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I don't know about you, but I buy a car to get to work and to carry me around to appointments. And while I want to get a good deal and get a good value, fundamentally, I want to get a reliable car where I do not have to spend hours heading off to a dealership or garage for repairs. Therefore, I do those things that reduce the risk of any purchase - research the model, have my mechanic come with me and look at the car, take the car to a mechanic to looke it over, take the car for a long test drive, etc.
Buying at an auction OR over Ebay does not allow me to do that. Therefore, I don't generally buy my daily driver, the car that I want to rely on for the next 5-6 years at an auction.
Could I save a few dollars? Certainly. And I can generally attend Mannheim auctions as I sell a few of my fleet cars there on occasion. I do attend the local muni auctions. It is good entertainment.
In other words, I don't think that auctions are a great way to buy a car ...
I absolutely agree. Why risk $30k or even $10k (depending on the vehicle) just to save 10% or so? If you buy at a dealer, sure you pay more, but you have some sort of recourse if there is a problem. You buy at the auction, and you are on your own.
Its the same reason I don't make major purchases like TVs online. Yeah, I could save a few bucks, but if something goes wrong, then what?? If I buy from a store, I have a physical entity that I can return to for satisfaction.
OH, and I have a story about this, actually. One of my wife's coworkers did this very thing. He wanted a recent Maxima. Had a "buddy" who offered to take him to auction. I talked to this coworker ahead of time because he knew I was into cars and wanted to get my opinions of things to look for, etc.
Wellll ... long story shorter ... he picks out an '04, buddy says its good. They buy it. He then finds a few things wrong, one of which is a nonworking stereo. "hey, its still under warranty." Goes to the dealer and finds out all the problems he's having were caused by someone who had it previously. The biggest thing is that they tore the car apart and removed the high-end stock stereo. They replaced it with something that "looked stock," but was a POS that they didn't even bother hooking up. They broke clips putting the car back together, screwed up panels, etc, etc.
none of this was readily noticeable by just looking at the car.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
does anyone have any experience with Adesa auctions for dealers. apparently this service offers car dealers a full array of re-marketing, re-conditioning and selling services for dealers whose cars are coming off lease.
does anyone have any thoughts? I'm just asking because my cousin just bought a luxury car from a dealer for about $15K less than what the dealer would normally sell it for, because he bought it from the auction and wanted to do him a favor (yeah, ok).
thanks!
He balks at what we offer him for the value of his S430 because he KNOWS it will do 5,000 more at the auction.
Too bad what he doesn't know is that his car was in a wreck before he bought it and the entire drivers side and front end was painted. Several body pannels were replaced as well.
Since he knows nothing about body work and apprently his friend in the business is blind he never noticed. After walking him around the car and showing him the evidence of the body work he understood and realized how big of a mistake he made buying the car from auction.
here is my question. the dealers buy from these auctions and places like manheim and adessa are supposed to recondition the car for the dealers..
i know i'm being dense here, but i really don't completely understand (except for the lack of disclosure) the difference between buying at a dealer and at the auction directly (while having a mechanic on hand to do repairs; or take it to the manufacturer dealer...)
pardon me if i sound stupid...i realize this may be a stupid question.
all you dealers out there, explain please. i'm so tired of crooked and dishonest dealers, I don't know what to do.
is it possible to get a popular car like an infiniti g35x at a reasonable price. it seems that if the 2007 is out, one should be able to get a used 2006 g35x for around 26K...
why is this so hard to do...
i really dislike dealers!!! :sick: :P
isn't that enough??
well... if disclosure isn't enough, how about the fact that you really can't thoroughly inspect a car at auction? No test drive. No taking it to a mechanic to have it checked over. Etc.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
How many used 2006 G35xs do you see sitting on dealer lots? My guess is not alot. If something is, as you say, popular, then the demand is typically there to command higher prices, correct?
Having said that, since you can get a new G35x base model for $29,600 (carsdirect price), then why not do that?
If you are looking for a loaded one, however, with ultra-low miles on the used market, my gut tells me $26k might be too low.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
you are right, the lack of disclosure is a key concern. my point of confusion was because dealers buy from these auctions all the time. they don't know the history of the cars they sell, and the public buys them. so the question becomes - does a person ever truly know the background of a used car?
i wish i could afford a new infiniti. i would buy it in a heartbeat. but with sales tax and fees, there's no way i can afford a six year note or a note that is more than $250.
thanks for the input. if anyone has any other thoughts or suggestions, i'd love to hear them.
:confuse:
1. You aren't going to be buying a car with frame damage as they won't sell one.
2. You well have someone to turn to if the car has problems down the road.
Buying at an auction means you don't get those two things.
Even as good as our auction buyers are they sometimes make a mistake.
