Your experience on buying a used car?

[tigger 12]

Ok, my cousin is really nervous about purchasing a "used' vehicle. I've never had experience buying a used car with lots of miles. Please advise on your experience (good/bad) when purchasing a used car. How old was the car and how many miles? Was it reliable? What type of car did you buy & how much did it cost? Any advice is much appreciated. You can't trust these car salesmen. They'll sell you the shirt off there back if they could.

 

[Planogirl]

I recommend Carmax. We've purchased two cars there and both are good cars. Plus there's no haggling or pressure which I HATE! He could maybe just look there if he has one close by.

 

[noseybuddy]

We bought our DS a used car back at the end of August. Can't remember the make of the car right now, dang, but it was a 1991. Did have a lot of miles ,over 100,000. It seemed to ride nice, remote everthing, nice car. Needed new tires got that. Paid about $2600. Well it died the beginning of January. Would cost about $2000 to fix. To me it wasn't worth it to fix it, just felt like it was the beginning of the "money pit" car. So we got rid of it. First used car we ever bought and probably the last.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We buy them a few years old--our most recent was less than 1 year old--only 5K miles and basically brand new.

We've learned to trust Saturn in used car dealerships. Heck--they let my hubby look up Kelly Blue Book on their computer in their office both times we have purchased used from there. They will find any car we need if we asked them too just about (keeping an eye out when they go to auction).

their prices tend to be what you have to negotiate for at other dealerships.

We liked the average to be 15K or less miles per year of age it is. So if it is a 2003 you are looking at--we woudn't want more than 45K on it. Just our preference.

And just be careful. Last summer we were looking at pickup trucks. GM was having such a fantastic sale on the new vehicles--that it cost LESS money to buy the SAME vehicle brand new that it did a 2 year old model sitting on their used car lot. So do your homework and be aware of deals if you are going with a newer used model.

I like warranties--so try to get vehicles with warranty left or ones that we can get a bumper to bumper extended warranty on.


ETA: there is no haggling/pressure with Saturn either--the price you see is the price you pay.

 

[tar heel]

We bought my DH's Camry in 1998. It was two years old and had 23,000 miles on it, so was still under the original warranty; we also bought an extended warranty. We took it to our regular mechanic for an inspection before we got it and they thought it looked great. I don't remember exactly what we paid for it, but it was significantly less than new -- we were paying cash and couldn't afford new anyway. While we were looking, we also had the mechanic to inspect a Mazda, which turned out to have a number of problems.

We bought the van I drive in 2002. It was two years old and had 31,000 miles on it. It was still under original warranty and we also purchased an extended warranty. We financed it for three years -- rates are not as good for used cars. It was around $16,000 -- new vehicles like it were selling for around $30,000 at the time.

We bought the car my son drives when it was seven years old -- it's 12 now -- and had 29,000 miles on it! Unlike the other two, we knew its history. It was owned by a 90-year-old man who drove it to church, the barber shop, the doctor, etc. It is still the lowest mileage of our cars!

 

[N.Bailey]

I don't have much experience with used cars, but my son will turn 16 this year and we plan on buying him his 1st used car. I'd highly recommend you check consumer's report before making the purchase. For a fee, you can buy a complete run down on any particular automobile you're interested in too. I won't be buying many of them, but once I narrow it down, I might pay the money to get the full report.

You could also search their prior magazines? Perhaps your local library carries them?

I always check their latest reports when I'm buying a new car too.

 

[Servants of Evan]

My basic suggestion is to go to your local library and find one of the Auto buyers guides published by Consumer Reports. They'll tell you what used cars they'd recommend for a given price range, and more importantly -- what cars to avoid. You can flip to a particular cars make and model and see a basic summary of maintenance issues that vehicle has had...

 

[tiggersmom2]

We bought one of my hubby's trucks used. It was a 1994 and had over 90,000 miles on it. We bought it waaaaaay under blue book value and have not had a problem one out of it. It now has over 300,000 miles on it.

I would never buy a used car from a dealership....you have to pay mucho taxes there. I have alway bought from an individual - no taxes.

 

[FroggyinArk]

We bought one of my hubby's trucks used. It was a 1994 and had over 90,000 miles on it. We bought it waaaaaay under blue book value and have not had a problem one out of it. It now has over 300,000 miles on it.

I would never buy a used car from a dealership....you have to pay mucho taxes there. I have alway bought from an individual - no taxes.

hey my suburban is a 94,, had 200000 when i got it,, over 3 now and still a verty strong nice truck... agree though, i prefer buying from individuals, pay a little more but i get the history of the truck too,, i know why theres "smoke stains" under the hood,, ( brake fire) i know what brand of oil hes used in it for 100000 miles,,, i know how many miles are on the tires,,,

 

[staci]

All of our cars have been used. 2 we bought private party, from people we knew very well.

I bought a 1998 Nissan in 1999 from a dealership where we know the head mechanic. Drove it for 4 years with no problems whatsoever, it did have a slight oil leak when I got rid of it, would have cost 400 to repair but since i lived in an apt i didnt mind the oil on the ground, and it wasnt leaking hardly any, so I never ran low on oil.

Bought dh 1997 sable at the same dealership in early 2003. Right away something went wrong with a sensor on the door that cost $75 to replace, but other than that we didnt do anything until this month, where there was a busted bolt somehow in the transmission that needed to be taken care of. That was about $250. Everything else has been general maintenance.

my very first car was also bought at a dealership in 1996, it was a 1989 sunbird. I didnt pick it out, my parents did. One thing that went wrong was the serpintine (sp?) belt did go out one day while I was driving. Dont remember how much it was, but it wasnt too bad as I covered it myself. I drove it until 1999, when it needed a $500 repair (I cant remember for what) and I was out of hs and wanted a new car. My parents kept the sunbird another year for my little bro to learn to drive on. It was still going fine when they traded it in for a newer car for him.

