<p>OP, I only have bought used cars as new ones lose a ton of value the moment you drive it off the lot.</p>
<p>Look online for cars you like. Try auto trader and cars.com</p>
<p>Go test drive them. You can take a mechanic if you want. I’m pretty car savvy so I bought all of mine on my own, with the exception of my first car at 16.</p>
<p>I can tell you what i did for my latest car purchase… I found the car i wanted here at a local dealership online, in the color i wanted, for a price i was willing to pay. They had signs everywhere that they don’t haggle and they price to sell. It was a few grand less then the same car at other dealerships. Then I broadened my search online and found the same car, one state over, 100 miles, in a different color, selling for two thousand less then the local one I liked here. I drove there to look at it and hated the color… I wouldn’t have bought it even for the lesser price… But I figured they don’t need to know that and i could use it to get the price down on the car I wanted. </p>
<p>I handed the sales guy the print out from the website, circled the price and features on that car, and told them to match it and that I was deciding between the two. They countered telling me taxes are higher in the other state and that I’d have to get it reinspected here and that they don’t haggle. I told him to ask his boss. It was the last day of the month and I knew they wouldn’t want to miss out on squeezing one more sale in. Guy came back and lowered the car 1000 and met me in the middle. </p>
<p>I would have paid their asking price for it but it doesn’t hurt to ask and I worked in sales for four years.</p>
<p>They also gave me 300 more on my trade in price.</p>
<p>Also,if you’re financing, line it up before you go there. I lined up 2.5 percent for my loan through my bank and the dealership loans were like 3.5. When I told them my bank loan rate they asked if I could wait a bit so they could call around and try to beat it for me… I had to wait for like an hour but they called like 15 banks they deal with and got me 2.0 percent on a used car. I’m sure they get some kind of cut for referring me to that bank but I didn’t care since it saved me money.</p>
<p>I am currently trying to sell my D’s 2011 VW Jetta. I have found the exact same car (even same color) listed on the dealer’s web site for $2100 more than I am asking. I can’t help but think it would be worth the extra time and effort to purchase a late model used car from an individual rather than a dealer.</p>
<p>I found that same issue, when s was buying first car, we found great car listed by private owner on Craigslist, took it to mechanic at Honda dealership and it checked out. Definitely would have been considerably higher if we found same car at dealer.</p>
<p>Currently looking to sell my '08 Honda, may do a trade in, can one expect to have the trade in amount, say, $13K rolled into the cost of a new car?</p>
<p>I bought mine used. Went to the dealer, test drove the car that was the year I wanted and the price I wanted. Checked oil and transmission fluid in the lot. Put $500 down ins deposit, took it to my mechanic two days later, paid my mechanic $80, and got a full report. It was owned by some old lady who drove it ten thousand miles a year at an average speed of 19 mph, and who kept it garaged. The dealer had sold her the car, did all the maintenance, took it as a trade in, and gave me the records.</p>
<p>Prior to that, I refused two cars with brown, smelly transmission fluid, one withi a failed inspection sticker and a suspicious looking dent in the front, and one that steered oddly and had an insurance claim adjusters card in the console. My mechanic flatly refused one - didn’t even charge me, just looked at it for five minutes and told me to keep looking. He could tell that it was behind on maintenance (e.g. It still had undercoat on the fuel filer, which meant never replaced, which meant no maintenance).</p>
<p>Funny story - my son wanted to sell his 15 year old Camry with 180k miles. It ran great, but was developing some rust and the paint/finish was beginning to wear off in spots. (He had moved to a city and was using mass transit, and was having to pay to park it). He had a great deal of affection for the car, and didn’t want to sell it to someone who would chop it up for parts. He was “nervous” about Craig’s list, so listed it in the auto section of EBay. He sent me a link to the listing, and just for the heck of it I posted the listing in a private FB group I belong to, which is made up of virtual friends who met here on CC! Within 30 minutes two of my friends wanted to buy the car. Both were looking for a “spare” car for their teen/college kids. The one who responded first ended up buying it, and later some of her friends asked her if she knew where they could also get a reliable used car! Meanwhile, my son forgot to take the posting off EBay for a week. When he finally took it down, the ONLY response he had gotten was from my two FB/CC friends.</p>
<p>He listed the car for what Kelly said was its value in “very good” condition. Neither he nor I expected him to get close to that price. My friend bought it from him for 90% of that price, and feels she got a good deal because she got a car that she knows was had been reliable and was well-maintained. So everyone was happy.</p>
