Need Help - Used Cars!

[anya-D 8]

Ohh now.. talking about car dealership lying!!! I'm going to go to new Orleans tomorrow (and drive abck 13 hrs!) to buy my "new to me" car from a dealership.. now i'm scared!!! The carfax said no problem though... But i got quite a good deal (about the same as kbb traid-in value) but we got the "junk" fee for another $400 but overall it's still a very good deal.. HOPEFULLY there's no lying here at my dealership!!

you can also go to www.nadaguides.com to look at the traid-in value and retail price too.. kbb is actually for cardealers so the price on there are actually favors them.. my to be new car worth a lot more in traid-in in this site than kbb and it's the website my credit union use to determine the LTV

[Mary Lou 681]

Ohh now.. talking about car dealership lying!!! I'm going to go to new Orleans tomorrow (and drive abck 13 hrs!) to buy my "new to me" car from a dealership.. now i'm scared!!! The carfax said no problem though... But i got quite a good deal (about the same as kbb traid-in value) but we got the "junk" fee for another $400 but overall it's still a very good deal.. HOPEFULLY there's no lying here at my dealership!!

you can also go to www.nadaguides.com to look at the traid-in value and retail price too.. kbb is actually for cardealers so the price on there are actually favors them.. my to be new car worth a lot more in traid-in in this site than kbb and it's the website my credit union use to determine the LTV

Anya,

I hate to rain on your parade, but i would be leary of buying a car from NO, there are still flood damaged cars out there. Make sure you check it out.

[aidan80 9]

I drive a 2001 Kia Rio. Love it. Bought it last year for $1,000 from my mother-in-law's colleague's daughter, who had to sell the car because she had put money down for a new car at the credit union and needed to get rid of the Kia fast. What makes the deal even sweeter is there was only 53k miles on it when I took over.

It's a good, reliable car. I have not had any problems with it. Mine's an automatic and gets approximately 31 mpg. Because I only drive it to and from work (and to church some Sundays), I only need to fill her up once a week.

My original plan was to drive my Kia for a couple of years and then trade it in for a brand new Honda Fit sport model (my dream car). But my little Kia has been doing so awesome that I told my husband a month ago that I think I want to drive her till she can't go any more. It doesn't bother me that she doesn't have power windows or automatic locks. She does what she needs to do. Besides, I like not having a car payment.

And her BRIGHT green color doesn't exactly hurt either.

Funny you mention a KIA, I've heard a lot of bad reports about them! Although I'm seriously considdering buying one if it's a 2000 model or later! They got bought out in 1999 by hyundai and they don't appear to be bad cars at all!

[aidan80 9]

I have a Kia also, which came from craigslist. Mine is a 2000 Sephia, with about 56K on her when I bought her. The biggest recommendation seems to be that you make sure you get the timing belt done at 60K for Kias, although I believe that's recommended maintenance on any car. I paid $2200 for my car, but she is not cosmetically perfect and is the base model (no AC - OMG I'm melting right now!).

You may also be surprised what you can do with credit - I have a friend whose ex-husband screwed her over royally, and she still keeps discovering debts she didn't know about or thought were paid. She managed to finance a brand new Ford Focus earlier this year. Of course, the interest rate is not the best, but she's planning on using it for a year to build her credit rating so that she can refinance after the first year. If you could use that $2500 as a deposit against a new or "gently used" car, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Well I actually wouldn't mind picking up a KIA if I could at a decent price in good shape. Although I couldn't see myself withought a working A/C... the heat here in Florida would murder ye inside the car!

My credit seems to be doing a little better lately although I don't have enough of a record yet to get anything big. Even if I could get a car on credit right now with a decent sized deposit I wouldn't. We're going to move to a different State over the next year or so and a car payment would suck up additional funds.. although I would like to use that to build my credit... It's annoying having to start from scratch again!

[aidan80 9]

When it comes to used cars looks like it's a case of trust no one!

Is CarFax worth the money? I'm thinking about getting it or something to check out the VIN's before I part or think of parting with any cash! Has anyone used eBay Motors to buy a used car?.. and can anyone tell me what the "dealer fees" or "processing fees" are for other than being used to make the car appear less expensive than it really is?

