Need to Buy a Used Car

[Greylan]

Hello, I'm in desperate need of advice, and strangely some of the best advice I've gotten through life has been from here; there's a lot of collective wisdom at MMOC.

I'm a 22 year old college student who desperately needs a car -- for the last 4 years I've been saving every bit of money I can from the part time (and full time summer) jobs I've worked druring school. I've saved up 5k cash that I intend to use to buy a used car. I won't go into debt to get one, so this 5k isn't a down payment, it's the max I can afford, and I have no car to trade in.

What would be my best bet for looking for and finding a used car that won't break down on me right away or otherwise be a lemon? I don't care about looks or style, I just want dependability and to not waste the 5k. I hear you can sometimes find warranties for used cars, is this true? I would be willing to pay monthly or a lump sum for around a 5 year'ish warranty. This car needs to last me through 6 more years of school (doctoral program). I have no experience in buying cars, used or new, and I know it's easy to get ripped off. Any help is hugely appreciated!

[Nanaboostme]

every used car is different based on its history, you're only going to get general answers, best thing to do is check out and research your local used car dealers and make sure they have the details and history of the used car you are interested in. key word is research

[narzinor]

My experience with car dealers can easily be summed up as this:

"It's dangerous, don't go alone!"

I have some tips I've used to not get worked over though, all joking aside.

• I really do never go alone. It's much easier to trick one person than it is to trick two.
• Always look around the lot. Never let the salesperson take you to a car that -they- want to sell to you. They want to get rid of it, and usually there's a reason.
• Don't be afraid to walk away. There are lots of fish in the sea, if you don't find one you're 100% comfortable with buying, don't buy one from them!
• Always ask for the car's history once you do settle down on one, Carfax reports and DMV reports make this easy now.
• Once you do find that car, and you're started the negotiations for it, don't just take it as is, negotiate. You can easily bring the price down just by asking for it. Never let anyone (this goes for anything in the used market, or even the new market) sell you an item (car, house, piece of land, etc.) for sticker price.

Hope that helps.

[Tziva]

You will get a much better deal if you buy privately, although then you won't get a warranty or anything like that. That said, I don't know what kind of warranties dealerships offer on used cars anyway. I also am not sure how likely it is to find a car in that price range (or under really since you'll have taxes) at a dealership. They tend to prefer higher value used cars since they are more of a profit, with low value used cars going off to auction. I'm sure you can, especially if you go to a dealership that focuses exclusively on used cars, but it's something to keep in mind. $5k price range is on the low side, so it might be difficult to find it you limit yourself to dealerships.

I've bought all my cars used using autotrader magazine (which nowadays is online and free for buying); it includes both FSBO and dealer cars. It's a great resource no matter which way you go.

Cars like toyota and honda have a reputation for a long lifespan, but they typically cost more used. Look for something with as low of mileage as you can afford. Consider that a car's lifespan is intended to be around 180k miles, so even if you still get a car with 100k miles on it, it should have some life in it if it's a good car.

I bought my first car at 135k miles on it for about $8k USD* and finally sold it at 230k miles for $2k, so I'd say I got a good deal


* that is a high price for most cars with that mileage - I wanted a particular one. this is not intended to be presentative of mile:cost.

[Palmz]

If you are going for a car, Honda, Toyota and Acura are going to be your best brands. Examples would be Honda Civics and Accords, Toyota Corolla's, and Acura Integra's.

[Aerorogue]

I would aim at a mid to early 2000's car, you can get a good reliable car with low mileage for a fairly cheap amount.

Just for a basis, my current car is a 2004 Chevy Cavalier with ~60,000 miles on it and in good condition (no rust, no major damage -small door dings and a few scratches), and I could get anywhere from $4-4,500 for it. (I paid $7,500 cash for it in 2007 when it had 40,000 miles on it).

But you should also factor in your registration and insurance into the cost. Registration is normally around $100 or so a year, and insurance can vary greatly depending on things like (driving record, car's age, car make, model, 2 or 4 door, engine size, etc.) so get a quote before you buy the car.

I bought both of my cars from private parties and they both worked out well. Its alot harder to be sweet talked into buying something from a private person as usually they aren't a trained salesman that is just trying to get a commission from a sale.

I would also suggest just buying it all upfront, no need to add any new bills to your collection, if you have the money just pay it off and forget about it.

[Gilgemesh]

There's several things to consider when buying a used car. The first one is space. The reason I say this is that two seaters are selling for literally half of their estimated values. This does not apply to any suv or truck models though, their prices are nearly always excessive. You have to have a gear head friend. Take them when you go car shopping. Always, and I mean always, check everything in the car. Check the head gaskets for oil leakage. Crawl under the car and look at the steering linkage, Look at the shocks and springs. Check for steering drift. Do a brake check during your test drive. Keep an eye on the rims, if it has one rim that's newer than the rest you might be buying a recently repaired wreck. Same for headlights and tail lights. Check the belts, if its at 100k miles and the main drive belt is cracked and worn, more than likely the owner didn't upkeep the car very well, so you're probably going to be in for a brake job, timing belt, spark plugs, fuel filter, and drive belts. Check the tires for uneven wear, especially scalloping on single tires. This can also indicate something is up in the suspension. You also might be hard pressed to get a 5 year warranty for 5k. There are companies that offer warranties for a monthly cost, this could be your best route.

Also, since you're in school, get what you need now, get what you want after you're done with school. Nothing like suffering through 5 years of bad food because you bought a land yaught that burns through 500+ in gas a month. Calculate insurance costs before you buy the car. Also, calculate your tax and tag costs as well. If you burn 5000 on the car, your tax will be around 500+ cost of tag and possibly inspection depending on your region. Can't tag it without insurance, and several insurance companies want three months worth of payments up front. Also, if you have never had car insurance before, most insurance companies will list you has high risk for the first 6 months, effectively doubling costs for that duration.

