Buying my first vehicle, met with private seller today. Some questions.
 

2001 Honda Prelude SE
No accidents
167k km
Timing belt/water pump recently changed
new tires put on less than a month ago
some rust on rims, foggy headlights, some paint defects
$4.9k obo

I went to look at it today and the car had no insurance so I couldn't test drive it. The seller let me take it down the neighbourhood street, which was like a 2 minute test drive.

1. I want to test drive it on high speeds, is it my responsibility to get a permit or the sellers?

2. What should I offer?

it should be the sellers responsibility...if youre serious about the car tell him you are really interested in it and you would like to buy it but you NEED to test drive it properly and have him take a permit out for it. Honestly who wouldnt waste the 50$ or w/e it costs to make 4.9k ? lol

also check the trunk for water leak, i missed this when i bought my first lude and its something that sucks to find water in your trunk and have it soak your back seats. Also check for oil leak as these cars are notorious for it!

and i HIGHLY suggest getting this car to be inspected. for a 100$ it will save you LOTS more down the road

You need to take it for a good drive to see if it tracks or makes any strange noises, he should be getting it insured for the day or w/e.

also if you can drive manual , DONT GET AN AUTO! theyre horrible and will have issues

Imo the buyer should pay for the day permit. You are taking up the buyers time by looking at the car & using his gas. If you're interested you should pay for the permit
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check oil level ... with how much oil an H22 can burn if it's not maintained, checking the oil levels a good indication of whether this guy took care of the engine or not .. or even bothered to top up oil between changes.

luder's right about the auto .. honda engines are rock solid but their automatic transmissions have a bad reputation.

Also maybe take a OBDII scanner and see if its throwing any codes

I agree with the others, it's owners responsiblity to provide the day permit. ya, the auto can be a hit or miss. My friends accord's been super lucky. Does the seller have any record of the maintenance?

when i bought my car , i went through the same thing. however it was a relatively new car. i made an offer subject to a test drive. he knew i was serious and he got a 1 day permit. i walked into the deal price set and it was upto the car to perform and sell it self. also took a mechanic buddy. everything was A+ walked to the bank and did an account to account transfer. easy peasy fresh and breasy.

first thing.. dont buy an auto prelude because of the sensitive tranny.
second thing.. check trunk for water leak because almost all older hondas have trunk leak.
third.. check oil to see if the owner has been keeping it up because many older hondas burn oil

this one is an auto.
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Plenty of fish in the sea... Keep on looking if seller won't accommodate your reasonable request for a test drive

Also, get a bcaa inspection

As mentioned above.. pass on the Auto… pretty big weakspot in these cars

I always check for engine oil leaks. You want to know how bad it is or if it's none.
Here's a trick is to drive onto a floor area. Have the car run for like 5 to 10 mins and then drive ur from the area. Look at the floor where the car previously sat and see for any leaks (coolant, engine oil)

run the VIN and see if it is stolen. Canadian Police Information Centre - Home

If the car looks good, tell the seller you will buy it pending a test drive. Barring any big issues found on a test drive, buy the car. Nothing I hate more than buying a permit for a car I am selling only to deal with a flake of a buyer. It should be them paying for the permit or you could offer if it's not a big deal to you ($30ish).

Oil burning and oil leaks. And the auto trans are made from glass
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OP if you can budget another grand there's a guy selling a mint stock prelude in the for sale section. It's a 5 speed and it's an SH ... so its more or less perfect as far as preludes go

Sign up on some prelude forums and you'll realize really quick one of the biggest recurring problems is automatic transmission failure ... and one of the most talked about mods is a 5spd conversion lol. You're paying $5k for a car, a broken transmission is in the thousands to repair

Not sure if it's an issue with the 01's but iirc, if you don't have the red key, it's a pita to make a duplicate key if you need one.

Selling my prelude currently in the FS section. I have a buyer coming to do an inspection on tuseday, and yes he will be paying. I don't see why the seller would ever pay, if I as a seller pay $100+ and the buyer just flakes, which is a real possibilty, then I'm out 100$ without a buyer. Most buyers bring someone along who knows cars, and once that person says its good, they will do an inspection as a final peace of mind.
Posted via RS Mobile

The inspection yeah the buyer should pay for, however the insurance for the test drive is very much the responsibility of the seller.

Yes, I would be paying for the car inspection obviously.

OP, Remember one thing; I can GUARANTEE there will be other, likely better ones that will come along soon enough.

Wouldnt the smell be odorous??

I would expect the buyer to pony up for temp. insurance if there currently isn't any on the vehicle. Then, if the deal goes through, seller would deduct the cost from the sell price to reimburse the buyer . If the seller were to get insurance every time a potential buyer came along to test drive, seller could be out hundreds before someone buys. And there are lots of people who come by claiming to be "serious" buyers, depending on the car being sold.

like posted above there is a small list i go over, i ALWAYS ask when the last oil change was, usually they say recently, so check the oil, if it is low on oil either seller is lying, or the car leaks/burns oil quickly, get down and check CV axels as they usually wear out, check the timing belt, you can not just trust someone, check the car on a cold start, that will tell alot about the engine, i usually get a paper towel, hold it to the exhaust and have a friend rev it up, checking for black dots like carbon or oil coming out of the exhaust, main point is, check everything, even when you put the key in check that the engine light comes on, sometimes people pull them to hide something wrong... 5g is expensive enough that you need to spend your time on this one, and if he is a motivated seller then its up to him to permit the car