Looking for a new used car.

[Alicenwonderment]

Well I knew that I would be looking for a new used car soon but after being rear ended on Friday 13th it just sped up the process a bit more. When I went to see how much damage had been done I was told I'm on the verge of the car being totaled. They could get into repairs and if they found more damage it wouldn't be worth fixing. Ugh!! It really doesn't make sense to fix the car at this point. I just don't like the hassle of looking for another car. The car I had was a 2004 Saturn Ion. When I had gotten the car in 2005 it was a salvage car with water damage. The car now has over 200,000 miles so it was a great car. My uncle knows a guy who buys those type of cars and redoes them. Thing is all the cars I'm seeing on his web site are salvage vehicles from Texas. I'm a bit leery since I assume cars in that area went through Harvey. When I put in the VIN # some of the cars come up as non repairable flood. How can these cars still be sold? So now I'm looking for suggestions of places to look for an affordable used car. In the past I'v had good luck with finding cars in the south since those cars don't have damage from the New England weather. I'm hoping I can find something for under 8000. (Is that too low) I got my Saturn for 8,000 with low miles. I don't know where to start. I haven't looked for a new used car since 2005 and I really just took what my uncle found the last time.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I would talk to people who live in your area for recommendations, not people from the internet who are all over the world. When I was ready for a new (to me) van, I started looking at Toyota dealers within 100 miles of my home, because I knew I only wanted another Sienna. We have bought two rebuilt salvage cars, but there is a very reputable person in our area who does them, and we know him and his family. I wouldn't buy one from someone I didn't know and know of their work, and I wouldn't buy one from another area of the country because you don't know what type of damage the car had.

 

[tvguy]

Well I knew that I would be looking for a new used car soon but after being rear ended on Friday 13th it just sped up the process a bit more. When I went to see how much damage had been done I was told I'm on the verge of the car being totaled. They could get into repairs and if they found more damage it wouldn't be worth fixing. Ugh!! It really doesn't make sense to fix the car at this point. I just don't like the hassle of looking for another car. The car I had was a 2004 Saturn Ion. When I had gotten the car in 2005 it was a salvage car with water damage. The car now has over 200,000 miles so it was a great car. My uncle knows a guy who buys those type of cars and redoes them. Thing is all the cars I'm seeing on his web site are salvage vehicles from Texas. I'm a bit leery since I assume cars in that area went through Harvey. When I put in the VIN # some of the cars come up as non repairable flood. How can these cars still be sold? So now I'm looking for suggestions of places to look for an affordable used car. In the past I'v had good luck with finding cars in the south since those cars don't have damage from the New England weather. I'm hoping I can find something for under 8000. (Is that too low) I got my Saturn for 8,000 with low miles. I don't know where to start. I haven't looked for a new used car since 2005 and I really just took what my uncle found the last time.

Okay, I'm confused. You drove a Saturn 13 years with a salvage title due to flood damage, and you are concerned about buying another car with a salvage title due to flood damage? Honestly, I think what you are seeing is a tightening in title classifications prompted by some consumer groups that feel consumers are not adequately warned that there is a bit of risk with any salvage title vehicle.

Generally speaking a salvage title car is one that had more damage than an insurance company felt was worth paying to fix. But someone bought them and fixed them for less money and resold them repaired at a profit. Most states require special inspections before salvage title cars can return to the road. And some insurance companies will not cover cars with salvage titles.
You save money because you are taking a bit of a risk that the car was fixed properly. Some people would never have a salvage title car, and others would not have anything but.
An option for you if you don't want another salvage title car is the rental fleets. Our family have purchased 3 used Hertz cars, including one my DD bought last weekend. Prices vary by model, but they had one year old former rental cars with 30,000 miles or less for as low as $9,000, most still under the factory warranty.

 

[Klayfish]

Well I knew that I would be looking for a new used car soon but after being rear ended on Friday 13th it just sped up the process a bit more. When I went to see how much damage had been done I was told I'm on the verge of the car being totaled. They could get into repairs and if they found more damage it wouldn't be worth fixing. Ugh!! It really doesn't make sense to fix the car at this point. I just don't like the hassle of looking for another car. The car I had was a 2004 Saturn Ion. When I had gotten the car in 2005 it was a salvage car with water damage. The car now has over 200,000 miles so it was a great car. My uncle knows a guy who buys those type of cars and redoes them. Thing is all the cars I'm seeing on his web site are salvage vehicles from Texas. I'm a bit leery since I assume cars in that area went through Harvey. When I put in the VIN # some of the cars come up as non repairable flood. How can these cars still be sold? So now I'm looking for suggestions of places to look for an affordable used car. In the past I'v had good luck with finding cars in the south since those cars don't have damage from the New England weather. I'm hoping I can find something for under 8000. (Is that too low) I got my Saturn for 8,000 with low miles. I don't know where to start. I haven't looked for a new used car since 2005 and I really just took what my uncle found the last time.

