If you’ve tried to buy a used car anytime in the past year or so, you probably quickly learned how much car buying sucks right now. Some cars are hard to find and so many of them are priced into the stratosphere. Even beaters can’t escape this crazy car buying market. Another example of this can be found in Texas, where a Toyota dealership is selling a worn down 1993 Honda Accord with 344,591 miles. For $2,200.
As often reported, the COVID-19 pandemic created a perfect storm for high car prices. Between chip shortages and demand outstripping new car supplies, dealerships and buyers alike have been storming to used cars. Prices on many used cars have, like many other things in this economy, risen dramatically, leading to some frankly wild headlines and even wilder dealership listings. Look no further than our own reports about the state of the used car market. Just this morning, my colleague Thomas wrote about how Nissan will sell 10-year-old certified pre-owned Altimas. Or perhaps more incredible is the fact that Nissan is apparently willing to give its Certified Select CPO branding to non-Nissans, too.
Not even the very low end of the market is safe from this madness. Cars that may have been $500 in the past can be far more expensive now. Even my favorite kinds of cars, German ones known for dubious reliability, have seemingly spiked in price. And now we have another example of how bad things are. Take a look at this 1993 Honda Accord LX that is actually being sold by a Toyota dealership.
This comes to us thanks to Zerin Dube on Twitter. The dealership, Vic Vaughan Toyota of Boerne in Boerne, Texas (the dealership pronounces that like “Bernie”) actually had this car listed on its website. The listing has been taken down, but I called the dealership to confirm. I spoke to Aaron, the dealership’s Used Car Manager, and while Aaron wasn’t sure if the car was still for sale, he confirmed to me that the listing was real and the dealership was indeed selling this car.
Our conversation was short, but I asked Aaron a few questions about the car and the dealership’s used vehicle sales. He wasn’t sure where the car came from or anything about its story. However, Aaron tells me that the dealership sometimes gets cars like these to sell to buyers that need some cheap transportation. I asked how the dealership determines what cheap cars to sell, and he told me that the dealership will sell any car that can pass Texas inspection. Sure enough, the Honda is good until December.
Finally, I was also able to ask Aaron about how these types of cars are selling nowadays versus before the market went crazy. And he told me that he believes that they’re selling more super inexpensive cars like this Honda today than the dealership did in the before times.
So, how far does your $2,200 go with this Honda?
This is a fourth-generation Honda Accord. The fourth-generation of Honda’s family hauler sedan brought the vehicle into the mid-size. Its design is more evolution than revolution over its predecessor. The rad 1980s-style pop-up headlights were gone, as was the hatchback. SAE International notes that Honda did more than just eliminate pop-up headlamps, as it engineered headlights that had totally clear lenses to improve lighting efficiency.
Also new is an all-aluminum 2.2-liter inline four. In an LX like our car here, it’s making 125 HP. That’s not a ton of power, but at least it gets to the front wheels through a five-speed manual. Honda’s cars from this era were known for their good engineering and it shows.
Ok, well, maybe not in this car. It has 344,591 miles on its odometer and has the scars to show for it. The hood started losing its paint long ago. Its bumper has lost pieces here and there. And there’s what appears to be a rubber seal on the ground. It’s unclear if that seal belongs to this car, but it helps make for a perfect visual of a hard-working Honda.
The left side hasn’t fared much better, with the bodywork wearing the dents and crinkles of some past mishap. The rear of the car looks cleaner, where the worst damage is a crinkle and some rust under the left taillight. And by clean, I definitely mean damage. The dealership didn’t bother washing it before snapping photos.
Considering the rest of the car, the right side is surprisingly clean. If this were a Facebook Marketplace listing, this is the side that would be the first picture.
We’re not given interior photos of the car, but from the outside it appears that the headliner is intact. This car probably got many different people to all kinds of places over its nearly three decades on this planet. If it could talk, it probably has so many stories to tell. And I bet that despite the looks, it probably still runs well.
