Over the past few weeks, I've been involved with finding a suitable used / replacement vehicle. I feel very fortunate that I'm "well read" when it comes to knowing all of the reports to look for on a used vehicle (Edmund's, CarFax, Kelly Blue Book, etc.) So, I have a fair amount of knowledge that I'm armed with.
Last Friday, I found a '99 Taurus that was being sold by a private party individual. He was about to move across the country, so he was getting pretty desperate to sell his vehicle, so he even took it back to the dealership where he had purchased it 3 years before and he would pay them a commission if they could sell the vehicle for him. When I talked to the owner, he told me where the car was located and I could just ask for the keys and I would be able to look at the vehicle.
I went to the dealership to view the vehicle and salesperson put on a "full show" in attempt to sell the car to me. Initially, I wasn't impressed because the vehicle could have been vacuumed and washed up. Plus, the dealership scraped a curb while parking the car and trashed the front right aluminum wheel. We took a test drive, but couldn't get a good feel of the vehicle because of the "shimmy" due to the bent wheel. Upon completion of the test drive, the dealer told me that they would replace the front wheel and because he was a friend of the owner, he would sell me an extended service plan for "$100 over their cost" - how nice of him.
Later that evening, I followed up with the owner of the vehicle and presented him with an offer - which he accepted. I then wrote up a contract that was contingent upon the wheel getting replaced. The following day, I researched the option of transferring the extended warranty over to my name - I was informed that it would only be $50.00 for this process and I would get access to the remaining 3 years and 20,000 miles on the warranty.
Finally, I leared from the owner that he was promised by the dealership that the car would be detailed before the placed it on the lot. After learning that this activity had not been performed. He was happy with the agreement that we had made and then proceeded to contact the dealership to tell them that he wanted his wheel fixed so he could take his car home and clean it up.
In the end, I came out way ahead by dealing with the private seller directly. Our final agreed-on price was $1,600 below the Edmund's "private party" price. I was offended by the dealership and their offer to sell me an extended warranty - rather than providing me with the details on transferring the current warranty. And finally, what's with the "documentation fees" that the dealerships are charging? The particular dealership that I was working through would have wanted $289.00 for the item.
Last Friday, I found a '99 Taurus that was being sold by a private party individual. He was about to move across the country, so he was getting pretty desperate to sell his vehicle, so he even took it back to the dealership where he had purchased it 3 years before and he would pay them a commission if they could sell the vehicle for him. When I talked to the owner, he told me where the car was located and I could just ask for the keys and I would be able to look at the vehicle.
I went to the dealership to view the vehicle and salesperson put on a "full show" in attempt to sell the car to me. Initially, I wasn't impressed because the vehicle could have been vacuumed and washed up. Plus, the dealership scraped a curb while parking the car and trashed the front right aluminum wheel. We took a test drive, but couldn't get a good feel of the vehicle because of the "shimmy" due to the bent wheel. Upon completion of the test drive, the dealer told me that they would replace the front wheel and because he was a friend of the owner, he would sell me an extended service plan for "$100 over their cost" - how nice of him.
Later that evening, I followed up with the owner of the vehicle and presented him with an offer - which he accepted. I then wrote up a contract that was contingent upon the wheel getting replaced. The following day, I researched the option of transferring the extended warranty over to my name - I was informed that it would only be $50.00 for this process and I would get access to the remaining 3 years and 20,000 miles on the warranty.
Finally, I leared from the owner that he was promised by the dealership that the car would be detailed before the placed it on the lot. After learning that this activity had not been performed. He was happy with the agreement that we had made and then proceeded to contact the dealership to tell them that he wanted his wheel fixed so he could take his car home and clean it up.
In the end, I came out way ahead by dealing with the private seller directly. Our final agreed-on price was $1,600 below the Edmund's "private party" price. I was offended by the dealership and their offer to sell me an extended warranty - rather than providing me with the details on transferring the current warranty. And finally, what's with the "documentation fees" that the dealerships are charging? The particular dealership that I was working through would have wanted $289.00 for the item.
Facebook
Twitter