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Used car buying help

thescreensavers

thescreensavers

Diamond Member
My friend kinda got a car but he has no idea what he is doing really. Clueless on what to do so I am trying to help him out.

Its a 05 2.3 4cyl Mazda 6i Sport AT @72k he got it for 8k

I am not really sure how these cars are but googling shows they are not the most reliable but they are not too bad, what do you guys think?


Anyhow, So far he has a "Retail Buyers order" but does not have the physical car yet since he does not insurance, I am not sure what a "Retail Buyers order" is? Could he back out of the deal if he wanted too? Most probably going to get the car unless there is some major problem with this model year or something


The dealer wants 500 bucks for Registration we are in Florida I am not really sure what to look for here, http://www.flhsmv.gov/dmv/faqmotor.html#7 says something about 225?

I was never involved with these issues so I am not really sure about this

I am going to the dealer with him tomorrow to find out the maintenance history they have in the computer and find out what they did when they got the car if it was a trade in or Finished lease..ect
 
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About the dealer thing, there's going to be tax on sale price (which is 7% in Duval County, North FL), registration/title transfer fees and anything else the dealer throws in above that.

The $225 is an additional charge by the DMV, if your friend doesn't have an existing plate/tag to put on this car and needs a new one issued to him.

Make sure you get a carfax/autocheck.
 
You can back out as long as you have not signed the dotted line. Actually, you could back out as long as you did not pay drive it off the lot after the deal is done, but most places will try to force you to take it at that point.
 
satyajitmenon said:
About the dealer thing, there's going to be tax on sale price (which is 7% in Duval County, North FL), registration/title transfer fees and anything else the dealer throws in above that.

The $225 is an additional charge by the DMV, if your friend doesn't have an existing plate/tag to put on this car and needs a new one issued to him.

Make sure you get a carfax/autocheck.
Click to expand...


Its a brand new car he never had had a car before, we will ask the dealer to break down the cost. What is an acceptable dealer processing fee which I am sure is a bit in the 500, can we tell them we dont want to pay it?

He only got the carfax they showed him at the dealer, said one owner no accidents.
 
thescreensavers said:
Its a brand new car he never had had a car before, we will ask the dealer to break down the cost. What is an acceptable dealer processing fee which I am sure is a bit in the 500, can we tell them we dont want to pay it?

He only got the carfax they showed him at the dealer, said one owner no accidents.
Click to expand...

Just an FYI, lots of states have rules as to what the highest fee can be for "dealer processing" fees.

Also, is it negotiable? It all depends on the dealer. Some will not allow you to touch it, some will.
 
thescreensavers said:
Its a brand new car he never had had a car before, we will ask the dealer to break down the cost. What is an acceptable dealer processing fee which I am sure is a bit in the 500, can we tell them we dont want to pay it?

He only got the carfax they showed him at the dealer, said one owner no accidents.
Click to expand...

Here's some things you might find useful... From the DMV site

Dealers can only charge the actual amount of fees paid for tax, tag and title transfer. Generally, the tax, tag and title fees are not included in the contract. However, some dealers will charge a processing or handling fee. If they do, it must be separately disclosed. Again, make sure you understand all the terms of the contract.

A licensed dealer is required to transfer the tag and title within thirty days. If a dealer issues a second temporary tag, the consumer should start asking questions. If the dealer issues a third temporary tag, the consumer should contact the Division of Motor Vehicles immediately, as this is a violation of Florida Statutes which falls under DMV jurisdiction.

Be sure you have proof of insurance. Florida law requires all vehicles licensed within the state to have insurance. Without this proof, the dealer cannot complete the transfer of title and registration into the consumers' name.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure whether the processing/handling fee is negotiable - but I've usually found it to be in the region of $200
 
Typically the tax/title/licence mumbo jumbo is a given buying a new or used car at any dealer, what you want to do is negotiate the out the door price, have him tell them he'll give them 8k out the door rather then 8k vehicle price + fees, they will have to charge you $7500 or so, that way with the fees the total comes to 8k. I did this with my current car to get another $400 - $500 knocked off, they will almost always jump on it since they do, first and foremost want to the sell the car. If they have a buyer standing in thier dealership, 99 times out of a 100 they will fudge the numbers so you can at least get it out the door at sticker cost, even if they wont come down on that at all. My wife's car was a 98 Carolla we bought a few years ago, sticker was $5,000, and they had another person interested in the car so they wouldnt budge on the sticker, but when i said how about 5k out the door, they said sure. So instead of 5500, i paid 5000 even. It's always worth a try at the least.
 