<p>So perhaps the best way to buy or sell a car is to list the fact that you have one to sell or that you are looking to buy one on your Facebook page. Your friends may know someone looking to sell or buy, and then you’re buying from someone you know and trust.</p>
<p>Another option is to contract with an independent auto buyer/broker. You tell them what you are looking for and they have access to the wholesale market. Their fee is typically around 6%, but saves thousands on the markup a used-car dealer charges. They also have no interest in hiding the flaws. </p>
<p>Obviously they deal in the better used cars and not clunkers.</p>
<p>We buy our used cars from our mechanic. Have been doing business with him for 20 years and so far it’s worked very well for us. He usually has an inventory of about 15 to 20 cars and they have all been gone over with a fine tooth comb and fixed before he puts them up for sale. He also gives a 1 year warranty.</p>
<p>Some good ideas here. My 16-year-old daughter just bought her first car, with a VERY small budget from her restaurant job. She did extensive research on brands/models in her price range, then narrowed her search to the one car that had the best reviews on KBB/Edmund’s. She gave herself about a 200-mile radius and found a well-priced one with relatively few miles in Chicago. She got the VIN and did a Carfax check, then lined up a mechanic to look it over once we drove down to see it in person. The car has been fantastic since she got it and, we believe, would have cost substantially more in our market (college town where lots of people are looking for similar vehicles). We were actually surprised at the price differential between WI/MN/IA and Chicago. So you might cast a wide-ish net once you settle on a car that appeals to you.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention–my daughter did her shopping on Craigslist. We talked extensively about being wary when corresponding with sellers and helped her understand how you don’t just show up to a transaction with thousands of dollars in cash. :)</p>
<p>We got our last used car from a coworker of H’s. his lease was ending and the car was only 4 years old with 13,500 miles, had been driven only by the wife and well-maintained. We were able to purchase at the price he would have paid dealer which was at least $4K less than blue book price. It runs perfectly and has been shipped to LA for D to drive. </p>
<p>My sibs have all had good success buying rental cars. Also brother bought a demo Lexus which my SIL loves and it cut a substantial bit off list price.</p>
<p>S was all set to buy a new car. He had carefully researched the market and found what he liked. It was cheaper to buy new from dealer than used from Hertz. The weekend before he finalized the deal, he inherited a great used car from a relative. He is driving the inherited car that he had to get transported across the country CA to VA.</p>
<p>strike one today…went to dealer, they were asking $12.5k(down from $14k)…Kelley was at that price for suggested dealer retail, Edmunds was at $10.5k. I offered $11k and they wouldn’t move from $12.5k… I was shown some print out where they claimed to have paid $11k at auction and $3.5k for repairs. He read off the repair list, didn’t seem to be $3.5k, control arms being the most pricey.
I have no reason to trust the print out as they could have put in any numbers they chose. Avg trade in is $9k so I don’t know why they would buy for $11k at auction.</p>
<p>This is going to be a pain, just like I thought. I actually really enjoy the new car buying experience as I know exactly what the number are…with used, WAYYY too many variables for my liking.</p>
<p>Just keep looking. Some will move some won’t move. It sounds like you at least know what price range to try to be in and you know what car you want.</p>
<p>My work has offers us truecar auto buying service. You could check and see if it’s something offered to you. I know AmEx has it as well.</p>
<p>If i go on there and put in a new version of my car, with the features i have on it, my truecar price is like 5k less then msrp and the participating dealerships they refer you to agree to whatever the online truecar price is for the vehicle. The used cars I believe are a little different but something worth looking into.</p>
<p>AAA and Costco have some car buying assistance too. S didn’t find them that helpful in his search. Since he had tons of Hertz points he drove around lots of rentals to figure out what model he wanted bit worked well for him until he was surprised by the car he was gifted with. :).</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation, sort of… My coworker doesn’t have a car, and relies on me to drive her to work. I want to start biking to work, so I want her to get a car ASAP. I don’t know what the heck she’s doing right now. Every time I ask her, she’s like, “yea… I’ve been looking”. When I suggested we go to a dealer this weekend, she told me that she wants to go next week instead, because her stomach hurts… ???</p>
<p>Spectastic, tell your co-worker you’ve decided to start biking to work on April 1. Or May 1. Pick a date. Then stick to it. Either that will get her to buy a car, or when she doesn’t have you to drive her, she’ll manage to find a car. Or another ride.</p>
<p>Geeps20 - if they pull that on you, the proper reply is, “Not my fault that you paid too much for this at auction or on a trade. It’s not my job to make up for your bad business decisions. KBB says X, Edmunds says Y, and I’m not paying above either of those.”</p>