The Best Place To Buy A Used Car?

B

Bruise Lee

Joined
Aug 4, 2002
Messages
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I'm in the process of shopping for a used car, maybe one two or three years old. Probably something small and reliable that gets good gas mileage like a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla since I'm a single guy, and I've already got a V8 Ford Mustang.

I'm gonna say here I'm really turned off going to dealers. First of all, I find most salespeople know nothing at all about the cars they are selling. If I ask them how big the engine is or if it has 4 wheel discs, they don't know. Secondly, they always want you to buy whatever is not moving on their lot. Third, they are so damm pushy, I find only the strongest of personalities can get out of a dealership without wasting hours of their time at best, thousands of dollars at worst.

I tried going to an Enterprise Rental care sale. Same basic experience. I thought the cars were WAY overpriced, to boot. If I remember correctly, they had a base model 2 year old Toyota Corolla for almost $15,000!

I tried going to an auto broker. Incredibly, the guy put virtually no effort into hooking me up with a car.

A lot of the cars I checked out that were supposed to be for sale by private owners turned out to be salvaged cars for sale by guys who worked for or were agents of dealers.

I did manage to find a few people who really were just selling their cars. AAA has approved mechanics that can perform 2 levels of tests on a car so you have a pretty good idea of what kind of shape the car is in mechanically. So far, I think this is the best way to go. I find you simply cannot be a nice guy with used car salesmen - if you are nice, you will get screwed!

I'm curious where people on the forum have had their best car buying experiences - and their worst. Where did you end up buying your car from, and why? Were you happy with your decision?

Next to my house, my car is my biggest investment. I don't want to blow it by buying fron the wrong source. I mean $15,000 will buy a lot of toys.

Bruise
 
Well.... I actually bought a nice car off the internet at www.autobase.com under used cars. Just so happened the car I wanted was in Las Vegas. My brother drove me there, we spent the night and I drove back to LA in my new car. It was a great experience for me. The folks on Autobase are dealers, but offer a decent no hassles price on many cars.
 
My experience has been much like yours -- it's either high pressure and complete ignorance, or indifference and complete ignorance. I prefer the indifference, and when I want to know if it has four-wheel disc brakes I don't ask; I look.

I've often bought from private parties, too, but it's no different -- they don't know anything about their cars either.
 
It's not for everybody, but I have had great success buying vehicles at public auctions.

These generally are set up for used car dealers, but some are open to the public as well. SOme would consider it to be a "high risk" choice, but if you know what you're getting into then it's easy enough.

You don't get much time (maybe 90 seconds) to come to a decision once the car is in the auction lane, but you can usually check them out on the lot prior to the sale if you arrive early. Since they are running in the lane you at least know that the engine will turn over and the car will move, which is good.

You also can't be real picky at a public auction, as the way they are set up makes it almost impossible to look for a particular color or option package.

For example, when I bought my last car I knew that I wanted a new body style Ford Panther platform (Crown Vic or Mercury Grand Marquis or Lincoln Town Car) in sound mechanical condition. Color, content, and mileage were less important. I'm very familiar with these cars, so it was easy enough to check them out mechanicly in the limited time available. I just went to auctions until I saw a Panther that nobody else was bidding on, and I walked away with a great car for a song.

If this is something that you are willing to do, you can get some fantastic deals. It's just important to make sure you do it the right way.

Also, I would avoid retired rental cars. Those things see horribly difficult service and are notorious for having transmission and compression problems from renters winding the hell out of the motor and popping it into drive, just for kicks.
 
My best buying experiance ( and the only way I buy
cars now) is to scout around for a mature owner
that has decided to sell his (or her) well taken
care of car. This can happen for many reasons such
as health, death of a spouse, retirement, etc.

While this method takes time and a bit of luck the
chances of getting screwed by a car dealer are
elminated. As a matter of fact people who don't
take the time to find a decent owner sold car and
go to a dealer are in to much of a hurry and are
expecting to get screwed.

As an example .....
I just bought a really nice 97 Buick for my son to
drive found on a weekend drive noting the car in
the front yard "for sale". I figured nothing
ventured nothing gained so I stopped to ask. The
owner had failed his driving test due to age and
could no longer drive. They let me take the car
to my mechanic to check out for a small deposit.
Needless the say the car is fine being well cared
for by the owner or his Buick dealer.