^ THanks for the tip


I saw the car today, I asked the service department for the service history and they looked at me weird, They finally printed it out for me, It goes up to 5k then there is no history until 68k. Which is when the driver did the 60k service at the dealer.

Later we asked about what they inspect and the guy gave us a paper which showed the previous owners name, address and email + phone number and how many times she came into for some repairs.

So We can contact her about were she took it for maintenance but dont know if she will be angry that the dealer gave info out it shouldn't lol.

Any how onto the car

They repainted the front bumper, I guessing rock chips from highway driving. This points to maybe the owner had a long highway commute.

Brand new 4 tires, Sumitomo HTR A/S. I checked around and the car is pretty flawless, with only a few nicks on the back bumper. The Interior looks like its in good condition but it has a smell in it might of been a smoker but its not a strong smell. So With some Megs Oder remover I am sure I could remove that smell.

The Fluids form what I can tell need changing, Cold the cars coolant does not show up on the reservoir so I told him to check it when its warm.

Power steering still looks red, but I am going to inspect it with my syringe.

Brake Fluid is black but It might be a dirty filter/stained container that's making that illusion.

And the dealer offers for 150 full transmission fluid exchange with the machine that uses the trannys pump, the car is at 76k and possibly on original ATF from 5/05 when it was manufactured. So if the dealer wants to change it with no problems Ill do it at the dealer so if something goes wrong its on them.

I checked the drive belts, looked new, no fraying cracking or missing ribs.

Overall the car looks good just some maintenance needs to be done.

THe dealer is ran by a bunch of morons, I ask the service guy service questions and they wanted to send me to the sales guy..ect

And now onto what people might not like.. Third Party Warranty.

They offered a CNA Extended Warranty 3 years 36k, my friend will drive 3k a year. And he seems to be falling toward the peace of mind. CNA is BBB Credited at A+, and some googleing shows that they are not too bad.

So since my friend wants to get something I had to look into it, The dealer freaking more morons, I have to go to the Financial Department to get info on the extended warranty.

They start blabbering away about how its part of a big company and wont go away, and thats true, but we asked for more info and he had zilch.

He went on there site and started reading straight off the site lol.

I decided to call CNA and I talked to a claims person, they told me pretty much lots of things are covered but Spark plugs, Shock absorbers,Hoses, belts are not covered. but everything else is.

They also said I can do my own maintenance I just need proof that it was done.

The guy on the phone told us the dealer should have all this paper work, THe dealer just wanted us to sign the paper and we would get our contract in the mail, so they want us to sign some paper we have no idea about and hope there is nothing that can be bad for us.

Well I called the dealer and could not get a hold of anyone, I left a message. Hopefully my friend can get some paper work and read the fine print before signing up for it.
 
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Tell your friend to find one with the manual transmission instead. It will be much more satisfying. I just picked up an '04 with 50k miles about a month ago. Love the damn thing.


If you don't trust the dealer...don't buy from them.
 
angry hampster said:
Tell your friend to find one with the manual transmission instead. It will be much more satisfying. I just picked up an '04 with 50k miles about a month ago. Love the damn thing.


If you don't trust the dealer...don't buy from them.
Click to expand...

^ its just normal Dealer BS they were cooperative so not too bad. He already bought it just no insurance yet. and he wanted to get an AT, so oh well. IMO I would of gone for a MT as well.

I want a MT so bad 😀
 
The 2.3L in the Mazda6 is very underpowered. Having the AT only makes matters worse. It's a rock solid reliable motor, but it's really the bare minimum for a car this size IMO. My 6 with the 5-speed is really quite fun though.
 
Pretty much the dealership is waiting for your friend to get insurance. They probably just used the term "Retail Buyers Order" because they word it that way at that particular dealership.

They will not release the car until he has proof of insurance. He might be able to tow it away, but the dealership will give you a ton of shit about it. (Only if the car is fully paid.)
 
thescreensavers said:
^ THanks for the tip


I saw the car today, I asked the service department for the service history and they looked at me weird, They finally printed it out for me, It goes up to 5k then there is no history until 68k. Which is when the driver did the 60k service at the dealer.

Later we asked about what they inspect and the guy gave us a paper which showed the previous owners name, address and email + phone number and how many times she came into for some repairs.

So We can contact her about were she took it for maintenance but dont know if she will be angry that the dealer gave info out it shouldn't lol.

Any how onto the car

They repainted the front bumper, I guessing rock chips from highway driving. This points to maybe the owner had a long highway commute.

Brand new 4 tires, Sumitomo HTR A/S. I checked around and the car is pretty flawless, with only a few nicks on the back bumper. The Interior looks like its in good condition but it has a smell in it might of been a smoker but its not a strong smell. So With some Megs Oder remover I am sure I could remove that smell.