Order a carfax report for any car you get. This was invaluable when we were shopping for dh. We saw a few cars that had salvage titles when we looked them up. One of dh's OLD cars showed on carfax that its odometer had rolled 3 TIMES and he didnt know that. 390000 miles is much worse than 90000!! It does give you a lot of info.

HTH.

 

[tigger 12]

Oh boy, the thing is she can't afford a newer used car like 1 or 2 years old. She prefers something a bit older so she won't have a high car payment. She was even considering something that may cost in the $4,000-$6000 range. Anyone have any luck purchasing a used vehicle in that price range?

 

[tar heel]

The 90-year-old man's car we bought was in that range. She needs to take any car she considers to a mechanic for a true analysis of its condition.

 

[staci]

Oh boy, the thing is she can't afford a newer used car like 1 or 2 years old. She prefers something a bit older so she won't have a high car payment. She was even considering something that may cost in the $4,000-$6000 range. Anyone have any luck purchasing a used vehicle in that price range?

Yep, the sunbird I talked about above (my first car) was almost $5000, although that was almost 10 years ago.

The mercury sable dh bought was $5000 at a dealership.

My sentra was more (around $9000)

The two cars we bought private party were both purchased for trade in value (from a close aquaintance) for $4000 and $3500.

Just have a mechanic you trust look it over and get a carfax on it.

 

[tigger 12]

Good idea!! We will definitely go to a reputable mechanic. Anymore used car purchasing stories?

 

[tigger 12]

I recommend Carmax. We've purchased two cars there and both are good cars. Plus there's no haggling or pressure which I HATE! He could maybe just look there if he has one close by.

Checked Carmax and unfortunately there is no Carmax in my state ??

 

[mudnuri]

bought my passat used, from a VW place thats not really a VW place (if that makes any sense)

I brought it to a real VW place and had the tech go through it. They know whats common in the car, and found out that most of the common problems were already fixed. The service manager also was able to pull up the service history through VW to tell me what it had been in for etc..even though it was at a CT dealer, not the one I went to in NH.

I then went out and talked to the sales manager, who had the same year/model car on his lot, about the price etc. I ended up paying 1500 less than they were asking, and 2500 less than the real dealer wanted for their car.

Brandy

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Good idea!! We will definitely go to a reputable mechanic. Anymore used car purchasing stories?

OK...we only buy used. Cracking knuckles..we have bought 20+ used cars.

We have gotten good cars, bad cars, and have been burned once and lost $$$. I will give you our general findings....

#1 Rule...If a car looks like it isn't taken care of (dirty) it probably was not taken car of properly mechanical-wise. (Same goes for a house)

#2 Rule...Go get the Auto Trader and look up cars. This is a must so you don't get burned at the dealer. (You can see the trends for your area.)
Ex...we cannot sell our Yukon off to a dealer now without taking a loss of epic proportions. (DH keeps trying, though)

#3 Rule at the dealer. The only reason to buy there is if you want a warranty. If you are not getting the warranty you might as well find someone to buy the car off of in the Auto Trader. You will get a better deal.

#4 Rule...Buying off of a individual? Use CarMax.
A car dealer should include CarMax as part of the "car deal", if not, insist.

#5 Rule...A car has many "prices" (dealer, individual,blue book, insurance). Your absolute "bottom-line" price will be found at your insurance company. They will tell you what will be covered & how much the car is worth according to them.
So the car's worth is somewhere between blue book and insurance covered amount.

 

[Lynn CC]

You can do a CarFax or have the dealer do one for you, it will tell you the "history" of the car you are about to purchase(after you decide). I wouldn't buy a used car without doing a fax because this way you will know how many owners, accidents etc.

DH bought a 1999 Volvo AWDS70 in 3001 from a customer of his. We got it at $5,000 under book value and I still love that car. I gave it to DS when he got his license he used it the last 2 years of high school and then went off to college so I have it back again (even though I have a 2005) I prefer to drive that car! I drive it everywhere and love it, it's just the right size for me.
I can't say it's been trouble free between regular maintainace, 2 sets of tires and a couple of other electrical things that have gone wrong I'd say I put about 1K a year in it every year. I guess that's not bad when you don't have a payment on it!!
I think I'd buy another Volvo used again,from someone I know!

 

[tigger 12]

OK...we only buy used. Cracking knuckles..we have bought 20+ used cars.

We have gotten good cars, bad cars, and have been burned once and lost $$$. I will give you our general findings....

#1 Rule...If a car looks like it isn't taken care of (dirty) it probably was not taken car of properly mechanical-wise. (Same goes for a house)

#2 Rule...Go get the Auto Trader and look up cars. This is a must so you don't get burned at the dealer. (You can see the trends for your area.)
Ex...we cannot sell our Yukon off to a dealer now without taking a loss of epic proportions. (DH keeps trying, though)

#3 Rule at the dealer. The only reason to buy there is if you want a warranty. If you are not getting the warranty you might as well find someone to buy the car off of in the Auto Trader. You will get a better deal.

#4 Rule...Buying off of a individual? Use CarMax.
A car dealer should include CarMax as part of the "car deal", if not, insist.

#5 Rule...A car has many "prices" (dealer, individual,blue book, insurance). Your absolute "bottom-line" price will be found at your insurance company. They will tell you what will be covered & how much the car is worth according to them.
So the car's worth is somewhere between blue book and insurance covered amount.

Forgot about the insurance company. I knew I came to the right place to ask. Lots of great tips!