Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
Options
Comments
Since I got bored and now own an independent repair shop, it never ceases to amaze me how many of my nitwit customers (And I call them nitwits) buy used BMWs without getting them inspected.
Case in point: Nitwit A buys a 2001 530i 5-speed. Nice car too.. 75k on it, clean, Sport and premium packages, cold weather, nav, etc.. the whole gambit. $16,700. Cheap too!
75k on original cooling system.. bad but he expected that $800 bill.
However, the car needed a bunch of front end work, brakes all around (And I have NEVER seen a BMW with reusable rotors), had a growling AC compressor and the flywheel is not too shabby.
Oh yes, whole left side's been worked and resprayed.
Now, was that a good deal? No! Granted, much of it is either maintinence, preventative or otherwise or items to be expected at that mileage, but the car's been smacked.
Had he swung it by I'd have checked it out ahead of time, charged him $80 and saved him thousands.
Now, let's look at some smart buys my clients have pulled off of late...
2005 530i Sport/Premium/HIDs/Steptronic/Cold Weather/Navi. 35k miles, clean car, no paintwork, under factory warranty. $58k MSRP, he got it for $34,700 from a friend of mine in Florida. $700 to ship it up here so $35,400 plus tax and tags. Car is gorgeous! A comparable new 528i equipped likethat would likely cost you $54-55k... $20,000 is a lot of money to save.
2004 M3 Coupe. 6-speed, Imola red, Nav, leather, roof, heated seats, etc.. I think he paid $36k for the 40k mile car and it's also flawless.
The trick is to buy carefully... for less than a new basic 3 series sedan, you can get a loaded 2 year old 5 series!
But, there is danger there too...some shops will, literally pick the best of used cars to death. They will find oil leaks that don't exist, they will nitpick the car so bad nobody would buy it.
There was once a Volvo "expert" that owned a shop in downtown Seattle..I'll call him "Swen". To his customers, Swen walked on water and could do no wrong. He had a mission in life to restore every Volvo, no matter how many miles or how old to factory condition.
Every used Volvo brought to him would be condemmed for a number of reasons. He would always compile a long list of "needed" repairs. By the time Swen was done, it was an automatic No Sale no matter how nice the car.
Funny, his customers thought he was wonderful and they cheerfully wrote him huge checks time after time.
Gee my guy will do it for free. But then again he does all my maintenance work so I guess I am allowed some freebees.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I have a competitor like that. Guy calls me up, claims he has a 97 740iL and got an estimate of like.. sheesh, $7,000 to get it right, much of it was to repair some fluid leakage. So I tell him to bring it in.
Rear main seal, like all older BMW V8s, was leaking SLIGHTLY.. I mean, literally, a small damp spot where the trans meets the back of the block. "Oh no, this is no good, we have to pull your trans to fix this and while we're in there we should sell you everything".
Now, if it was dripping and causing a real issue, fine, but minor seepage? That was $2,500 or something insane.
Then the oil pan on this 10 year old 145k mile car was also lightly seeping.. as was the timing cover.
I told the guy that the car was 10 years old, had 145k, might be worth $8-9k to sell, and that he was insane to fix all of this and that it was not an issue.
I did agree on the tie rods and intake seal leaks, but not for $1,500+
The sad thing is, as complicated as the new cars are getting.. I can think fo less than 10 shops within a 30 mile radius of my shop that can properly service BMWs.. and I'm in Northern NJ!
You should always have a car inspected even from a reputable, franchised new car dealership. It is always a good idea for a second set of eyes to look at a car just in case someone made a mistake. As good as I am with used cars I would want someone else to look at it just in case I got to close to the car and wanted it so bad that I missed something obvious or obscure.
Man everyone most have a "Swen" or "Hans" around their area.
We have someone I will call Rover's Rovers and I have several stories about them but this is not the time or place for them.
I will share one.
Several years ago before I worked for Rover this happened and my regional rep told me about it a couple of months ago.
My rep got a call about a Classic Range Rover that was corroded. The car was out of its corrison warranty by a few months but the guy wanted to know if it could be good willed. My rep said fine he would look at it and see.
He gets to the dealership to look at the Range and the owner is their to plead his case. No big deal he sets about inspecting the Range Rover.
He decides he can't good will it because it is obvious the corrosion is from abuse and damage that was not repaired properly.
The rep tells the owner this and he is furious.
He says, "But your dealership up in _______ said you would cover it."
The rep says, "Our dealership WHERE?"
The owner goes, "You know your _______ annex."
Rep goes, "We don't have a dealership annex in ______."
Customer says perplexed, "Well then why would Rover say that he was a dealer?"
Rep says, "I don't know but I will find out and I will give you some help with the repairs but I cannot cover all of it. "
Customer thanks the rep and is happy to get at least some goodwill out of it.
