Pangie Pantz

Hey all, would love any help, ideas or opinions here. I'm considering puschasing a 2009 Acura TSX w/200k miles. Very high, I know. The car though is in pristine shape inside and out. From what I've been able to gather from the dealer and the vehicle report by searching the VIN, the car has had only 1 owner. The owner was an older lady who took excellent care of the car. Per the vehicle report it's been in zero accidents n title is clean. Per the dealer the owner traveled quite a bit thus the high mileage but traded it in for a Mercedes upon retirement.
A car savvy friend of mine told me to pass but did suggest a few things I should ask the dealership if I decide on purchasing the car anyway. He suggested getting more info on the service/repair reports on the car. Specifically he told me to ask about when the timing belt and when it was serviced. He explained it should be about every 100k miles and if it hasn't been replaced recently then to definitely pass as it would be costly for me later on if not and/or if there's an issue with it down the road that ends up affecting the engine the car could turn out to be a total loss. I did mention my concerns to the dealer and have an appointment to test drive it next week. In the meantime, they were really happy to look into the dervice reports as apparently the owner only ever had her car serviced at an Acura specialized shop/mechanic. We'll see what they say.

Essentially I'm just trying to find out out what further questions I should ask to help in my decision. Also, what would the cost look like to have the timing belt n water pump, etc changed? Its my understanding that requires quite a bit of labor as the car would need to be disassembled a bit in order to do this work and it would be best to have a mechanic replace the water pump while they're in there. Also, my sisters master mechanic husband advised possibly replacing the engine with one with lower miles later down the line if I was so inclined. I'm not opposed to that at all. Just not something I'm looking to or want to have to do soon after buying the car.

The car is for sale at $6300. I already have the cash. Also, I'd be willing to invest more money into it to make it last longer. It truly is a a beautiful car and I dont want to pass up such a good deal but I want to make the right decision.

Looking forward to any help/suggestions I can get. Thanks for reading!!

RDX10

That seems kind of over priced to me. 200k miles translates to 320k kms...I wouldn't touch a car with that kind of mileage with a stick. As far as I am concerned that is like throwing away $6300 + whatever it is going to cost to fix what will naturally wear with that mileage. Keep in mind scheduled service might not take into account wear on certain parts like the suspension and those could pop up at any time. Why not save the $6300 and then save up some more and find another lower mileage one. Don't get me wrong, these things can last, someone one here just posted an 07 TSX IIRC with 500k miles. They last. Just seems crazy to me to buy one with that mileage. That other guy bought it new iirc and racked up that mileage.

Jakes_tl

add about 3k and get one with half the miles.

benben01

Dealer prolly gave her at most $2K on the trade in. If you don't want a car payment, save a few more dollars and get something that's not going to be a potential money pit.

iSeeYouTwo

Yeah.....NO. '09's can be had with less than half the mileage for not much more. Also, they have a timing chain not belt.