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?

http://static.flickr.com/113/276449231_0b1b96882f_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/97/276437754_57ac4cdcd4_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/92/276438911_86282f9ee0_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/104/276452192_721674f207_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/118/276450337_daec573bb5_b.jpg

Plastic Bumper;
http://static.flickr.com/96/276448250_dd8d21828c_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/116/276447028_e6a4e54773_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/114/276445881_743641a03d_b.jpg

Plastic not lined up with metal under front right wheel
http://static.flickr.com/114/276445188_5b109c2c74_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/106/276444334_f43290d802_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/115/276443406_b54e13ec32_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/119/276442224_3bcd1eff28_b.jpg

Strut
http://static.flickr.com/101/276441046_e47e6c87d6_b.jpg


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
http://static.flickr.com/106/276439818_e555ed156c_b.jpg
Grey on rear
http://static.flickr.com/108/276451328_a8b83c3757_b.jpg


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?

 

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.

 

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

2 cents

 

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.