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Very good points Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Wed, 15 Aug 2001 13:50:37
In Reply to: Re: a thread or a torrent? Claude:, pursang, Wed, 15 Aug 2001 09:46:08 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I agree with you. About a year ago I was hunting for an off-lease car. All off-lease cars come through auction houses, so the days of the dealer re-selling a car he sold originally are almost gone.
I know of a place that buys cars at auction for resale. The look for theft recoveries, repos, and other 'damaged' goods. They have a shop, and between junkers, and a little mix-n-match, they have a lot of very good looking cars with low mileage at low prices. Frankly, those cars scare the heck out of me.
I would use Carfax, but in addition, I'd also use some basic detective work. Look at the car - find out where it lived - is it from instate our out-of-state? Check on the door or in the engine compartment to see if there are any oil change stickers, look under the carpets for old receipts. See if you can figure out where the car came from. If the title is in-state and the car was serviced in-state, chances are it didn't travel down to Texas for a flood (unless you live in Texas). Does Carfax line up with what your eyes tell you?
Look for signs of water damage. Look under the seats, in places where people don't look. Look for signs of rust in places where it shouldn't be, like the springs holding up the seats or under the spare tire. Check the covering for the center console - it's carpeting over fiberboard, and no fiberboard is the same after a bath.
There is another option-
Find yourself a dealer you feel you can trust (OK, I know this is like, 'first, fly to the moon, then...'). Go to the dealer and tell them what you're looking for. Work with them. I actually found a dealer that made a point of buying back cars they had either sold (leased) or serviced. They could produce a maintenance record of the car, and even tell me who had owned it. With such a record, I could have confidence in the history of the car. These cars cost more than the in-and-out lots, but I felt they were a false economy.
And if you think about it, the ideal used car to buy is one with a complete maintenance history. Even a leased car can be under-maintained, and 3 years and 40K miles on the same coolant, brake fluid, and possibly oil doesn't bode well for longevity.
posted by 140.157....
, Wed, 15 Aug 2001 13:50:37 <-- Viewing This Message
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