I have to admit I'm still trying to get used to the idea of everything in the US not being priced as it is. Back home if something was 99c or 99p then that's what you paid! Here it's ex tax and any "fees" (if it's a large item) that get added after that?..

[aidan80 9]

I thought I'd update my status while hunting for a car! Good news is I've found a number of cars with less than 100k on em and within budget. Some of them actually have around 70k - 85k which is decent enough considering our budget of only $2,500. Most of what I've found are mid to late 90's and appear to be in decent shape. So far so good...

Well as was mentioned here before, I thought maybe I should try credit as it's gonna take weeks if not an extra 2 months to get a car now. I thought I'd try online with the bank the wife and I are with and I got refused in about 10 seconds! I didn't really expect to get approved but I thought it'd least say we'll call you or something? Maybe I shouldn't have applied as it'll register as a small negative mark on my small as it is score. It also puts me off trying again at the same bank or any other bank for fear of having another bad mark on my file.

Although I did just get an approval for a credit card from capital one? I also just got a preapproved credit card application from the very same bank? Grrrr… Maybe we should just got borrow $1000 and use $1000 of our own money as collateral then pay it back the next day? I’ve heard that it adds a few extra points to the score!

It's really annoying not having any credit or very little credit!

[ChristinaM 0]

Banks are much more rigorous about who they extend credit to. You might want to try at a dealership; although the rates are typically less good, you can always refi after a year once you've developed a history.

Good luck!

[Lisa and Spence 0]

Carmax is a good place to buy a car, they dont have the hidden fees, the price advertised is the price you pay.

Not a lot of dealers will give you a guarantee for long but carfax will give you say 3 months with a follow up option.

They tend to have better cars that will actually last you a while, ive been recomended to carmax by lots of people, im in Florida too.

I check online what cars they have, im just waiting nearer the time that my AOS is complete, well when my EAD has come through, then im of to Carmax to get my motor, i will also get the carfax thing done too.

My mate is a mechanic for mazda and he said they will guarantee your car for say three months, so when you buy the car you want...go to another garage and get them to give your car a complete going over to see if anything needs doing, if it does get the list and take it to carmax and tell them this needs to be fixed or sorted out or you want your money back, because they have a money back policy too.

They will fix any problems it has... but you should get a good car without any problems

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

When it comes to used cars looks like it's a case of trust no one!

Is CarFax worth the money? I'm thinking about getting it or something to check out the VIN's before I part or think of parting with any cash! Has anyone used eBay Motors to buy a used car

Carfax is, I think, only $25 for a month of unlimited VIN# checking, and well worth saving you from getting a totally crappy car.

We did it when we bought my husbands Honda Civic from craigslist. Did you check out what they have on that site? I just browsed and saw a couple nice cars in case you were intersted.

Carmax is only good if you like paying a lot for your car. The stated price is what you pay, you dont have to negotiate, because THEY ARE RIPPING YOU OFF. Usually the prices they have are way over Kelly Blue Book Value. Once you are off the lot, is not that easy to get them to fix stuff, sometimes they say its wear & tear and parts are due to break... go figure what kind of saying is this when they have all the "guarantees" in place... its just advertising to get you in. They also make tv commercials that they never buy cars with frame damage, that is such a lie! My sisters friend worked there, and told me of a story that Carmax bought a totalled Mercedes, got the title redone to take out the "rebuilt" part, and after being fixed sold as any other car. Be careful no matter where you get your car, dealer or person. Checking Carfax with the VIN is a super super thing!

