2002 Honda & rust question.

Guy has on his lot a 2002 Odyssey for over 3 months. Carfax is clean. It shows a lease vehicle in 5/2002 then sold at auction 4/06 - nothing between. It's from a close by state, IL. He's had 3 auctions and hasn't moved it.

At first glance, it's a nice vehicle. Everything is straight and it has many options. So I went down today (SUN) and gave it a good look over. I don't see any overspray or anything that would lead me to believe it's been in a collision other than the right wheel well plastic not flush with the fender. That fender looks like it may have had some minor work done.

The vehicle has been heavily waxed. There are a few real small chips in the paint. chips show a primer coat under them and then metal Except for one fender, looks original paint. But I'm not an expert.

The first thing that really caught my eye was rust pits on the plastic bumper cover. Looking under the car shows more rust than I would expect from a 2002. The strut has some rusting as well. The tires are very worn, but they look worn correctly. Doesn't appear to be alignment issues as they are worn evenly.

What do you think?

formatting link
formatting link
Plastic Bumper;
formatting link
Plastic not lined up with metal under front right wheel
formatting link
Strut
formatting link

The front has black plastic screws but the rear has grey metal ones. Makes me wonder if it's had work that my eye's just can see. Black on front

formatting link
on rear
formatting link

I am concerned about getting a vehicle that was flooded. I almost bought a 1 yr old Ford 4x4 PU a few years back. Guy had it on his lot and was ready to move it at a good price. Upon close look, it was very rusted. More than this Honda and more than a 1yr old should have. This is a 4yr old Honda. Is this just the way Honda's rust in Chicago?

Reply to
edavid3001
Loading thread data ...

Well, I went to a dealer to look at a 2001. The 2001 had obvious signs of front end as well as rear end damage. It had bondo and sloppy paint work. But it did not have the rust like the 2002 did. So one was sandwiched and the other flooded. The fun of shopping used cars.

Reply to
edavid3001

rust appears excessive, guess flood. Rust on bumper , my guess weld spatter from nearby welding...

Reply to
TF

Okay, thanks. Rust was evenly splattered on the front and read plastic part of the outside of the bumper - which I thought odd. It was all the way around. The paint had major buffing so it looks like they got most all of it off the paint. The rust under the vehicle was much more than the others of the same type I looked at. It even had it up under where the sliding doors slide. It wasn't horrible - but it was apparent. This one ended up at auction going for about $5000 less than they had first listed it on their lot.

Anyway, ended up going with a 2006 Sienna. More than I want to spend, but I'm keeping it for a very long time so may be worth it in the long run. Just have to sacrifice some nights going out to eat.

Reply to
edavid3001

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.