used cards....dealer or private sale?

[Sagginit]

since most on here buy used cars i figured you could give me some good advice on this one. my brother and his wife are getting a new car. they have a 2003 honda that they were going to trade in. the new car needs to be ordered so they have about a month before they trade in. my mother found out and told him that they should let me buy the car. i had planned on buying a new car in the next 12 months. it is in excellent cosmetic condition, i swear the inside still has new car smell. it has about 100K miles on it if i remember correctly. they take care of everything so the car has been kept up, but i don't know what might go on it soon or will need to be replaced in the first year or so. my car is much older but still has value, so i would get about 1/4 of what i need from that sale. now the two things i am having a hard time on deciding on are 1) is it most likely at an age/miles where i will have to replace a bunch of things at once 2) should i just take a chunk of my savings and pay cash or take a small loan?

my mother says just buy it since they are being undervalued at trade in and they will take that price from me. as she points out in a year or two if i still want another car that's not a honda i can just sell that and will prolly break even. she points out they have been the only owners so i know the cars history (no surprise carfax report the thing had been in a flood or crash).

my brother is saying hey, its sold as is deal and don't whine if anything goes right away as that can happen with any car. since its a private sale there is no certified used warrantee on it.

do you prefer private used sales? one from dealers? would you just jump on an opportunity like this since it won't come up again? my current car was bought at half the bluebook value from a relative. it needed work so they sold it to me cheap and my stepdad fixed it up. at the time i felt like i was settling but not having a car payment for 5 years has been a blessing.

 

[Swimalie]

Sorry but I would never buy a car from family or someone I know.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would have a mechanic check it, just as if you were buying a used car from someone you don't know.

As for the payment, it's unlikely you could get a car loan on an eight (really nine) year old car, so you'd have to take a personal loan if you can get one. The alternative, if you're disciplined, is to borrow from yourself: take that chunk out of your savings, and be sure to pay it back at at least a fixed amount and on a monthly or paycheck schedule.

 

[superme80]

I would have a mechanic check it, just as if you were buying a used car from someone you don't know.

QUOTE]

This!!!! Always have a trustworthy mechanic look it over.