip 2 readings. I was lucky to find one of mine hadn't been cleared in 9000 miles and the driver was only getting 41 mpg. So they either didn't car about FE and drove it that way or didn't know it had a problem, O2 senors needed replacing. I now get 54mpg on rural roads.
Be aware that driving any hybrid for fuel efficiency requires learning a new method of driving and long gone will be the power of a huge engine from any fuel sucking pig you are used to. The folks at cleanmpg.com quickly help me discover how to jumpstart the FE on my HCH.
Good luck in your hunt for a hybrid!
~H~
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