A couple of years ago we bought a 2002 Disco at auction that had been in a bad wreck. It had happend right before the car went to auction and had not shown up on car fax yet. It looked good from the outside and drove fine at first as well.
It wasn't till much later that we realized it had frame damage. Normaly we could get the money back from the auction but in this case it took too long to find out about the damage. Discovery frames cannot be repaired as they are fully boxed so if the frame is damaged in a wreck it has to be replaced. This one was reparied by a unreputable body shop.
Our window for arbitration had expired. We still have the disco and use it as company vehicle as it drives fine but we can never sell it to a customer and if we took it to auction we could get almost nothing for it.
does a person ever truly know the background of a used car?
Nope. You can never be absolutely sure you know everything. BUT, dealers are better equipped to spot problems than you or I are. And there is still that simple fact that, even if you don't trust the dealer, you are able to take the car to a mechanic you DO trust to check it over BEFORE purchase. Most good mechanics and bodymen can spot most problems.
As B_R said, even the best can sometimes miss things, but at least you reduce your odds GREATLY by having a pro check out the car for you.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
2) He might buy dozens of cars per month from the auction.. If he feels the car is misrepresented, he may have the horsepower to get the deal undone.
Other than those two very big things, you may save a lot of money getting a car at the auction.... or, you may lose your shirt.
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does anyone have a decent infiniti dealer in the ny/nj area, they can recommend to me. i have so had it with these dealers who try to scam me because i am a woman...
i cannot get a semi-straight forward deal to save my life. first off, these guys are quoting used cars at new car prices and they are trying to load up the price with DMV fees (surprise).
I am at the point where i am afraid to go to a dealer without a man (with me). the scary part about it, is that i know more about the numbers and the car than most guys typically do.
it's really annoying. all i want to do is buy an infiniti g335x at a decent price (after tax it shouldn't be more than 29K); for a base model that is...
PLEASE HELP!!
But, since you seem to know what you want the price to be, just go in, find a suitable car, and give them a written, out the door offer. Just figure out the tax and DMV (fixed costs), and add them to your offer price.
The only thing missing is their dealer fee, which will be the same for every car they sell, but can vary between dealers. If you have visited a few (or simply call them to ask), you should know what is normal in your area, so just add that to the offer.
Be upfront when you go in, saying "I want that one, and will give you $xxx.xx for it, OTD". If they say no, get up to leave, telling that if they change their mind, to call you.
If they let you leave, try it at another dealer. If none of them seem willing to take it, that's a pretty good sign that you are offering something too low for the market.
This is basically the famous Bobst method, except for not bumping up your offer at each dealer!
Oh, and the only infiniti dealer I have dealt with is Holman in Maple Shade (down near Phila, off the NJT exit 4), and they are very nice, if it isn't too far for you to go.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
thank you for the advice. i've pretty much been giving them a bottom line price. the problem is that now that te 2007 are out, they are hiking the price of the 2006 up. the same car that was $27k two weeks ago is $31k now...(my financing hit an administrative wall, so i lost the car to someone else).
i hate to sound preachy here, but people are paying way too much for this car. it's definitely nice and i want it too. but i've started pricing A4's and BMW 330xi models. I might as well, if these dealers are going to be this insane with the pricing.
anyone else with good suggestions, i welcome them all. discussion and critiquing as well.
THANKS!!
In my area they list that the (base) car should go for around $30362. There is $2500 in dealer incentives that they may choose to pass on to you. So for the base car maybe you could get one for around $28k or so. If the car has options on it (and they almost always do) then you'll need to add those to the price of the car less a small discount on the options(maybe 10 percent).
So if you went and looked at a car with a $3k option package on it, I would not at all be surprised that they wouldn't let it go for under $31k
Also, depending on where you live the tax and license and other fees are not trivial here. Where I live these fees would be more than $3k.
So for me the base car could be had, out the door, for maybe a few hundred over $31k. Again add more for the options.
So looking at your post, It seems that your price expectations are a bit unrealistic as to what a car can be bought for.
The only thing that may have happened was that the incentives were somewhat better last month than this month. Do you have any information on the incentives available last month ?
(Actually, what I REALLY believe is that you can afford to buy any car that you can pay cash for. But nobody lives that way in the USA)
james
I want the car.
How do I weasel out of the $599 when I pick it u?
However, you will have to pay SOME fees. Does that $599 cover registration, title, etc, as well? You can't get those things for free.
And, in the end, even if you couldn't get the $599 reduced or removed, will it change the deal very much? If you feel $8500 is such a great deal, would $9k be a terrible deal?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
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In my state, near $500 for fees is pretty much standard.