The very next day our rep goes up to this particular shop and tells them in no uncertain terms that they cannot represent themselves as a franchised dealer and hat they cannot make Land Rover warranty claims. If something like this happens in the future legal repercussions will be swift and severe.
Oh, but the prissy speciality shops will insist these leaks are life threatning and HAVE to be fixed.
They also love to reseal power steering pumps that barely seep. On a Used Car Inspection, these guys will always compile a list of things that they deem to be bad.
Any shop can and will do this but European shops are, by far, the worst at this!
And a lot of these jobs are what we call "gravy" jobs. The oil pan gaskets that pay three hours and take one to do etc.
Or at the very, very least take the car down to auto zone and ask them to hook it up to there little hand held diagnostic computer and make sure you are not getting any major diagnostic errors. This also insures that some crooked guy has not gone in and disconnected or put tape over the check engine light
A buddy of mine is in the process of finding his son $3K-$4K car. I told him that I don't sell friends old cars because they are always a crap shoot. But told him to make sure he gets it checked out
Since I got bored and now own an independent repair shop, it never ceases to amaze me how many of my nitwit customers (And I call them nitwits) buy used BMWs without getting them inspected. **
While I agree with you in principle, there still is some risk in buying used.
When my brother had his repair shop, I bought a Mercury Topaz V6 off a dealership he used to work for. The car had come in on trade and had not even been prepped by the dealership. We took the car out of the dealership pre-sale and took a 125 miles test drive throughout Southern Ohio. The car was extremely clean and drove beautifully.
I took it back to Cleveland ... and found out why it was traded. Intermittant transmission problem. Sent it to my buddy Guido who has made his living on fixing Ford transmissions. He drove the car for four weeks and didn't have the problem occur again.
You get the drift. Fortunately, a couple of discussions with Ford and I was only out $500.
Isn't it easier to see if the check engine light turns on when you turn the key to "on" before starting the car?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
For simplicity, say you have two options: Buy a new car with 0 miles or spend several grand less and buy a used car with 50K miles. ***
When I was in the market for a new ride in March (the '89 Ciera was getting kind of rough), I went to all the local reputable dealers looking for a used car (sedan) for $6-8. All the vehicles that I test drove in that price range were 60-80k miles, needed $500-1000 in repairs to bring them up to standard or were cars that "didn't make sense". When I use that term I mean that the car was a bit too cheap for everything to be right or it had been on the lot forever or something didn't smell right.
I figured that I was going to get about 70-80k miles MAX out of the vehicle for that amount of car.
(For the record, I had planned to buy an '04 Impala with 60k miles for $7.5k but the leasing companies had increased their prices on off-lease vehicles to $9.3k.)
I decided that it was cheaper and less risky to purchase a '07 Corolla LE for $14k that will easily make the 150k mark. It wasn;y my first choice for a driving appliance but you don't need much to drive 11 miles to work and back.
Ya but if a guy was crooked enough to disconnect it or cover it up in the first place I am sure he would have no problem telling the average consumer that a bulb is burned out or some other BS story.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Yeah, right!
That was my entire point in the first place LOL
I charge $80 usually to scan a car, but then I use a $14,000 scanner
Unfortunately it's BROKEN at the moment.. god knows when I'll get it back from being fixed... :sick:
Here it is free at places like Auto Zone.
Murrays (Kragen and Shucks too depending on region, I think) will "tool loan" a OBD2 code reader (you buy it and then take it back when you are done, they know its going to be returned and they "sell" you a used one with all the cables and manuals - a really nice program).
Anyway, if I am going shopping from independent dealers or from private sellers I go pick one up and bring it with me. I have to admit though a lot of times I am shopping for fixer-uppers so having a CEL isn't a deal breaker, its just that when they say it "just needs an 02 sensor or a gas cap" and it needs a new intake manifold, I like to know ahead of time.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
You had some malarky about tape over the light (wouldn't come on when key was turned would it?) and about the bulb's being disconnected (wouldn't turn on when the key was turned to on for the bulb checks would it?).
>This also insures that some crooked guy has not gone in and disconnected or put tape over the check engine light
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Autoparts stores also sell readers, and you can pick up an inexpensive simple reader for 30 buck range. I bought a more expensive model with additional features for about 100.
Just fricken forget it. Some of you people are impossible to have a conversation with. Your are so worried about being right on some of the stupidest mundane things.
Or at the very, very least take the car down to auto zone and ask them to hook it up to there little hand held diagnostic computer and make sure you are not getting any major diagnostic errors. This also insures that some crooked guy has not gone in and disconnected or put tape over the check engine light
>That was my entire point in the first place LOL
>Just fricken forget it. Some of you people are impossible to have a conversation with. Your are so worried about being right on some of the stupidest mundane things
I was thinking something similar when you replied "That was my entire point in the first place LOL" but I didn't post it. But that wasn't your post's messge. It was that someone could cover up the light or disconnect it and the buyer would never notice.
