Need advice guys. Is a used 2012 Honda Civic Lx with only 37,000 miles on it for $9,647 a good deal?

It's got a clean title check. Carfax shows it had 2 owners before. The first owner had it leased and left it at 29,000 miles.

2nd owner bought it and had 2 minor car accidents with it. Front bumper and headlight. No major damage. Services were done for the car. The car was maintained good to as well.

And now it's at a dealer with 37,000 (still has powertrain warranty). The dealer had it refreshed (oil, front wheel alignment) and is now selling for 9647.

Kelly blue book says it's a good deal. I can't for my life find a Honda that year and with that many miles for so low.

I currently have a 2000 Chevrolet Prizm with 123k miles on it. It's a college beater. Spent over 2,000 dollars easy in repairs since I bought it 5 years ago. I'm thinking about upgrading though. Could easily get a 1000 dollars off it for down payment. I have a part time job that pays over 15 bucks in an hour. I get a consistent 25-30 hours every week. My credit is amazing.

Any opinions?
My credit would be good.

Added (1). BTW - I LIVE IN TAMPA FL IF THAT HELPS.

Added (2). I only pay car insurance (150ish) and phone bill (30 bucks) and groceries.

@Never, I probably could get around 1,500 for it. I wanted to upgrade because i'm afraid that maybe soon my car might run into some engine issues. I was looking for auctions to- but there are none around me where I live.

I could sell my chevy for 1,500. And my mom is going to give me another 1,000 for down payment. That's 2,500 right there. Here's the link for the car

In the end, it's your money and your deal.
It's 5 years old. That's probably a good deal. The odometer reading is almost too good (roughly 7,500 miles per year). That said, front end collisions do mess up front wheel drive power trains. So you will be taking a chance that the damage was truly "minor". I don't know if it is possible, but try looking up the police reports on those "accidents".

I'm thinking that you can probably find a better deal elsewhere with a car that has not been involved in collisions!

Keep Looking!

Good luck with your decision, whatever you decide!

Unless you putting 3k$ down payment, it a dumb deal.
you could live in it.
Here a 9.6k$ car costs u 1700 in title taxes registration inspection upfront.
U'll increase your insurance costs minimum 400$ per 6 months.
Sell the Chevy fast to pay down on principle.
Try to get 3yr payment plan.
Get a budget and 2nd jobs.
U'll be ok then.

Sounds like a reasonable price but the wrecks do decrease its value.

Your credit only matters so much when you have a part time job. Lenders like full time.

Also, I believe the powertrain warranty expired at 5 years. (I have a 2012 and it expired 7 months ago and mine was sold late)

Id try to hammer them down on the price because of the wrecks. If you can even get financed.

I had ONE car loan when I was 21. (quit school to work full time). Got promoted & raises and paid it off in 19 months and swore off car debt. Paid cash ever since. For over 25 years, I always drove old cars like yours.

You ought to be able to sell it on your own for more than $1000.

I got $1595 for my 94 Buick Century with a broken AC, a cracked window and only 79,000 miles. (Last year)

Tampa is probably fairly affluent which means used car values are probably low. If you had a source, you could probably pick up a similar car for $7800-8200 at a dealer auction.

Also, the dealer selling it may have a $395-995 doc fee which they like to spring on you after you have already made up your mind. The paperwork might cost them $10 in labor. But they charge a ton more because most people don't argue.

I lucked out and found mine on govdeals.com. A drug seizure. No wrecks but a little pot seed burn in the seat. Low miles but not 29k.

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.AdvSearchResultsNew&zipcode=33605&miles=250&milesKilo=miles&category=94A&kWordSelect=2&locationType=miles&kWord=&country=&btn_submit=Submit&searchpg=location

Here is one 45 minutes from me… Its warranty may or may not still be valid. Not a Honda but 2015. Note the 7.5% fee.

https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=66&acctid=6186

Here is a dealer auction…https://www.yourauctiontampabay.com/

I used to know the owner but I think he sold out. They would run a every other week auction in Bham and he would fly up for it. I still have & wear a cap from 15+ years ago.

It actually does sound like a good deal on the car. Your personal finances may be a bit more complicated (what else are you paying for? ) Your insurance will also go up, but you are older than before.

Could be good

2012 model had couple major issues. One was with the "a/c and car idle". You might ask for additional opinions at a reputable honda-civic forum. Also ask about problematic issues and recalls. If i remember correctly, one of the forums was named civicforums.com

my personal opinion. It's not such a good deal. You might be able to get $650 chopped off the top and ask for new kumho-tires (100k mileage) along with the deal.

for the simple reason. You only know what the car-fax states. That's about as transparent as hot-fudge and not to be trusted. The dealership had the front-end aligned. Means the front end was damaged. And you will always be aligning the front end every six months.

Huh?

I wouldn't worry about two minor accidents if they were indeed minor. But a good used Civic should be an excellent choice.

Just do your research and make sure you don't pay too much. Ignore retail prices when looking at KBB or any online price guide. You want to pay no more than private party price and you should negotiate down to closer to the wholesale or trade in price. Nobody pays full retail for a car and neither should you.

Sounds like a reasonable price but the wrecks do decrease its value.

Your credit only matters so much when you have a part time job. Lenders like full time.

Also, I believe the powertrain warranty expired at 5 years. (I have a 2012 and it expired 7 months ago and mine was sold late)

Your insurance will also go up, but you are older than before.