[Frenegade42]

Two words. Toyota Corolla. They're not sexy, but they are reliable as hell. After Armageddon, the world will be populated by giant mutated cockroaches driving 'rollas.

[Kazzyku]

I recommend reading this: http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-things...ying-used-car/

There's much wisdom there.

Personally though, I've had better used car experiences buying from nice, older ladies than through dealerships. MUCH better experiences. I'd check around locally, see if you have any family friends or coworkers looking to unload a car.

[daniel9696]

I manage a used car dealership and I can tell you that while there are good cheap cars out there, cash for clunkers made them all hard to find and really expensive.

Buying a cheap car isn't easy. I'd take the advice given in a earlier post and bring someone with you. I'd also buy privately, as most cheap cars that are bought and sold at dealer auto auctions are junk (Not all, but most). If you want to buy from a dealership do not go to any franchise stores. No Nissan/Lexus/Infiniti/Honda/etc dealerships. They ALWAYS mark cars up way too much, most franchise used car managers won't even take a deal unless its at least a $2500 profit. The profit usually doesn't include there enormous lot fee's. Also don't go to a dealership dealing with $10k and under cars, its just sketchy and you'll end up with junk. If you go to a dealership that deals mostly with higher end cars but retails there trade ins instead of sending them to auction. I've seen a lot of great cars get traded in just because the owner wants a upgrade, and trade in's are usually only marked up 1-2 grand. You'll probably end up getting a better deal privately though (craigslist is a good tool).

Go ahead and immediately forget anything European (BMW, Jaguar, Audi, Land Rover, etc), Mercedes is a little bit of an exception because the older ones were sometimes crazy reliable. If you can find a old 80's diesel mercedes buy it. One of the best vehicles on the road, nice, and i've seen them with 400k miles, In Germany theres a 80's diesel mercedes taxi driving around with over 1 million miles. The early 90's S, E, and C classes are good too. Think of all the old cars you regularly pass in traffic. You probably see a lot of old hondas but whens the last time you saw a old 7 series BMW on the road?

You'll probably want to Look for older Japanese cars. Honda, Acura, Toyota, Lexus, and a few Infiniti/Nissan. Just don't be like most and assume just cause it says honda its automatically a bulletproof car. Know what had problems. For example the older honda accords had transmission issues. Older camrys had a tendency to burn/leak oil and smoke a fair amount, etc. Do research first. Maybe even learn to drive a 5 speed and go for one of those, always easier to replace a clutch or 1st gear instead of a whole automatic transmission, plus i've noticed that a lot of people who buy manuals take a little more care of their car.

Personally, I'd go find a older Lexus. In my opinion even a bad Lexus is a good buy. I've had the most luck with them. Older ES300s, LS400s, and GS300s were great. I've seen them with over 300k miles and still run like champs. Its pretty hard to kill one. Stay away from the first gen RX's though, they're not bad just not the best. Just like any car they may give problems though. DO YOUR RESEARCH. For an example the fourth generation ES300/330's had a tendency to develop a rear main seal leak. Every car will give you problems just in my experience lexus will give you less. Plus the 90's ones were from a generation when they were exceptionally well built cars. When a ES actually drove incredibly well and had a special feel to it instead of just being a rebadged nicer camry like the newer ones (Not to dog the newer ones, still awesome cars). LS400's are still nice today, heated seats, premium sound, etc. Pretty bulletproof engine/trans (depending on the owner) just bad gas mileage.

The vehicles history matters. Don't buy a car from up north, don't buy a car from a guy who didn't look like he took care of the major stuff/dogged it. Carfax is a good tool to start with BUT ITS NOT EVERYTHING. Most service records don't show up on carfax, a lot of really bad accidents don't either, a lot of minor accidents show up. Its not everything. Get an autocheck too, more reliable in my opinion. Go get in checked out. Don't always be afraid of a car thats been in a accident too. Cars are tough and it usually doesn't kill them. Stay away from salvage/flood/rebuilt though of course. Don't be scared if it's kind of rough (Torn up leather, say a window regulators out, big dent on the side) Just use it as a way to get the price lowered a little. And sometimes its better to buy a car with high miles then low miles, higher mileage isn't always bad, sometimes its highway and sometimes its a sign that the car was taken good enough care of to make it that far. Cars also need to be driven. Id buy a 03 with 120k before I bought a 03 with 20k. And if you see a light on the dash (like check engine or ABS) don't just leave, usually its nothing (Airbag lights are a little more serious), Just get it checked out.

Good luck with the search, hope I helped.

[Skippy88]

This is how I narrowed down my few cars which may or may not work for you.

1. Make a list of the stuff you want in a car. I've noticed in between my last couple of purchases how many perks have become pretty much standard. For instance my first car didn't have drink holders which drove me crazy so the last couple that was one of things I looked for in a car but that has become standard now.

2. There's a local dealership nearby that my family trusts and gives us pretty good deals so I start there by going through his website and matching up cars up that match my criteria from #1.

3. I test drive the matches around to see which ones that suit me.

4. By this time I've narrowed my search to 2 or 3 cars. I would advise if you don't have a trustworthy dealership to get someone to take a look at the car and make sure it runs well. I usually research the cars to make sure the price is okay and look up reviews.

5. Buy and profit.

[Kulanae]

Well the first thing to consider is that if it took you 4 years to save up 5k, do you have enough disposable income to pay for gas and insurance on a car? You could be looking at $100/mo for insurance and another $100/mo in gas. Can you afford that? Maybe you'd be better off with a scooter if you need transportation?