Buying used car help

notta3d

I have been looking for a new vehicle and today I found one that might be pretty decent. I went down and looked at the vehicle and the truck was being sold by a small car dealership. All I could think was Fair Deal Dan from the Munsters when I was there This is not one of the big names. The owner seemed like a nice guy but I have some concerns. He told me that the he bought the truck from a local Chevrolet dealer and they purchased it from an auction. Right there that scared me. I have always read that auctions usually sell problem vehicles. He also told me that there is no warranty but said if there are any problems he would not stiff me. I also was not offered a Carfax report. I asked if I could bring the truck to a mechanic on Monday to have it evaluated and he said no problem. This will cost me a $100.

I came home tonight and paid $40 and ran a Carfax report against the VIN. The vehicle came back clean. Doesn't seem to be anything bad except for some recalls. Not sure why it went to auction though.

I used the government site to check the recalls and it reported 2 unfixed recalls (N182156820,N192268490). Both seem pretty serious. Based on our discussions in the lot it seems like it's going to be up to me to take this back to the dealer and get it fixed.

Now my question is how hard do I push back? Do I let this deal slip away because he won't take the time to get the recalls fixed? I don't see a problem with me taking the truck into the dealership and losing it for a day. It seems like a good deal. If I don't purchase it someone else will.

I've had the same vehicle since 2003 so I have been out of the game for a while.

One final question. Is it possible there is information that Carfax is missing? Based on Carfax and if my mechanic finds no issues on Monday I think that should be a green light to make the purchase. I just want to protect myself here.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

qbrozen

The fact that it went through auction means nothing. The large majority of used vehicles out there go through auction. What I do find concerning is that the Chevy dealer would bother purchasing it at auction and then passing it off.

When was it at auction, according to the carfax? Either the chevy dealer got it “home” and found problems, or it sat unsold on their lot for too long.

nyccarguy

How much are they asking for this truck? How many miles does it have?