Buying tips?

PerfectCreature

So, I am looking at purchasing my first used dealer car. I have never bought from a dealer and do not want to get sucked into something ridicules or get an outrageous price.
I have roughly 3k saved up and will hopefully be finalizing a deal for my car with all my stereo stuff with it, and a few odd things being sold off for some extra cash to put be around 4500 for a decent car nothing special.
Anyway, I want some tips or tricks to avoid getting caught in a mess or to haggle a price that is reasonable.
I just want to get in and get out with a good car that will last me awhile.
I have read up on the internet, but given that this is an "older" forum I would assume that most of you have bought cars before, and have obviously learned a few things along the way.
I want to know what works, what does not work, warning signs to look for...
That stuff.
Thanks so much.

Rivrrat

decide what you're willing to pay for the car and lowball that number, hopefully you'll meet near what you were wiling to pay.

Never be bullied into buying into a bad deal, and have happy feet while dealing. It's always beter to walk than to get into a bad deal.

PerfectCreature

I won't be looking ath any car that is higher than 5k. I am hoping to have them drop it. The biggest deal, is how do i haggle a deal without letting them know I am waling in with 4 or so thousand dollars in cash...and I will be having no loans or anything...
I have been told they hate cash. Will try to jack the price of a car once they find out your paying cash....
How do I go in there and play them, instead of them catching on and them me just walking?

snow

Unless your making payments why would you want to go to a dealer to buy a used car?

REGARDS SNOW

PerfectCreature

They are the only place to get decent cars. All the used cars are rusted out, or simply just way to highly priced.
We have a few dealers that have reasonably priced cars. I just want to get in and get out. Plus, I want to avoid full coverage insurance. I have to many bills for full coverage, and I saved about 100 a month by just having liability.
Unless, I just put a small down payment, then finance through the dealer. Pay it off the next day?
I am unsure how that would work.
Again, I have tried researching but everything conflicts.
So, I am wondering what knowledge you guys have?

cnh

Good point, Snow.

My advice is, if you're not a mechanic...set your budget to 2 or 300 dollars less and make sure the dealer/seller allows you to take the car to an independent repair shop where a certified mechanic will agree to spend a couple of hours or more tearing it apart and inspecting it for wear, tear and RUST! It's worth a few hundred dollars! BEFORE YOU BUY IT OR AGREE TO!

Then once you have this report! You can also negotiate the price better! Most dealers won't agree to this unless they are reputable.

Good Luck....in Maine--you definitely want to check for rusting....brake-lines, suspension, body, etc. It goes without saying that engine, transmission and so on will be things your mechanic puts under the MICROSCOPE!

cnh

PerfectCreature

Yes, I already have my mechanic in mind. He has agreed to look at most of my cars. Plus, my dad knows him so they can both check them out. My father is a "jack of all trades" he helps him do repairs sometimes. Between the two of them, I shouldn't get cheated on the car.
Just am worrying about the numbers.
I mean, I do sales at kmart....but it is not big teir like a car.
How can I cheat the dealer?

Demiurge

Make sure you get the TrueCoat®.

Rivrrat

PerfectCreature wrote: »

I won't be looking ath any car that is higher than 5k. I am hoping to have them drop it. The biggest deal, is how do i haggle a deal without letting them know I am waling in with 4 or so thousand dollars in cash...and I will be having no loans or anything...
I have been told they hate cash. Will try to jack the price of a car once they find out your paying cash....
How do I go in there and play them, instead of them catching on and them me just walking?

Don't tell them. First you negotiate the price, then you tell them you're paying cash.

PerfectCreature

Yes, of course. How do I avoid the finance part?
Like do you have a loan and stuff when they ask that. I have done a few mock sales, and that is the first question they ask, do you already have a loan, "how are we financing today?"
After that. I figure I can scope the lot out, print off some rough numbers from online, be a stickler about defects and such and see if I can get them down in price. My goal would be to go below the sticker price. Like if a car is listed 4995. I want to try to shave a minimum of 500-1000 off....
Is that possible? I am a very stubborn man.

snow

PerfectCreature wrote: »

They are the only place to get decent cars. All the used cars are rusted out, or simply just way to highly priced.
We have a few dealers that have reasonably priced cars. I just want to get in and get out. Plus, I want to avoid full coverage insurance. I have to many bills for full coverage, and I saved about 100 a month by just having liability.
Unless, I just put a small down payment, then finance through the dealer. Pay it off the next day?
I am unsure how that would work.
Again, I have tried researching but everything conflicts.
So, I am wondering what knowledge you guys have?

Thats pure ****! Where do you think the dealers get their cars from? if you want to see high prices go the dealer, if you want a good deal shop privately through CL or your local paper etc. The best way I know to get hosed is to buy a car from a dealer. If you think that your going to get over on a used car dealer your nuts. Take your time and you can find a really niice car for 5k or go to the dealer and get screwed your choice.

Heres one that doesnt look too bad if you want basic transportation.

http://maine.craigslist.org/cto/1936428523.html



REGARDS SNOW

Polkersince85

Your better deal would be from a private sale. Use CarFax, NADA, etc. to know the going price. Get it checked by mechanic for sure. Professional salesmen will read you like a book.

If you cannot afford to loose $4500-$5000, you may want to rethink the insurance. One slip on an icey road and you are looking for another car without a down payment. Look at a higher deductible for a little savings.

