03 Honda Accord - is this good value?

digitaldr

I was doing a few bits and pieces last Saturday and came back via the barbers - about 800 metres from my house. I was just about to turn right into my estate when I saw a white car in my rear view mirror flying towards me - next thing BANG! I was thrown forward but seemed to be ok. When I got out the shaven headed betracksuited occupant of the other car was already kicking and cursing his wrecked 88 escort while bleeding over its bonnet! He said he couldn't slow down because his brakes had failed. Anyway he looked a bit dazed so I told him to sit in the car while I called an ambulance - also called the Gardai too! They all arrived with impressive speed. His girlfriend turned up too - she said he did the car up himself! She begged me not to go through the insurance (amazingly he had some) as he had panel beater mates! Needless to say I'm going through the insurance! I'm perfectly fine, no whiplash etc. Just goes to sure the importance of wearing your seat belt even on very short journeys - without it I definitely would have been badly hurt.

Anyway to get to the point - my 98 Audi A3 turned out to be uneconomical to repair i.e written off and so after a few days of net searching I've put a deposit on a March 03 Honda Accord 2 litre petrol executive 25,000 miles 2 previous owners and FSH. Getting it from a Honda dealer in the UK - as it's a Honda assured used car it comes with a 1 year EU wide warranty. I'll be picking it up in around a week’s time.
Here's the deal:

Cost in sterling: £10,500 (was £10,900 but he took £400 for cash sale)

Cost in Euro: €15,092
VRT: € 6,854
Flight: € 53
Ferry: € 177
Total €22,654

I could only find one exact match for sale in Ireland (on the net) i.e same year, model and mileage from a dealer and it was €28,000 (admittedly they'd probably give you a cash discount too)

A few questions:

Should I get an AA check? At the moment I think that it's unecessary what with it being a Honda approved used car, FSH and 1 year warranty.

How accurate is the VRT calculator? The car has no extras as the standard spec for the executive model is amazing (full leather, dual aircon, cruise control, 6 CD changer, sunroof, alloys, electrically adjustable heated seats etc etc!

I did my currency conversion with www.xe.com as the Irish banks have no online calculators and won't give you rate over the phone! Is it correct?

Am I overlooking any other expenses?

Thanks

bazz26

Check these out:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=384051
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=400613


I would expect to get a bigger cash discount on the UK Accord. Would be expecting to get that car for just under £10k. I would verify the details of the approved EU warranty with Honda here, make sure that Honda Ireland will honor any warranty issues if needed before buying it. Definately get the car checked out by the AA as they can check the car's service history, see if it has every been crashed, verify the mileage or if there is any outstanding finance on it.

If the AA give the car the ok I would offer the dealer £9.5k for it.

digitaldr

Thanks for the reply bazz26. I forgot to add that it has 25,000 miles on the clock (comes with certificate from Honda verifying this). One of the two cars you found has 70,000 on the clock and has light coloured trim - a no-no for me since I have an eight year old boy! The other is the sports model (no leather - which is esential for me).

Honda check the following:

Comprehensive Hondacare Multipoint Check
-Mileage verification and certification
-Finance check and certification
-Major accident or total loss check and certification
-Missing or stolen check and certification
-Registration and Chassis Number check
-Homefile to maintain vehicle documentation and history

Here's the info on the Honda warranty. They also offer a 30 day exhange.

I checked with a couple of UK dealers - there is a 1 year Honda guarantee on all approved used cars that applies throughout Europe. Honda UK will be getting back to me tomorrow to confirm this.

cargrouch

xe.com gives a "mid-rate", which I understand to be an average of the "buying and selling" of a euro-to-pound/pound-to-euro.

I often use it to get a ball park figure, but there is a potential for a big difference from the actual amount you'll get when you're talking 20K.

Hope this helps.

pbergin

Hi digitaldr
I just pm'd you, The new accord is a fantastic car, I have a 03 exec for sale at the moment, it has a honda factory fitted dvd player and nokia car kit, it has 36k miles and Im around €25k for it.

P.