Still, three years ago, this car would have probably been less than $1,000. But this is the reality that we’re in now. [Editor’s Note: I’m all for dealers selling old high-mileage cars. It’s just wild to see a car this crappy framed like it is in the top photo, with the dealership shown proudly in the background. You’d think this car would typically be relegated to the back lot, and sold to the mechanic’s 16 year-old nephew. -DT]. Recent data suggests that the used market may be beginning to cool down. Hopefully it does, and we can go back to lovingly enjoying these cheap cars on the cheap.
It looks like this car still has totally clear headlight lenses.
The Toyonda Tax in action.
NP
Living in the rust belt that thing would have dissolved to dust long ago where I’m from. Assuming it spent most of its life in TX means that it’ll last till at least 500,000 miles and not rust in half before it gets there.
Haggle them down to less than $1500 and I’d buy it just to say I’ve got a car with over 300,000 miles.
We all laugh but I’ll bet their phone was ringing off the hook. Hondas are almost as magical as Toyotas. It’s a Honda and it costs less that a television. I’ll wager that the buyer paid with a credit card.
Sadly, $2,000 is the new $500. Down here, in Florida, if it runs and the a/c blows cold, it’s a $2,000 car. No emissions test, no safety inspection.
I’d take my own outgoing car there but Texas is an awful long way from North Carolina.
I dont know jack about Texas…
However, I been to Outer Banks, Emerald Isle long enough (from Pa, NJ, DE, MD) to have seen a big ass damn selection of good cars.. hidden in all sorts of dirt garages and on the roads around NC. Stuff down there includes damn near everything I havent seen…
Toyota Vans
90s Hondas / Toyotas
GMC / S-10s
Cavaliers, Berettas
I wish I had a damn dash cam specifically for taking video or pics of the stuff I saw down there.
Theres plenty of Flatnose Semis — ARGOSYs and 80s Freightliners
Ive been seeing a lot of 90s Kenworths
Shit, I was climbing up the Chesapeake Bridge at a snails pace. 5-10mi south of the bridge is a new Gas Wawa. I saw a decent Alfa Guilia.. but all matter of Truck was down there. From 90s Silverados to earlier squarebody Cheyennes.
I’m not trying to acquire a vehicle; I’m trying to offload one I can’t exactly sell here.
Yes this car is a horror show, but the truth is that oxidized paint is a fact of life on 80s-2000s Hondas. If I saw a 90s Honda *without* oxidized paint, I would doubt its provenance.
Back in 2017, the KBB value of my wife’s 2010 Prius (with 170,000 miles at the time) was $4,600.
Today, clocking at 232,000 miles, it’s alleged value is $6,700. That’s a 45% INCREASE in 5 years. WTC???
I agree with you: these are STRANGE times.
This is a whole new kind of “cash for clunkers” in which you, dear consumers, can pay all of your money for none of the value.
If this doesn’t illustrate the way the standard of living is falling for the lower middle class and poor I don’t know what does.
Meanwhile, the top earners are raking in more than ever while cruising around in the RV’s and boats they bought with their bogus PPP loans.
I know what I am about to share is kind of holy grail stuff for diesel guys, but I saw a 2007 Duramax 2500 with 87k miles with a sticker price of $45K. they had the balls to say this won’t last at this price. at first I laughed a little then I thought maybe they were right. we are in the Bizarro car world right now for sure.
I see ads for 2002 Ford Super Duties with 7.3 Power Strokes for $30-35,000 regularly. These are in Oregon so probably rust free, but still a lot of $$ for a 20 year old truck
Amen.
Don’t even get me started with 5.9L Cummins values; I’d be shocked if these don’t become tomorrow’s Supras price-wise. At least they served actual purpose rather than F&F nostalgia porn for the millennial collectors.
I don’t see the other car in this showdown but I vote for that, whatever it is.
Texas gonna Texas.
I love the ad has it photoshopped to look like it’s out front of the fancy dealership, meanwhile the actual photos appear to be an impound lot.
I also noticed..
