One of my life procedures, if you will, is not to broadcast how much I paid for something, particularly bigger ticket items. There will always be one person who will say that they could have gotten it for less; I’ll end up feeling like I could’ve done better, even though I know the person that said that is either full of crap, knows nothing about my particular purchase, would do things I wouldn’t do or doesn’t know/care about the criteria I care about.
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This is a bit different from what you will usually hear… I have bought several rebuilt vehicles with no warranties. Normally I pay about 1/2 to 3/4 of the low blue book value. First I find the right vehicle usually 2 to 3 years old. Always avoid a major rebuilt vehicle. Never buy it if the air bags have deployed. I find out who did the rebuild job and check with them if possible. I hire my mechanic for enough time to go through the vehicle totally from stem to stern, pull the wheels and check all the major items.
We keep our vehicles for around 100K miles and keep them spotless and well maintained, so we sell them for a decent, but low price. We have never had a major problem with any of them, only normal fluid exchanges, brakes and tires. Last unit purchased was a 2015 Optima with 40 K miles for $8500. It had a only a rear end collision, which we determined from the repair shop. It’s a great car with lots of options and has cost us only the price of a replacement spare tire and it is lots of fun to drive.
We drove our Hyundai Azera for 11 years and gave it to our daughter when we bought the optima. It has 106 miles on it now and she drives it to work everyday. Over the years we have saved thousands and drove nice cars.
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I didn’t buy a car until I was 45 - I saved a ton of money.
Yes, no car saves a lot. My brother lives mostly in England and rents cars when he comes home. He still has his 1987 Honda Accord (bought new) sitting in the garage of his condo. In England he is next to a bus stop and close to the train station, and rents cars when he needs to make a longer trip.
On his next rip back he’s scrapping the Honda and renting out the garage space.
I bought my first car when I was 17. Luckily I only paid $150 for it so no big loss. I learned some after that. But really I have never bought a car that I had second thoughts over. My son has bought a couple that I had doubts on but he didn’t. It’s all part of the life experience.
But going around researching rebuilt vehicles really takes a lot of effort. I’m just usually not up to that.
The only car I’ve ever really gotten screwed on was my '72 Vega… and I bought that one brand new! 
We seriously looked at a Vega, but decided we needed more space. In retrospect that was a blessing and we ended up with a Chevelle Malibu.
I was a huge fan of used cars until I bought the ‘nightmare Honda’.
In my teens I bought cars I couldn’t afford, but, my sister totalled my financed at 150% of value Aztec and I bought my next car with $2500 cash. It was a Saturn Sl with 50k miles and it was totally problem free for around 150,000 miles more before it just blew up on the highway one day. I wasn’t quite as lucky with my next one, I paid $4000 for it right before the recession and it had smaller $400 issues regularly. But, still okay, drove it for 5 years. Then comes the Honda Accord. Dear lord. Finally upgrading from a Saturn to a Honda, I was so excited to buy this much more reliable one owner car. It was 10 years old, but, my Saturn made it 15 years with no issues and everyone knows Honda is better than Saturn, right? lol Had to finance it as it was a panic buy when the next Saturn went. I had just had a collections posted to my credit that wasn’t even mine, so got screwed over on interest, but, had to get to work. Finally got the collection removed but couldn’t refinance it and was stuck at 17% interest and the stupid thing cost me probably around $10,000 in repairs for the wretched two years I owned it. Finally got enough equity to manage to trade it in without taking a loss.
Anyhow, after that experience, I’m sticking with new. In the past, I kept my vehicles until they blew up. I had a Versa the last couple years and it was so much cheaper than owning the used Honda. I made extra payments on it and will be trading it in soon because it got hail damaged and I know in another couple years all the paint will be peeling off it. Really hoping that nothing horrible will happen and I won’t have to buy another car for another 10 years or so.
Did you at any time before buying your used cars, let a mechanic examine it for $100 or so??? You seem to have bought cars others were trying to get rid of because of a number of reasons.
In the past, I have bought 8 used cars and only one was a lemon, a 1957 Plymouth 6. It turned out those Plymouths were all lemons! I’ve also bought 3 new cars over the years, but the used cars have cost less per mile than the new ones over the life I have owned them. Of all the repairs in the past (since 1958), the highest has been a $1200 paint job on a 1988 Caprice and $1100 for fixing a leaking bearing on a 1994 Nissan Sentra.
We appreciate your post, but there are ways to avoid bad car when buying used. Trust a good mechanic.
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All things being equal, yes, usually, but that depends on what you consider “better.” Saturn’s dent-resistant side panels and timing chain made it appealing I’m sure.
Some Hondas can be real nightmares when the over-complicated technology fails. They built their reputation being innovative and making cars that last a long time, but that push to innovate leads to engineering decisions I don’t necessarily appreciate.
I love my 20-year-old high mileage Honda, but their new lineup doesn’t impress me all that much, so I don’t recommend you or anyone else put too much stock in a brand, especially on a used car.
You should have full coverage insurance and if you do pay the deductible and it should be fine.
I do have full coverage. A lowball shop selected by insurance quoted $2900 to repair it. It’s a shop that rents a storage unit that they work out of. Shady and with terrible reviews. Any legitimate body shop wants thousands more. The money my insurance gave me won’t actually fix the car. I’ve considered getting a lawyer, but, then would be out thousands more.
This does not add up. Usually the insurance has an adjuster look at the vehicle . Who is the carrier ?
What kind of hail damage do you have? If it’s just dents in the body, I’d keep the insurance money and keep driving. There is a good chance if you leave the car out in the sun the dents will pop back out on their own.
If that is how your insurer responds to the customer’s claims, you should get a new insurer after this is settled.
I wouldn’t put any money into bodywork on a car as old as your Accord. As @whitey suggested, just take the money. Maybe you should save it for your next car.
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I had hail damage on my Pontiac when it was a year old. About 26 dents of varying size. It was considered an act of God and insurance paid the whole bill. I used a paintless pro out of a local body shop that State Farm had on their list. I never got a bill but was told the total was about $1100. Perfect job and couldn’t ever tell it had been dented. I dunno, a black cloud seems to hang over some folks and are always getting messed over.
They made it appealing to my ex back in '95. Unfortunately, the rest of the car was pretty cheesy. My son called it the “Tupperware car”. But IMHO that was an insult to Tupperware. Their quality was much better. 
Ten character minimum. You make me laugh. 