One trick dealers do around here is they will contract with individuals to park the cars in subdivisions with a for sale sign. You think you are dealing with a private sale. Look for divorce sales, contact people at you job, jobless sales and estate sales. There are deals out there but it takes research.

messiah

+1000 on the private owner thing.

Never buy from a dealer. A private owner is just trying to sell the car he has, and probably doesn't want a lot of hassle either. A dealership has a business to run, employees to pay, etc. In other words, they take a car, and sell it to you for more than it is actually worth so that they can make a profit, and stay in business. On top of that, most used dealer cars only come with a 30 day warranty, which is useless, and extended warranties are a huge waste of money. But hell, it's your money.

messiah

http://maine.craigslist.org/cto/1935312646.html

Owned by older folks, never beaten on, and I'm guessing very well cared for. Plenty of room in the trunk for speaker purchases or bodies lol!

Blue book is about 2000 more.

PerfectCreature

To far away. Nothing close in my area that has not been sold. As for looking locally I have been down every road and not a single good car that is is respectable shape that does not need thousands in work to be done to bring it back to health.
I am going out tomorrow again to check up on a few cars my buds told me about. If not I may have to go to a lot. Not much for car selling. Tons of trucks, but I cannot deal with the gas guzzler effect.

As for being jipped by the dealer. That is to be expected, but I am going to try to haggle and play dealerships against one another.

messiah

Where in Maine do you live?

snow

messiah wrote: »

Where in Maine do you live?

Near the outer edge of Mongolia is my guess, according to him they dont have any jobs there either. I cant believe in the lower 48 states that one couldndt locate a few decent cars to look at and then take a bus, train whatever to go look at them even if you live in a small town how far can a bigger city be away? 100-200 miles at the most? I am certain that if I wanted to sell a car that if someone said they were serious about buying it I would even drive it to them.

Oh Well I give up, enjoy the deep anal pounding thats coming soon from a dealer near you



REGARDS SNOW

VR3

Why do you need it now?

Cars go up for sell everyday

messiah

snow wrote: »

Near the outer edge of Mongolia is my guess, according to him they dont have any jobs there either. I cant believe in the lower 48 states that one couldndt locate a few decent cars to look at and then take a bus, train whatever to go look at them even if you live in a small town how far can a bigger city be away? 100-200 miles at the most? I am certain that if I wanted to sell a car that if someone said they were serious about buying it I would even drive it to them.

Oh Well I give up, enjoy the deep anal pounding thats coming soon from a dealer near you



REGARDS SNOW

LMFAO!!

Truer words have never been spoken.

PerfectCreature

Its the rust factor. Most of the cars I looked at the looked promising had a lot of rust, some of them more than the car I had before. That is really what I am looking for. Most of the vehicles where huge trucks or really old cars.
I need something newer with less rust.

messiah

So where do you live? I mean FFS, even if you have to drive 4 hours each way, why wouldn't you to save a couple thousand dollars?

snow

messiah wrote: »

So where do you live? I mean FFS, even if you have to drive 4 hours each way, why wouldn't you to save a couple thousand dollars?

Save your breath he doesnt want your advice, he has his mind made up and thats it, logic and reasoning doesnt matter now. only the dealer has rust free cars that arent old big or wore out

Even though he could take a greyhound to oklahoma buy a car and drive back and save money it doesnt matter.

REGARDS SNOW

scottyboy76

if you have a mechanic you trust. its the ONLY way to at least get a decent insight as to what you are buying. i must agree with the guys though. even an honest dealer has overhead and cant sell you a car as cheap as someone trying to just get one out of the driveway.

TECHNOKID

Taking your time and doing lots of research is your best way, if you rush you will miss on the good deals and pay the big price. Internet is your ally for proper research choosing a CAA approved garage will allow you to make sure the car is fit and provide you with bargain leverage. Lots of good advives in the above posts.

Demiurge

Whatever you get make sure it has fresh blinker fluid. The last thing you need are more dim bulbs.

Amherst

snow wrote: »

oh well i give up, enjoy the deep anal pounding thats coming soon from a dealer near you

regards snow

+++1

And he has issues with sunburn, just figure the report after the car salesman finishes the deed.

dcmeigs

My advise: Don't buy from a dealer. That goes for crack cocaine and used cars.

decal

How can I cheat the dealer?

You are truely a naive young man.I wish you good luck in this endeavor,seriously.

PerfectCreature

I didn;t expect to, I would love to. Best I could do I suppose if make him drop a bit below the sticker price if I tried really hard.
I went looking around in the lots in my area, if I did get from a dealer I would get "shafted" as you say of at least 1k. Very few cars did I like in the lots that I thought were reasonable.
I have been poking around at the cars for sale in my area a few have caught my eye gave a few calls went to see a BMW 325i well taken care of just needs a timing belt :eek: and other work. He wants 750 OBO....bet it would take a lot to bring that back up to speed.

tonyb

dcmeigs wrote: »

My advise: Don't buy from a dealer. That goes for crack cocaine and used cars.

Ditto....think about it this way. What do people do with their POS cars nobody will buy ? Trade them into a dealer who then just cleans them up and parks it on the lot at a higher price than they paid. No way in hell I would ever buy a used car from a dealer. Ask around at work, if they know of a decent car for sale. Your just throwing money out the window at a dealer.

Serendipity

Have you tried Hertz/Avis where you can usually buy a used rental car for cheap?