HOWEVER, I'm not sure what it would be on a used car. I haven't bought one from a dealer since the new 4-year reg thing went into effect. It might not apply to used.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
How to weasel out? Tell them you didn't agree to any "fees", you agreed to the sale price of the car plus tax, title and lisence which are required by law. Either refuse to pay it and get your deposit back, offer to split the difference, or pay it.
I'm assuming you haven't test driven or even seen this car yet. So, there may be a reason why you got that "awesome" price. I'd run a carfax on the car, and have a mechanic check it over, before handing over my money.
I've test driven it twice and here are the vital stats:
1988 Volvo 760 GL Turbo
181,000 miles
Sticker was $1,595 but I talked him down to $1,295 (without ttl).
The upholstry is sagging somewhat in the rear (a known problem for those cars, I'm told), the front quarter panel was replaced (pretty much imperceptible except for a slight streak of the replacment panel's paint deep in the hood groove) and the exhaust is a bit clunky when reversing. On the plus side, the tires seem to be practically new. To be honest, I'm not sure what a Volvo of this age/use should be like but it's a bit rattly and is much better after warming up.
Is this a good deal? Also, the car hasn't had any trouble during the test drives and the salesman seems to be pretty straight forward about everything, but who knows? Would it be necessary to have a mechanic look at it? The only way we could really arrange that is if we borrowed one from the GM dealership down the road. Otherwise we'd have to import one from God-knows-where. The other downside to that is that my mom is an older lady on a fixed income. I've tried to do everything I can to help, but if you can tell me with some confidence that this car won't discombubulate on the 1.5 hour delivery drive I'll make, it'd be good to hear! Thanks in advance for any input.
I once had a similar car ('86 760 turbo wagon) and, while they are good cars, they are not inexpensive to repair. You can just about count on the turbo going at some point soon and that's big bucks. They were stoutly built vehicles that, if cared for properly, should still present well. From what you've said, it doesn't sound as though this one has been maintained.
Better bet might be to pick something being privately offered in a local paper. If possible, get a car from its original owner. Accept cosmetic body damage but insist on service history. Stay away from older cars from Europe. High mileage Accords, Camrys, and Maximas can last a long time with proper maintenance.
(while I don't know the current state of the turbo as it is, I know the dealer said that the oil return line on it had been fixed for a leak around 155k miles)
I had gone ahead and bought an Used Nissan Altima 2003 model with around 59720 miles in it at Royal Moore Nissan in Hillsboro, Oregon for around 11,920 Dollars. I was around 10 Days into Car searching after getting my licnese (I am new to US), and was desperate for a Car due to the rainy weather around here.
Since I bought the Car, I have been going thru this "phase " of doubting my purchase whether I paid too much for the car or whether the dealer gave me a good deal or did he take advantage of my need for a car or whether I could have had it for lot less. The Car looked and drives really good it had very very minor blemish on the Bumper other than that the car felt kind of new (inspite of the milage) and I had a satisfactory and a happy feeling when I purchased it. Now with a desperate need of a car being satisfied, I am now thinking in terms of whether I paid more for the car..I have seen the NADA,KBB and Edmunds value of the car, but still wonder whether I got a decent enough deal or ripped off ? I would really appreciate if anybody with insights into this can tell me whether the money I paid was okay or the dealer ripped me off ?
That's great. Drive it, enjoy it.
Hopefully it will give you a lot of good service.
The purchase deal is done. It's over.
So don't worry about it any more.
Life is too short.
-ss4
On the other hand, to learn from your past experience, just bear in mind that a 3-year old car with 60k miles on it is a high mileage car. You need to take both mileage and condition into account when valuing the car, so hopefully you did that. Let's hope that you paid something significantly below the "retail" values and something close to or less than the wholesale values indicated by the various price guides.
Also keep in mind that if you drive a fair number of miles over the next couple of years, then you will soon have on your hands a car that has 90-100k miles on it. In theory, the car at that point will have a certain reduced value that accounts for the mileage, but in practice, it's hard to unload most cars that have more than 100k miles or so without taking a huge hit in price, and demand for such a car will be limited. So if you care about resale value (which matters if you change cars every couple of years), I would be hesitant to buy a car of that age with that amount of mileage.
You're right about the age. (I did forget about this now being the 2007 model year
I did the research for the prices and the car using the Used Car's salesman's computer for about half an hour and did a bit of negoitiating to bring the Price 11,920 (which is between TMV Clean & Outstanding), and took a very fast purchasing decision. I had a bad experience only the last week as a Private Party seller sold a car I finalized to another buyer as he was willing to pay a better price and she informed it after she made the deal (between the time I was arranging for the insurance and the funds). I decided that next time around I would make a faster decision and hence the half an hour research and confirmation. I started having doubts only after purchasing the car and reviewing the negotiation process on my mind whether I bucked in too early in my acceptance to 11,920/-, and at the very least the car is between TMV prices, but have I paid more than what others would have paid for it..etc etc.