Now can anybody find good used cars this way??
Yes, they can all it takes is a little patients,
some awareness of what they find and shopping
BEFORE they need a car. Buy a good car, take good
care of it and drive it until it dies. You'll keep
a lot more of YOUR money if you do. :D :D
 
If you're not sure about buying used, you can always get one of those "certified" used cars. They're used cars taken in my manufacturers and looked over and then sold with a warranty from the manufacturer. I haven't looked personally so I don't know but I would think they'd be a little more expensive than a regular used car but you do get some peace of mind. Most of these are upper end cars but I think Honda does it. There are also those used car "super stores" like Carmax that sell without haggling and I think their cars come with warranties also.

Rob
 
To make sure that you are getting a fair price on a used car, check out Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds. I also recommend buying a NADA book located in book stores near the Kelly Blue Book. The NADA book is used by dealers to set pricing on the used cars that they sell.
 
I went the route suggested by Dr. Nick earlier this year. Having decided on several models I went to the manufacturer's website and tracked down "certified pre-owned" via quite a few dealers.

As I put on a fair amount of miles, like about 30k a year, I knew also what sort of range I'd need mileage wise(mostly for the warranty status) and price wise. I wouldn't buy, say a Toyota Avalon (the one I ended up with, by the way, and I'm happy with it)or an Infiniti I35 new, but there is a glut of certain cars on the used market right now, higher end cars in particular that can be gotten as real bargains from dealers.

After some research I felt most comfortable buying a certified used about 2-3 years old; the depreciation hit of a new car is gone, there was enough factory warranty to shield me from catastrophic damage (hopefully!), and this past summer used car loan rates were almost as low as new was a few years ago. So overall I got a better bargain that way, and I got a "better" car than I would be able to buy new, even with an extended 100,000 mile Toyota care warranty.

While the version and trim of the Avalon I wanted was a little scarce, two turned up within a few weeks of looking.And as for the Infiniti I35, two dealers in my area had a fleet of them at incredibly low prices, mostly leased cars with 24,000/2 years of warranty left on them. I'm talking about $21,000 for a two-three year old with less than 30,000 miles and the balance of a factory 5 year 60k warranty on a really nice car....

The dealer will always be higher than an individual, and a Toyota certified does cost the dealer some $$$, but if you do your research, have your finances in order, and are willing to make a deal on the spot you can usually get the right deal for you if you do your homework. The key is knowing what you want, not being reliant on them for info, and always have one foot out the door to keep them on their toes.

Some resources I found very useful:

The Edmunds website--an incredibly good forum for virtually every car you'd want, with the same sort of educated and opinionated folks we have here, an excellent source for a no-BS opinion on decisions that have to be made. Free!

"Don't Get Taken Every Time" by Remar Sutton, is by far and away the single best book on *how* to buy a car, new or used. There's a new edition put out by Penguin Books, and while Sutton's hooked up with Ralph Nader's people and is significantly more whiny than in the prior editions, it's worth the $14 or whatever to get the book. Walsk you thru the whole process and shows you how to run the deals in a way that benefits you and puts you in charge. I've used this book for three new and one certified used cars and gotten great deals with minimum stress.

There's a couple of auto classified websites whose names escape me, but they were good ways to get a feel for market pricing in the local area. For example, I also looked at used Ford Taurus models and found dozens of them, mostly off lease cars that dealers were eager to get rid of, and in my area for some reason a flood of Maximas discounted through the floor as the newer models rolled in. It's part of the small amount of homework you need to do to take charge of a car buying experience.

Good luck--I bought this Avalon just this past June with maybe three weeks worth of mostly fun effort(test driving!) and at least here in Jersey it was an excellent time to buy a car--dealers were hungry to make a sale, and that ain't not bad :)
 
Check with the closest Enterprise rental agency. They sell the top 2 or 3% of their lease/rental cars. I just bought an '02 Malibu/36k, with the works (cruise control, power windows, mirrors, remote door locks, CD player, etc.) for less than half what a new one would cost.

No haggle, no hassel, just pay their price. And they have or can get anything you want. The only thing they try to sell you on is the extended warranty.

