Buying a used Subaru advice

[Pardus]

Friend of mine who lives in Minnesota is looking to purchase a used Subaru Outback or Forrester as they get a lot of snow and AWD in the winter time is really needed, Subaru's last a long time. He is driving a Yarris, that sucks in the snow and is selling it.

We been looking on Craigslist for Subaru dealers, but all we see are 3rd party dealers. He prefers to purchase the vehicle from a dealership as he wants to avoid cars that were in a flood or accident as some of these mom and pop shops aren't exactly honest.

He is looking to spend approx $9k, we been looking at 2004, 2005 and 2006 models, but the local dealerships only have recent models, 2010 and newer.

He doesn't want to lease/buy new. Any advice as to where to look/shop/buy ?

 

[Mide]

Craigslist? I sold an 08 Impreza on there for around 14k. If you monitor the site you'll see some very sketchy postings but occasionally normal peeps will post pretty decent cars. Just remember to ask a bunch of questions.

 

[exar333]

Um, I don't think your friend is looking very hard. I checked local Subaru sites and I found at least 3 cars filling this criteria with just 2 dealerships in town (white bear lake and brooklyn park). Finding these cars locally is EASY. Could also try cars.com, autotrader.com, or just check with the dealerships about what your buddy needs. I am sure they can find it...

Poquet auto is also a great place to go, as they buy a lot from local auctions and will find you the car you need, for a reasonable fee.

 

[ProchargeMe]

Your buddy will provably be more successful using autotrader or carmax if he's looking strictly dealerships.

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah, you're typically not going to find older used cars at new car dealerships. Anything more than 3-4 years old is typically sent to auction unless its something desirable. I was very surprised to see an '05 STi the last time I was at the dealer.

 

[Thegonagle]

I was going to say Poquet seems to be, like, the place to buy a used Subaru, but, yeah, they only deal in later models.

Not to be discouraging, but trying to find the perfect car for $6,000 car is tough. That's a good price that a lot of the "I don't want to finance" people have ready in their savings accounts, and a $6,000 car is usually still in fairly decent condition with years of life left. That's what everybody wants! Often, you just have to get lucky, be in the right place at the right time, and be ready to buy "today!"

Also, new car dealers don't really sell cars in this price range unless they are exceptionally clean. Most aren't exceptionally clean, especially in MN. Most cars in that range end up at the Bobby's Buy Here Pay Here Corner Auto Sales-type places.

 

[NutBucket]

Your friend's best bet is still private party. Besides there's a much better chance the seller might be able to provide service records, etc. Good luck getting any of that from "Bobby's Buy Here Pay Here Corner Auto Sales". He can also pay the dealer to do an inspection. Might be worthwhile for him given his aversion to private party sale.

 

[Jumpem]

Yeah, you're typically not going to find older used cars at new car dealerships. Anything more than 3-4 years old is typically sent to auction unless its something desirable. I was very surprised to see an '05 STi the last time I was at the dealer.

It probably had to do with the STi part.

I traded in my 2010 Outback a month ago. They said it was going to auction.

 

[Pardus]

He decided to buy a used Subaru Legacy, the Forrester looked too much like a station wagon and had terrible blind spots. He was going to lease a new Legacy, but after he spoke to many people who say the car will go 250k as long as you do the maintenance, he is going to do a cash trade/buy for a 2005 model with 130k on it.

His out of pocket cost will be around $3k.

 

[exar333]

Yeah, you're typically not going to find older used cars at new car dealerships. Anything more than 3-4 years old is typically sent to auction unless its something desirable. I was very surprised to see an '05 STi the last time I was at the dealer.

The used dealer inventory listed some in the OP's range thru a quick search...