Sorry to hear about the accident. If I can help on that end, let me know, it's what I do for a living. A few comments.

You got lucky with your Saturn. Buying a flood vehicle is a roll of the dice. You may come up smelling like roses, you may come up snake eyes. If you want to be sure you can have reliable transportation, as I mentioned previously, I'd steer away from a salvage flood car. Far too risky. I'd rather have a salvage prior accident.

Second, fear of the New England weather is unjustified. Unless you're buying a 20 year old car it won't be an issue. If you're buying something fairly new, you should be OK. Cars are well rust protected. Yes, after long exposure you will have issues. But if you plan to buy something only a year or two old, you should be OK.

$8000 is a tight budget for a newer car. If you want something similar to your Ion (glad it served you well, but they weren't great cars) in that price range, I'd look for a 2013-2015 Hyundai/Kia product. You should be able to get something like a Soul, Elantra, Forte, Rio (smaller car), or Accent (also a small car). They are dead nuts reliable, good on gas. Their one big problem is they depreciate fast, which will very much work in your favor. You can start at places like Autotrader or Cars.com and find something good. Tons and tons of them.

Here's an Elantra...which is a former rental car. At tvguy mentioned, it's not a bad way to go. https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...rchRadius=0&makeCode1=HYUND&modelCode1=ELANTR

 

[gottalovepluto]

Flood cars are sold all the time. The saying there is a sucker born every minute is around for a reason, glad you are doing a bit of research and trying not to be one of them! We bought a different type of used car than you are looking at from CarMax and were happy with the experience.

 

[Klayfish]

Flood cars are sold all the time. The saying there is a sucker born every minute is around for a reason, glad you are doing a bit of research and trying not to be one of them! We bought a different type of used car than you are looking at from CarMax and were happy with the experience.

Yes, definitely good to do research. However, there is a possibility that any car you buy, even from CarMax, was in a flood. There are ways to hedge your bets, but not an iron clad guarantee.

 

[dosekies]

I also agree with looking at rental cars or going to dealerships and looking at their certified cars. I bought my Chevy Sonic as a 1 year old used rental/loaner car and love it. I had my mechanic look at it before I bought it and have had no problems at all. With how fast I was able to pay it off, all of the bells and whistles in it, and how new/low miles it was, I don't know if I will ever look for a brand new car after this.

 

[tvguy]

However, there is a possibility that any car you buy, even from CarMax, was in a flood.

Exactly. There is no national database, and I think some states still may not even require the flood damage to be reported. Car Fax can help, but it only knows what participating repair shops enter.
If something is done by a non-participating repair shop, Car Fax doesn't know about it. And things can be put in incorrectly. My neighbor sold his Lexus and discovered that Car Fax had 50,000 more miles listed on the car, all because the last quick lube place had put the wrong odometer reading on it. They fixed it, but it took a couple of weeks to show up on the website.

 

[tvguy]

Here is an example of a 2 year old Hertz car about in your price range. Reliable brand. It is past the manufacturer's warranty, but Hertz throws in a 1 year warranty and sells longer warranties.
https://www.hertzcarsales.com/vehicle-details/2017-toyota-yaris-sacramento-15019576

 

[kymom99]

Exactly. There is no national database, and I think some states still may not even require the flood damage to be reported. Car Fax can help, but it only knows what participating repair shops enter.
If something is done by a non-participating repair shop, Car Fax doesn't know about it. And things can be put in incorrectly. My neighbor sold his Lexus and discovered that Car Fax had 50,000 more miles listed on the car, all because the last quick lube place had put the wrong odometer reading on it. They fixed it, but it took a couple of weeks to show up on the website.

My husband was looking for a used vehicle and went to see one based on the car fax. It said the tires were new. When he looked at the car the tires were very obviously not new. He called out the salesman who played dumb. Our suspicion is that either the previous owner or the dealer changed out the tires.

 

[tvguy]

My husband was looking for a used vehicle and went to see one based on the car fax. It said the tires were new. When he looked at the car the tires were very obviously not new. He called out the salesman who played dumb. Our suspicion is that either the previous owner or the dealer changed out the tires.

Or the previous owner drove a lot of miles after putting them on.

 

[kymom99]

Or the previous owner drove a lot of miles after putting them on.

No it had the date they were replaced. The ones on there were dry rotted