Oh, and they had a "special" on tinted windows and remote door locks. $100 off of the "regular" price. What they don't tell you is that cars that come with the works already HAVE remote door locks! (or maybe the salesman didn't know. Yeah, right!)
 
Well I don't really have much experience buying used cars, I just bought my first car last year. I was looking around and trying to find a bargin on a nice used car, as I didn't have much money to spend. I am very satisfied with the car I got, and the price I paid for it, worth every penny I think.

What I ended up doing was going to the used car department of a new car dealership. The first thing I told them was that this was my first car, and I didn't have that much to spend on it. I told them what kind of car I was looking for, and saw one that I was interetsted in that day. As it happened I couldn't test drive it, so I ended up calling the insurance company to see how much insurance would be. Lucky for me I did, as it would have been more than I would pay for the car each year!

Anyway the next weekend I got a call from the salesman saying that they just got in a 1994 Acura Integra that I might be interested. I went to take a look, and liked the car enough to take a test drive. The car was in great shape, besides a few minor dings and needing a good washing. So I asked what they wanted, I was told something around $8,000. I say I will pay half that, and end up taking the car with everything else paid for $5,000 out the door. What is my point Well basically if you go to a decent dealer, and stand your ground you CAN get a good deal. You also know that you will be getting a better car, as long as you buy from a new car dealership.

My father had a horrid expereince buying from an independant used car salesman. He paid a lot more than I did, for a car only a year younger, and with more miles. It has been nothing but problems, and as luck would have it the car is expensive to repair. He did everything possible to make sure it was in decent shape before buying. In fact he had it looked over by our family mechanic who is very honest and trusted. But some problems just can't be spotted in advance. A bit off topic, but a funny story of one problem it had. I was driving, and when I accelerated the speedo would get closer to 0, and as I stopped it would climb rapidly. So basically when I was on the highway doing 60 it said 0, and when I was stopped at a red light it would be over 100!

I guess the best advice is no matter where you buy is to do some homework. See if the car model has good insurance rates, and how costly it is to do repair work. Also buy from someone whose best interest it is to sell you a good car.
 
My advice - check out the Recycler. Auto Trader seems to have been taken over by dealers. Research the hell out of what you want to get so that you have a better chance of knowing when people are lying to you about features of the car. Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book - both good. Epinions can be helpful too. Make sure you have a mechanic you can trust (who isn't trying to sell cars on the side also). I think Consumer Reports puts out a thick used car buyers guide every year. Lists common ailments with certain models. And although you're looking for newer cars, might not want to overlook the beaters. My 83 Toyota Tercel has 265,000 miles on it. I bought it in January when my Taurus was totaled just as a car to get me through to my next car. Cost me 300 bucks and runs like a champion. Took me down to Ontario and back for Blade West and nary a hiccup. Knock on wood. I'll drive the thing till it dies. And the way it's going now, I think that might be a ways off.


Good luck, and be patient.

ZF
 
Rental car fleets (Hertz, Avis, Budget, etc.) can be a very mixed bag. Sometimes you get a great car and a great price. Sometimes the prices aren't that good and the car has been abused.

I know what happened when I was in Atlanta on a series of monthly rentals. I tried to turn the car in for service for an oil change several times but, they had no other cars to exchange and told me to come back later. 13,000 miles later I called the 800 number (national chain) and explained my dilema. The lady seemed slightly unsympathic since the car was not broken down. I had her pull up the car history and take note of the mileage currently on the car. I also told her the lightbulb for the engine service light was burned out. Needless to say, I had a different car delivered to me the following morning.

As mentioned above, rental cars tend to get used exceptionally hard by a small percentage of renters. Shop carefully on rental car lots.

A long term dealership for a major brand (Ford, GM, etc.) gives you some options after the sale that a non-branded used car lot or private citizen can't. Certified cars from a branded dealership are a good option if you can afford it. A 2 year lease return will often be discounted significantly and has the dealers and brands reputation behind it.

If you are not picky at all and have the time, buying a car from an older person can be a good option. Just make sure they drove it enough to maintain it in good operating condition. I had an aunt who basically totaled a Cadilac because she drove it 2 to 5 minutes a trip. Just enough to put moisture in the exhaust system but, not enough to really warm the car up and burn out all the pollutants and moisture in the system. Several thousand dollars later, it was back up and running properly.
 
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