[aidan80 9]

Thanks for the responces! I will keep on hunting for something

[anya-D 8]

Ohh now.. talking about car dealership lying!!! I'm going to go to new Orleans tomorrow (and drive abck 13 hrs!) to buy my "new to me" car from a dealership.. now i'm scared!!! The carfax said no problem though... But i got quite a good deal (about the same as kbb traid-in value) but we got the "junk" fee for another $400 but overall it's still a very good deal.. HOPEFULLY there's no lying here at my dealership!!

you can also go to www.nadaguides.com to look at the traid-in value and retail price too.. kbb is actually for cardealers so the price on there are actually favors them.. my to be new car worth a lot more in traid-in in this site than kbb and it's the website my credit union use to determine the LTV

Anya,

I hate to rain on your parade, but i would be leary of buying a car from NO, there are still flood damaged cars out there. Make sure you check it out.

garyandmarylou - Thanks for the warning!! lol Everyone i talked to about getting a car from NO said the same thing... But fortunately my new car is perfectly clear from flood damage.. from the carfax report it showed that it was Honda certified used car twice after the hurricane... We went to new orleans on Friday and looked at it and it was a beauty for me.. a little tear and wear as normal used car and we drove it home (13 hours!!!!! that'll prove how good the car is ) and no sign of flood damage... and i got it $3,000 to $4,000 cheaper than normal retail price.. so i'm very very happy with my new car (actually it's a CR-V so it's a SUV not a car lol.. I call everything "car")

[aidan80 9]

At last the wait is finally over!... We finally found a decent used car within budget! We got a nice wee 1998 Mercury (Ford – based on the Mazda 323?) Tracer with 75k on the clock. Of course it’s an automatic and I find it hard not trying to find the clutch or shift all the time!..

We somehow managed to get the price down from $2,650 (KBB $2,300 - $2,700) to $2,200 and with the cost, of the title/tag, registration, dealer fees, taxes we ended up paying the $2,650 all in. Not that bad of a deal paying the price you see and drive home in!!!

The bad news… The car does require a new strut ($60 part!) in the next few weeks. Other than that it’s clean inside and out, almost new inside and apart from a minor scuff mark on the rear bumper it appears almost flawless!

All I need to do now is stop by the insurance place tomorrow on my lunch break and get it 100% road worthy!

My advice to anyone still looking is… keep looking till you get something. We looked at lots of total junk, car lots of junk selling for insane prices before we got this. Either we got lucky like others here have or it’ll fall apart tomorrow on my way to work! I think we got a decent deal.

Edited October 30, 2007 by aidan80

[nate&nid 0]

Sorry I got in this discussion too late ... buying the car is the cheapest part. I would recommend you learn how to perform routine maintenance on your own (change fluids, brake pads, batteries, etc. ) because mechanics will charge you ALOT to do this, and with a 98 Merc this should all be accessible and pretty easy to do. Also keep the radio off for the first couple hundred miles so that you learn the sound of your car on the road - this first sign of something going bad is when the car sounds "wrong". Preventive maintenance is cheaper than fixing after it has been broke. 75k??? It better be from an old lady only going to church and back (and hitting a few curbs on the way to bust a strut), that is way under yearly average mileage in the US. In Florida you really need to watch for corrosion from the "salty" air (I used to live in Sarasota) - it kills cars faster than anything else down there. Hopefully it was treated well.

I have bought cars with over 100k miles with no problems, cars today tend to last alot longer than they did 20 years ago. Being proactive in maintenance and upkeep will make that car last well over 200k miles. Can't vouch for foreign-made cars being better that american-made cars, they are all machines.

[aidan80 9]

According to a more knowledgeable friend it appears to be the strut/shock. I had him check it over, no rust no leaks no crash damage. With the millage on this thing and just how very clean it is I'm assuming it's very possible in this part of the world the previous owner was an old person. Like you said I wouldn't be shocked if the last owner ran over a few curbs/potholes! I've been doing just what you suggested and listening to the engine running, it's a low hum on the road and louder at speed very smooth pickup and doesn't struggle too bad even with the air at max. It's actually a lot quieter than our Saturn!

Luckily we have a decent mechanic that charges decent prices for most work although I do intend to become familiar with basic maintenance myself. I intend to get it over to a garage in the next week or 2 and have the mechanic give it a once over to ensure all is well and get that strut/shock fixed.

I've noticed from the reviews I've read that quite a few cars will hit the 200k mark if treated properly. We got our first car from the same dealership for slightly more than we paid for this car with 83k on it. It has just hit 120k this year, our second year with this car and the only problem we had with it was needing to replace the wires, plugs and a belt. Not too bad for a used 98 Saturn SL!