Pre purchase inspection

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esawers

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#198975 29-Jul-2016 23:06

We had a pre purchase done on a Honda CRV, 2002
It wasn't too bad, but alarms bells rang when they said there was no oil on the dip stick.

Its due a service now, so we assume it has used all that oil in the last 6 months??
Everything else about the car feels good, but I'm thinking we should walk away...?

Funny thing is the car sales accidentally left a voicemail on my phone, arguing with the guys who were supposed to check the oil before I picked up the car. So we wouldn't have even known if they had remembered to check it.

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#1601181 30-Jul-2016 08:12

you cant assume anything, may not have been full when it was changed last

are there any visible oil leaks? take it for a drive and have someone follow you, check for blue smoke when accelerating, and also rev it out a little then use the engine to brake from the higher rpm, does it smoke then?

to burn that much oil there has to be a visible sign of it

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#1601193 30-Jul-2016 08:32

You just don't know how the car was maintained throughout its life. Maintained poorly, your car will cost you more in annual repair bills than its market value. (Don't ask me how I know)

You also don't know how it was treated eg driven like a maniac etc

I'd say the risk is not worth it. It may sound like a good deal, but you will pay for it within a month, and then from then on it will drain your bank.

Stay away. Buy something from someone who's looked after it properly (that's the difficult bit with secondhand cars, but possible).

esawers

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#1601200 30-Jul-2016 08:50

It has a full service history with Honda very 10000k until 2013, and receipts for oil changes since then
No blue smoke, a small leak at the back of the engine

I think we will probably walk away, it is a car sales selling it (was traded in).

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#1601209 30-Jul-2016 09:32

Hmm interesting, maybe the engine is just showing its age.

I've read (ok you have to beware what you read on the internet) Honda engines have very very low tolerance, (hence also run very light weight oil), unlike toyotas have very high tolerance ie things can deviate a lot and it still works ok, whereas if things deviate by not much on a Honda it will break. Perhaps that CRV Vtec engine has "deviated" and had had it.

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#1601210 30-Jul-2016 09:34

BTW just curious - the full service history was at the Honda dealer or random mechanic (trying to figure out chances of using the wrong weight oil).

And how many Ks and how many Ks in the last 3 years with no history?

esawers

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#1601222 30-Jul-2016 09:48

Full service history up to 120000k mid 2012 by Honda dealers, now has 190000.
It was traded in a year ago but has been used as a loan car since then by the car sales, they have put 12000 km on since it was traded in

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#1601277 30-Jul-2016 11:41

Possibly wrecked during the 120,000-180,000 with little to no maintenance. My guess is after 100,000ks proper maintenance to manufacturer tolerance would be most important to make it last 300,000ks. I doubt many cars make the 300,000 mark...

riahon

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#1601354 30-Jul-2016 14:03

Walk away. It is approximately 1 litre from F to E on a dipstick. If it holds about 4 litres then 1/4 of the oil has been lost. That is assuming the oil level is just below the end of the dipstick. If it leaks that much, or burns that much over 10k then walk away. Even If it was not topped up correctly from last service then run away. Even a DIY handyman would refill to at least show on the dipstick.

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#1601361 30-Jul-2016 14:15

If there is a four year and 70,000km gap in the service history then you would be taking a huge risk.

mattwnz

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#1601366 30-Jul-2016 14:55

You would also wonder why they have used it as a loan car and not sold it . Also the fact that they phoned you something supposedly intended for someone else is a worry especially as you should need to top up oil by that much outside service intervals. You didn't mention there price but it is an old car with high mileage. I wouldn't waste my time on it.

Fred99

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#1601398 30-Jul-2016 17:08

There is a possible positive side to this - you probably had a PPI done before the seller went over it trying to minimise / hide other issues.

I don't agree that a car using 1 litre per 10,000km (between services) is high oil use.

I would be concerned at the "bit of a leak" at the back of the engine, that's most likely the rear main crank seal, and to replace it it's either transmission or engine out (probably both then split them and replace the seal). Plenty of labour cost to do this. It could be leaking elsewhere (cam cover etc and working it's way down) which might be an easy fix, but if it is the rear main seal, they can get worse quite rapidly to the point that they'll haemorrhage oil, and at that stage it will have to be fixed as it will fail WOF (especially if any of the oil can get near the exhaust system).

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mattwnz

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#1601433 30-Jul-2016 19:46

Fred99:

There is a possible positive side to this - you probably had a PPI done before the seller went over it trying to minimise / hide other issues.

I don't agree that a car using 1 litre per 10,000km (between services) is high oil use.

They didn't say what amount of oil has been used since 2013, or did I miss that? What I would be concerned with is if it hadn't had any new oil since the last service, and that was why the dipstick was totally dry. Anything that has a leak, you would want them fixing before buying.

My brother has a Honda (much newer than this one) and it developed a leak after a service, and it was because they had overtightened something in the engine. It was very costly to get fixed, and they had difficulty getting the garage to cover the cost, even though they were apparently the cause..

kiwirock

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#1601446 30-Jul-2016 20:35

My last car I bought from a dealer had a "bit of a leak" at the back of the engine. They were more than happy to fix it as it has to be what you want or you can return it.

Their third party mechanic said it was a rear main seal. Then it leaked again, then they pulled the trans again and replaced the torque converter seals. Then it had a leak again, then they pressure tested it and found a pin hole leak in the very easy to fix valve cover gasket at the rear of the engine.

Personally though, no oil on the dipstick means I wouldn't touch it. It says how well maintained it has been. Checking the oil is about as important and basic thing to do on any car every couple of months. If they didn't do that, or it chewed that, either way I wouldn't be buying it.

In saying that, a car with a clean oil change, steam cleaned engine etc... can also give false indicators of a cars service history or true condition.

Can't stress enough the better policy third party warranties on older cars, unless you know what you're getting in to yourself.

esawers

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#1601915 31-Jul-2016 20:50

Thank you!

We backed out of the sale and bought a freshly imported 2005 CR-V with only 50000kms and a full service history

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#1601928 31-Jul-2016 21:06

Just make sure you know exactly what engine oil it takes and check that is the oil your mechanic uses when you service. Yes even at the dealer ... I've challenged the dealer once on why he put the wrong oil on my Subaru and after his own little investigation apologised that his mechanic thought my car had a different engine.

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