Anyway as I read the other posts and the reply I feel that probably I should let go and enjoy my car. The car is really good and feels powerful and it is very much better and infact way ahead than the limited selections i get back in my home country, and people whom I work with have admired the car and one of them asked whether it was new...So inretrospect I will go ahead and enjoy my car..I will use this experience when and if I purchase another car during my stay in the US atleast at that time I wont be at a postion of not having a car in the first place...
-- Almost no cars are "outstanding" or whatever the top ranking is called. I would assume that a car is "average" unless you have a highly compelling reason to have given it a better rating. Any sort of repair or body work requirement would certainly ensure that a car is not "outstanding."
-- TMV is supposedly an average price, not an optimal price. Some pay more, others pay less. I would assume that TMV is hundreds or perhaps even four-figures above what you need to pay.
-- I look at "wholesale", not so much at "retail" or "private party." Dealers tend to pay far less than the "wholesale" prices (auction prices are often thousands below that price), so the wholesale number already has some margin built into it.
Enjoy your current car without regrets. Just use the lessons for next time, and I'm sure that others can learn from your experience.
I can do a search and find several further away. My question is how do I go about buying a specific car from further away?
Do I ask a local dealer to try to get me a specific used car?
Do I work with the listed dealer on the ad?
If so, How do negotiations go in these situations?
What is the safe way to pay them?
What about inspecting the car?
How do I actually get the car to me?
Wondering if anyone has experience with this. It seems there is a lot of info on buying new this way, but not used.
Second, are you proposing to purchase this vehicle sight unseen?
If so, you might as well just do EBay.
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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I am looking for a matrix or a rav4 - more specifically 2wd, manual trans, and power locks/windows, keyless entry etc.
There isn't ton of those cars w/ those options. So essentially yes, sight unseen. Ebay seems reasonable as it has the infrastructure set up to do this.
I'm surprised there isn't more demand for doing this?
I'd be very careful about purchasing a vehicle site unseen over the internet. I visited a small dealer in SoCal who was selling mostly older Jaugars and other upscale European cars over the internet.
I saw the cars and then I went home and looked at the intenet pictures. To put it nicely - The internet site was like wearing rose colored glasses. These cars had issues, like worn uphostery, oil leaks, and some real mechanical problems. You'd never know it looking at the web pages.
- Just be careful what you sign up for.
Personally I would never buy a car without having seen it myself in the light of day. The only exception is if you are looking for a really unusual or rare car. However what you are looking for doesn't make that short list.
Buyer beware.
A coworker had an Anniversay Trans Am that he advertised nationally. A person talked to him and drove with a trailer from New Jersey IIRC but he intended to talk down the price AFTER he got here. My friend had told him to come early enough to go to the bank to turn in cash or cash equivalents to the bank to be verified... He came in the evening with the trailer.
Personally I'd be reluctant to even sell over the internet.
Oh, the guy went home with an empty trailer. My bud wasn't about to be flimflammed. He'd told him solid price and he could inspect the car when he got here.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I will use "clean" for anything out of warranty (past 3/36 or whatever the MFR's time/miles limit) sitting on a dealer lot, big or small.
I will use "outstanding" only for cars on a dealer lot still in warranty.
I will use "rough" for anything over 200,000 miles and/or has mechanical or cosmetic issues mentioned in the ad.
Works for me. Found a terrific deal on a 1993 BMW 325i, 4-door, automatic, black, 179K, that I'll resell in about 6 months. KBB private party about $3200, TMV private party about $2500. Advertised for $1500, I paid $1200. I don't see any reason I won't be able to get around $3000 for it next summer unless I run it up over 200K. :shades:
The dealer has to know the story and Carfax is far from perfect.
There's no guarantee but about the best you can hope for is to talk with the original owner. The dealer may (or may not) be willing to provide the name.
There could be a very legitimate reason (e.g., vehicle was won in a contest, owner became ill) for the circumstances.
See what they are going for on ebay with the options it has.
If was a early titled 2003 MY car it might be out of warranty by time.
The car had a slight pull to the left and the passenger wheel was more worn than the others. Alignment?
The steel pieces under the seats (the non-painted stuff) had
light spots of rusting. High humidity or water?
The brake pedal very worn on the right by the gas pedal -- gas and clutch not worn. Brake rider? My current car is 17 years old and I have nowhere near that level of brake pedal wear -- how do you do that in 2.5 years? Sandpaper shoes?
And man the car was dirty. Tan interior, but the seat belts were just grubby.
Forget it there are tons of foresters around.
tidester, host
http://tinyurl.com/v7x77
Dealer is down to about $16k. What do you think? Seems high to me, since new 07's are going for around $18k.
tidester, host