There are no under carriage shots, no interior shots, no motor shots. SO you got no idea of just how bad this thing is…
No one is buying that car because that is all they can afford. Asking price is $2200, maybe they can get it for a little less, but what people are seeing is a manual 1993 accord, and with a new rear door, bumper, some body work they will have a clean sheet to restore and mod it as they wish.
Perfectly illustrates one of my favorite features of Hondas from that era too: The wheel covers are held in place by little retaining rings on the lug nuts, so you can’t just pop the wheel cover off. You have to take the wheel off the car first. It’s amusing to see Hondas that are beat half to death, rusted out, and have been to the Moon and halfway back – and still have all four hubcaps.
For all the times you’ve looked at traditional wheel covers and thought “There’s got to be a better way to hold these on…”
Honda heard you and said “Why yes, as a matter of fact there is.”
Gag me with a spoon, something tells me that this stealership madness will continue till the end of time. Hell, I’d get a better deal on the sketchiest laptop at the local Best Buy.
The “shady but worth the risk” private sector’s never been this appealing to car buyers… as what all the Shitbox Showdown posts proved to us!
That $2200 appears not to have been the real price (CLICK TO REVEAL BEST PRICE), but more like a JC Penny “here’s the regular price no one ever pays because everything is always on sale”.
Still, this is a better deal than a lot of the Shit Box Showdown entries; at least it presumably runs and isn’t rusty. For the $1750-$2000 they are probably actually asking, you could do quite a bit worse.
Provided it didn’t lose its paint and gain the damage in one of the dozens of Texas floods that have occurred since 1993. Make sure it isn’t a Houston car.
Eh, good chance that filling out the form likely just results in “Thanks for your interest! Someone will be in contact with you shortly” followed by a canned email from the internet sales department that either asks you to set an appointment or offers a generic $200 off the price.
That’s a franchised new car dealer. They’re always more than used car lots and private sellers. They probably won’t even sell it to a customer on their lot and will send it to auction.
Pretty much. This is the throw it on the website till the auction truck arrives strategy.
If it moves it moves.
Good to see every 40-something guy’s college girlfriend’s car is still running
Actually, my gf at the time had the 6th gen Accord. Good comment though.
Hahaha. Yes Tracy had one in that exact color and spec. Only time it let us down was an alternator that stopped charging the battery….
MK4 Jetta you mean.
I had a first date with a girl.. who drove a Cavalier.
At the time Id just gotten my CB7 = 92 Accord = first car with 159k… and the girl was this horsefaced bitch who told me my car was shit. — Needless to say, I dumped her after 20min. (Ya dont tell someone with a fuckton of miles, that their car is shit.. not with a Cavalier as a comparable.)
I used to think I was pissing away my time, money, and energy buying and flipping cars (mostly due to Automotive ADD) for the 15 or so years I’d been at it. That stopped a couple years ago. Now, I realize I’ve just been training myself for this moment in which you have to keep your DD in top shape, search hard for good pricing on parts, and swing wrench to save a few bucks.
Talk about paying a dealer mark up. You could buy that thing for $1k on Craigslist, as many Shitbox Showdowns have proven. Just today there was a $1200 Volvo wagon featured with 405k miles that looked 10000000 times better than this Honda.
This whole situation actually sums up Boerne’s gentrification due to San Antonio’s sprawl quite well.
I was going to say the opposite. I can’t image there are many people closer than San Antonio that would be interested in something that cheap. Most of the Texas Hill Country is fairly gentrified at this point.
Selling a high mile 1993 car isn’t a problem, but I honestly can’t believe a big-name new car dealer would put one in that sort of cosmetic condition out on their lot and highlight it on their website like that. I mean, it does look kind of embarrassing, which is maybe why it’s been taken down from the website
Crack pipe.
SWEENY TODD: It’s pipin’ hot!
This is the kind of car to represent a character hitting rock bottom on a Vince Gilligan TV series.
IDK it’s a massive step up from Jimmy’s car.
Jimmy’s Esteem was practically new, he just took really, really horrendous care of it
This fright pig makes Jesse’s red Toyota wagon look like something that belonged at a Barrett Jackson auction.