Actually if I buy a used car I'd get it checked out at a garage with all the diagnostic equipment or I'd pay my dealer of that brand to do it.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Advice from anyone in this forum would be greatly appreciated.
The way to get the best deals on 2 new cars is figure out, for each car, the lowest price you are willing to offer (but not higher than the any dealers' lowest quotes or advertised prices) and make the offers. Make the buy now offers at as many dealers as you care to visit until one sells you a car or two. If no dealer will say yes, raise your offer, try a different car, or walk away to try another dealer and/or another day.
Then repeat the process for the other car (unless you got 2 already from one dealer).
If Honda was Seiko, Mazda would be Citizen. Both made superbly in Japan - just one has a bit less cost for essentially the same functionality.
Now, Hyundai is nice, but the engines get poorer mileage, everthing is a bit less polished... but they are inexpensive. I just don't like to personally go quite that low-end (but then gagain, paying premium prices for a "H" on the hood is also silly.
As for the CRV, Suzuki makes a better version of it. the CRV isn't really that special. Another option would be a Jeep Patriot.
I know I'm a little late responding to this but I have an excuse, I just got back from a week of vacationing at the beach.
I would say "let's take him out front and beat him". Maybe when others see what has happened it won't happen as often.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
You might want to really think about that one!
Where did you say you were located?
Get 2 of them ready I'll be right over and I'll only need a half tank of gas...they get pretty good mileage for being a throw-away.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Send me a couple free used ones too.
How true, people talk about the resale value but never about how much less expensive they are to buy in the first place.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I have heard different things on the Hondas. I have heard that they will not be discounted and I have heard that they are no different then any other auto maker, what ever it takes to make the sale.
I guess to try to help you I need to ask a few questions first.
Are you planning on doing traditional face to face negotiations or are you going to start on the internet?
Are you trading any thing in?
Either way I guess it really does not matter, just negotiate the deals as said around here on an OTD figure. I know from expierience that if you dangle the 2 car sale carrot it will help your cause.
Several notes.
First, both the CRV and the Civic are fairly "hot" cars, meaning that they are in demand and you will not see a lot of discounting. Your best bet is to watch the ads and check around for a dealer that you can work with.
Second, you will probably NOT get a big discount or advantage in buying several vehicles.
I don't know why people on this forum imply that mafinch has not seen what is available. While I dislike Hondas in general, I think that the vehicles he cited are quite a bit better than the Elantra or the Mazda 3. Personally, I drove over 2k miles in each and found them to be unimpressive. The Elantra screamed "cheap" and the Mazda3 was very uncomfortable. Neither made my list.
I'll take one. What do you have to offer.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Hey, whaddya, think of this? I just found out that son #1 has a business trip to San Jose ( I believe this is your old neighborhood) tomorrow for a week. Why don’t you and a lot guy drive the 2 you are going to give me (please give me the 2 best out of the litter) down there and do some visiting. Then he’ll buy both of you lunch (a good one at that, no Mc or the other fast food stuff but a real sit down place). Then I’ll have him ship you back “Fed Ex next day air” so you won’t miss too many ups. As for the lot guy, he’ll probably negotiate the
cheapestbest way home for him (good chance this will be Greyhound center baggage hole). :surprise:Sorry I won’t be able to meet you this time but I’m sure you’ll have other give-aways in no time since no self-respecting Honda dealership would want to admit they had throw-aways they couldn’t give away and then had to take them to the action just so they could make a couple bucks.
See ya next time.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Lower the prices. They'll sell.
Slow down, you're preaching to the pulpit here.
I believe you meant to direct these words to 'isellhondas', right? :surprise:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Lower the prices. They'll sell.
I don't know this for a fact but I'd say he's out of them by now after making the "screamer offer" that he did.
I sure hope he meant what he said and doesn't renig like that buyer did a while back. That's all a guy in the biz needs on this board.
Any guess as to how many posts that would trigger? :mad:
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
I'm actually from So. Calif, not No. Calif.
And, I don't take "ups".
Maybe next time?
That's what you think. I bought six new ones for an average 31% under MSRP.
How much do you discount Hondas?
6, holy crap, how many cars do you own?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I guess that's what it takes to sell them.
Are you looking for the greatest DISCOUNT or the best CAR for the money?
Seriously, I don't think they are **bad** cars. I've said that before and I agree, they are much improved. They still are, however, a Hyundai, a Korean car.
The market will always determine selling prices.
If a Hyundai represents good value to you, thye may be a good choice. People should, however, be aware of the dismal respale values down the road.
When things are cheap or deeply discounted, there is always a reason for that.