Can you EVER ever ever trust a used car dealership...

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 5:29 pm

Or should you always always always buy from a private seller?

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 7:24 pm

Our last three cars have been program cars purchased through the used car department at the dealer. These are corporate fleet and rental fleet cars that have come in as fleet trades. They are always low mileage (under 18K and one was under 12K miles), one to two years old, with 3 to 4 years of factory warranty remaining. We have had excellent luck with them -- the only repair on the current one, which we've had since 98, is a new set of seatbelts in the back seat (covered 100 percent under warranty.

We only put about 6, 000 to 8,000 miles on a car in a year (this one is a 97 with about 60K miles now), and we just drive them until they are dead.

These program cars also tend to come with special factory financing at rates better than we could get at our credit union.

All in all, the cost amortizes out quite nicely.

chas · Post by **chas** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 7:34 pm

As the Car Talk guys always say, car dealers are regulated and you may have some legal recourse if something dreadful should happen to a car purchased from one. You have no regulation (except for the [cough cough!] Maryland inspection) and seldom any legal recourse if you purchase from a random individual.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 8:12 pm

That's a point.
I'm looking in the rather cheap range--i.e. <7-8K, where functionality trumps beauty. Daughters #1 and #2 are sharing a Subaru at college, and #3 needs to get to work and cross-country practice without my help.
I'll be checking with the Soob dealership we usually deal with, but I was wondering about other random used car dealers who aren't necessarily affiliated with a new car dealership.
It would be vastly cheaper to sell a kid, and I'll consider offers.

lenf · Post by **lenf** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:12 pm

emmline wrote:Daughter #3 needs to get to work and cross-country practice without my help.

Seems like if you combine the need to get to work and cross-country practice, your problem is solved, and think of the gasoline saved!

(Does it show that it's been a very long time since I had to help with transporting a daughter??)

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:30 pm

lenf wrote:
emmline wrote:Daughter #3 needs to get to work and cross-country practice without my help.
Seems like if you combine the need to get to work and cross-country practice, your problem is solved, and think of the gasoline saved!
(Does it show that it's been a very long time since I had to help with transporting a daughter??)

There is logic there.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:31 pm

lenf wrote:
emmline wrote:Daughter #3 needs to get to work and cross-country practice without my help.
Seems like if you combine the need to get to work and cross-country practice, your problem is solved, and think of the gasoline saved!

You could have her carry a quart bottle of cream in each hand, and she could churn butter on the way, too.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:36 am

How come daughter #3 doesn't have an adoring pack of boyfriends willing to chauffer her anytime, anyplace, anywhere? She's cute as a button.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:13 am

Martin Milner wrote:How come daughter #3 doesn't have an adoring pack of boyfriends willing to chauffer her anytime, anyplace, anywhere? She's cute as a button.

There could be trouble (of a mom's nightmare variety) regarding that idea.

Post by **Dale** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:19 am

This would be a good time for amar to show up.

But, on the original topic. I'm sure it is true that one tends to get the best money deal by purchasing a used car from an individual. That said, I've never done it. I've always purchased used cars from car dealerships that sell both used and new models. I'm paying more, I think, but I'm paying for the possibility of recourse that is probably harder to get with an individual.

And another thing. I hate buying cars.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:00 am

Dale wrote:This would be a good time for amar to show up.

Loren

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:13 am

Dale wrote:But, on the original topic. I'm sure it is true that one tends to get the best money deal by purchasing a used car from an individual. That said, I've never done it. I've always purchased used cars from car dealerships that sell both used and new models. I'm paying more, I think, but I'm paying for the possibility of recourse that is probably harder to get with an individual.

And another thing. I hate buying cars.

Ditto to all of that. I've bought 2 used cars. One from good friends. (and they still are--daughter #1 wrecked the car eventually though.) The other from the local Subaru dealership. Odds are, that's what I'll do again.

Martin Milner wrote:How come daughter #3 doesn't have an adoring pack of boyfriends willing to chauffer her anytime, anyplace, anywhere? She's cute as a button.

She's a litte scary too.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:24 am

I've gotten some incredible deals getting used cars from individusals.

The first time, I got a brown VW van from someone for $65.00 plus TTL. It had a carburetor problem, and had expired tags, and the guy who owned it lived in an apt complex where they towed expired tags. He was just going to let the tow yard keep it since it was junk and paid off, and buy a new one. So I talked him into signing it over to me, and I bailed it out of tow

It was a junker, but still lasted me 11 months. Not bad for $65.00

I got a used crown vic for my wife while we were still dating, for $2000. That lasted her nearly 3 years.

I got a used Honda Accord from a friend for $10.00 when I moved to Dallas. It had a host of problems that they thought were just too much to deal with, and the guy worked at an auto-dealership that had the policy of not taking trade-ins from employees. So he gave it to me really cheap..it cost me about $200 to fix it up. I drove it for almost two years and then traded it in on my new car and got nearly $800 for it.

I think I've been incredibly lucky running into such deals.

That said, you *can* find good deals at car dealerships if you are a little knowledgeable about cars, and are thick-headed and thick-skinned enough to keep telling the obsequious sales guys "no". Back from 2000-2003 I was part of that unfortunate segment of the population that was mostly unemployed due to the internet bubble bursting. I had $1800 cash to spend on a used car, and I spent two weeks of constant looking, several hours a day, before I found a dealership that was overstocked and gave me a $5000 car for $1850+ttl That one lasted me until I moved to Dallas and traded it in on my wife's Kia

missy · Post by **missy** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:50 am

The heck with buying a car - I'd be happy to find a dang mechanic I could trust (Tyler - you wanna move to Cincinnati???).

Last Wed my car began to overheat. I "caught" it, turned off the air, and managed to limp it home. We were going out of town for the weekend, so Tom didn't want to work on it - we took it to where we had, up to this point, been pretty pleased with service.
I was told it was the gasket on the manifold. Ok, I hadn't seen any puddles of antifreeze, etc. - so that made sense.
Picked it up Monday (we told them we were going to be gone, so they could take their time) - about $550 dollars later.
I drove it 2 miles, radiator idiot light comes on, "smoke" from engine. Water and antifreeze spraying out of the water pump.
Tom took it back to the mechanic - they said they'd fix the water pump for $250. Ah - NO - if it was the water pump, why did you do the gasket?

Tom put a water pump on it yesterday ($25). It ran fine this morning to work, but the idiot light is still on. I"ll check the radiator overflow before going home (and look to make sure it's still not leaking). I have no idea what I"ll do about the idiot light if the temperature is staying ok (black electricians tape???).

I hate cars.........

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 7:06 am

Try this from Edmunds.com

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/index.jsp ... CNVFINDUSD

I'd suggest going to a dealer for a used version of a very highly rated car. In my area that $6-7 would get you a 7-8 year old Corolla or maybe a Camry with 90-100K miles. They're good cars and frequently go 150k miles or more. There are probably multiple Toyota dealers in your area. They'll have the best of the trade-ins. The lesser ones are off to auction.

You appear to be a member of the Saab cult. You're probably beyond hope but it just wouldn't be right to pass this on to another generation. My wife has this affliction. A couple of years ago she bought a new 9-3 against the advice of her brother, her mechanic and her friends. (As a husband, my guidance has no cedibility.) She knew what she was doing. Sure enough, little things break. They fix them for free of course. The ventilation system is incapable of keeping the windshield fog free. None of this matters. She loves her car. I'll never understand, but she's happy with it.