Buying a car off of craigslist

[kerewin21 2]

I'm trying to buy a used car, and have been looking through craiglist. Over the past few days I've sent emails to 10 of the posters regarding their vehicles and haven't heard back from even one of them. What's going on? Do they just go so fast that sending an email 5 minutes after the ad is posted is too late? Are they all scams?

So confused. Has anyone had luck with craigslist for a car?

[Amby 490]

ask steven

[Mononoke28 135]

I don't know about buying a car but someone I know bought a very nice dining set from there and didn't have any problems.

Diana

[Lynda and Keith 0]

I don't know about buying a car but someone I know bought a very nice dining set from there and didn't have any problems.

Diana

craiglist is great if you use it locally, are you trying to buy a local item? I have never bought a car listed of craigslist but have never had a problem getting replies if I was interested in a local item. It's sort of like ebay, but limited to local pickup, mostly they don't ship have to pick up the item. though I can't see how they would ship a car. I would think that maybe the seller doesn't check their mail all that often, unlike me who checks it every moment I get ( maybe i'm just waiting for a NOA2 lol )

[kerewin21 2]

I don't know about buying a car but someone I know bought a very nice dining set from there and didn't have any problems.

Diana

craiglist is great if you use it locally, are you trying to buy a local item? I have never bought a car listed of craigslist but have never had a problem getting replies if I was interested in a local item. It's sort of like ebay, but limited to local pickup, mostly they don't ship have to pick up the item. though I can't see how they would ship a car. I would think that maybe the seller doesn't check their mail all that often, unlike me who checks it every moment I get ( maybe i'm just waiting for a NOA2 lol )

I've definitely bought stuff off of craigslist before, just not a car. I don't understand why in 3 days nobody has gotten back to me out of 10-12 cars I've responded to.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I bought a car through craigslist back in December. I emailed several people that either never replied or got back to me several days later.

The car I ended up buying was a '93 Honda Civic. It's holding together, but there are problems with it that I didn't find out until afterwards - front axle needs replacement, oil pan is too large as per mechanic, no cold air from a/c. I figured an older car is going to have it's share of mechanical issues - you're best weapon is being as knowledgeable as you can be about the make and model of car you are looking for. I narrowed my search to about 3 models (Corolla, Tercel and Civic). You can check the Kelly Blue Book online to give you an idea about the price before you look so you know what to expect.

If I were to use craigslist again, I'd ask the seller to allow me to have a mechanic look it over before making an offer - and if for example they are asking $3,000 but you find out the front axle needs replacement ($200), you can offer them $2,800 or less.

There are some websites that give you a checklist of what to look for when purchasing a used car from a private owner - I'd highly recommend it.

Good luck.

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

I'm trying to buy a used car, and have been looking through craiglist. Over the past few days I've sent emails to 10 of the posters regarding their vehicles and haven't heard back from even one of them. What's going on? Do they just go so fast that sending an email 5 minutes after the ad is posted is too late? Are they all scams?

So confused. Has anyone had luck with craigslist for a car?

make a free email account and use it to send from, it may be someone trolling for emails to spam.

[kerewin21 2]

make a free email account and use it to send from, it may be someone trolling for emails to spam.

Uh oh, I didn't think of that!!!

So finally 2 of the people got back to me. One of them looks like it might come through, the other is for a car in FLORIDA!!! Why is someone with a car in FL listing on NEW YORK CITY craigslist? Argh.

Oh, and Jabberwocky, thanks for the tip, I will definitely be bringing any car I buy to a mechanic first.

Edited May 7, 2008 by kerewin21

[MrsAmera 41]

My colleague was hunting on craigslist for a car too with similar results. Two that responded were aborad - one in England and one in Croatia (US Military) that were trying to sell. They paid shipping etc. Neither of them ended up working out. I dunno if I would trust it for cars unless they were local and i could see the cars first....

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

We bought my husbands car off of craigslist, and no problems. Its a 96 civic. We bought carfax before, and everything was all clear, even the guys service records, every time he took the car in for an oil change! The only thing we had to get done, is buy a new battery for it.

I think a lot of the people that post in the cars section, think that if someone is really interested, they will call, instead of email. And it is kind of true. I sold my moms car on craigslist, and it held up. Those that emailed just asked a whole bunch of questions. But the calls were the ones that came to see the car... and buy it.

I'd recommend Craigslist over a dealer any day. At least you deal with an individual that is more flexible. Either get a carfax, or take to a mechanic to have it checked out.

Good luck

[Dr. Obvious 49]

I have bought and sold cars on craigslist. Generally, if local people do not respond, either they are lazy or the item is already gone. If an item looks too good to be true, it is in almost all cases. Do not think you can get a 08 Honda Fit for 2k. These are all scams.

Only buy if the seller has the title at the time of purchase. If not, RUN.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

I have experience w/ Craig's list for both buying and selling. I helped my sister sell her car a couple of years ago. I think it can be overwhelming for sellers, especially if they're selling a cheap car (my sis was selling her little Mistubishi for $1,500). She posted the ad with a not-so-great picture and had dozens of responses within a few hours. Some seemed serious, some were trying to bargain without having seen it, plus a couple of sob stories ("I'm a struggling college student and really need a car but only have $800..."). It took a week or so, but she eventually sold it to girl who was in auto mechanic school--which was handy because the car needed some work.

We bought my husband's car (Honda Civic DX) off Craig's list 2 1/2 years ago for a bit less than the KBB private sale price. I remember it took the seller a couple of days to call me back. He'd received a lot of replies, but none really serious. He was very easygoing, and when I said I would have to have my mechanic check it out first, he met me at the garage and waited for the verdict (car was fine, yay!). I'm not sure if I got lucky. I'd taken two other cars in for a "pre-buy" and both had major problems. One was only two years old and was leaking oil, and the other had been in a "fender bender" (according to the seller) but actually had some real damage that wasn't apparent because the body had been fixed.

Anyhoo, sorry, this is getting long-winded. But yes, I've had success w/ Craig's list! It can take a lot of patience because the site is so popular, especially for car sales. If you've responded to a listing and see that the car was relisted after you contacted the seller, contact him or her again. It's possible that your reply got lost in the chaos. Also, some people aren't in a huge rush to unload a car and take their sweet time getting back to potential buyers.

Good luck!

[Carolyn 1]

We had a great experience buying my husband's car off Craigslist in November--it is pretty nice (a 2001 Audi A6) and we got an excellent deal on it (maybe $2,000 below blue book). It had just been in for a tune-up and brake job at a fancy Audi dealership, so we knew it was in good shape. The owner even brought it TO US twice for test drives!

That said, I also sent messages about a couple of cars before we found this one--and they seemed like scams (one was in England & the guy said he would pay for shipping--the price was a little too good to be true).

[boo boo 1]

We were looking for a car and searched craigslist for awhile...my husband purchased carfax for one month where he could run the VIN and find out the car's history (maintainance, accidents,how many times it has been sold)...that was a very good investment, but we ended up getting a car thru another source.

[kerewin21 2]

Sheesh, 2 more responses, both trying to sell me a car from far away (one from IL, one from CA). It's too bad there's no way to filter these ones out when I'm searching.

Oh, and this is great; practically identical responses from 2 supposedly different sellers, both of whom are "only selling it so cheap because I need to sell it ASAP due to some personal problems" (direct quote from both emails), both of whom want to use some car online brokerage service.

This is frustrating!

Edited May 7, 2008 by kerewin21