The Fluids form what I can tell need changing, Cold the cars coolant does not show up on the reservoir so I told him to check it when its warm.

Power steering still looks red, but I am going to inspect it with my syringe.

Brake Fluid is black but It might be a dirty filter/stained container that's making that illusion.

And the dealer offers for 150 full transmission fluid exchange with the machine that uses the trannys pump, the car is at 76k and possibly on original ATF from 5/05 when it was manufactured. So if the dealer wants to change it with no problems Ill do it at the dealer so if something goes wrong its on them.

I checked the drive belts, looked new, no fraying cracking or missing ribs.

Overall the car looks good just some maintenance needs to be done.

THe dealer is ran by a bunch of morons, I ask the service guy service questions and they wanted to send me to the sales guy..ect

And now onto what people might not like.. Third Party Warranty.

They offered a CNA Extended Warranty 3 years 36k, my friend will drive 3k a year. And he seems to be falling toward the peace of mind. CNA is BBB Credited at A+, and some googleing shows that they are not too bad.

So since my friend wants to get something I had to look into it, The dealer freaking more morons, I have to go to the Financial Department to get info on the extended warranty.

They start blabbering away about how its part of a big company and wont go away, and thats true, but we asked for more info and he had zilch.

He went on there site and started reading straight off the site lol.

I decided to call CNA and I talked to a claims person, they told me pretty much lots of things are covered but Spark plugs, Shock absorbers,Hoses, belts are not covered. but everything else is.

They also said I can do my own maintenance I just need proof that it was done.

The guy on the phone told us the dealer should have all this paper work, THe dealer just wanted us to sign the paper and we would get our contract in the mail, so they want us to sign some paper we have no idea about and hope there is nothing that can be bad for us.

Well I called the dealer and could not get a hold of anyone, I left a message. Hopefully my friend can get some paper work and read the fine print before signing up for it.
Click to expand...


I will get called out on this...but...

I would be wary if the the ATF has not been changed yet. That particular transmission is very hard on ATF. Lots people get it changed at around 30-40K. Not saying do not get it, just saying take very precaution. I'd say that if the fluid is no longer red or pink have the dealer change it. If it's still the original fluid, it's gonna be dark brown and maybe even black.

Also, the brake fluid is not black. You are correct, it's the illusion is from the reservoir. Open it up and look at the fluid. If it is any color but clear, it's time for new fluid.
 
Gibson486 said:
I will get called out on this...but...

I would be wary if the the ATF has not been changed yet. That particular transmission is very hard on ATF. Lots people get it changed at around 30-40K. Not saying do not get it, just saying take very precaution. I'd say that if the fluid is no longer red or pink have the dealer change it. If it's still the original fluid, it's gonna be dark brown and maybe even black.

Also, the brake fluid is not black. You are correct, it's the illusion is from the reservoir. Open it up and look at the fluid. If it is any color but clear, it's time for new fluid.
Click to expand...

hmm thats what I was afraid of with the ATF, I advised him to change it asap, But we also do not know what the other owner did to maintain the car, she took it to another place. We have her info so we will probably call her.

when he gets the car ill check for the color of the ATF since I did not have any paper towels on me and it was windy so it was hard to smell anything. But apprently this Tranny uses Toyota Type T-IV which is gold in color when new.

For the brake fluid, I opened the top cover and looked in it was dark, I shined a light through and it was very dark. I never done anything with the brake fluid but can that filter be removed so I could use a syringe?
 
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You'd want to flush the whole brake system, not just replace what's in the reservoir. This is suppose to be done every few years as brake fluid absorbs water (thereby lowering its boiling point).
 
NutBucket said:
You'd want to flush the whole brake system, not just replace what's in the reservoir. This is suppose to be done every few years as brake fluid absorbs water (thereby lowering its boiling point).
Click to expand...


Yep, my friend is strapped for cash now so he is waiting for his next paycheck, but I should be able to get my clubmate to help for much less then what a shop will do it for.

I never done a brake flush, I just know you undo some bolt or tube and the old fluid comes out? lol So Most probably going to be done by someone else. But if you have two people its supposedly easy?

I can easily do the power steering for him with a syringe I have done it with my car.

the ATF the dealer will do
 
Hmm I just looked it seems simple?

Suck out all the fluid out of the reservoir, fill it with some new fluid, then

You get some plastic tubing and make it drain into a water bottle, then open the bleed bolt, then apply the brakes just enough to prevent the car from rolling at a light and then when the new fluid is there close it? Then do this for the other 3, one at a time?

Whats this thing with a ABS tool?
 
thescreensavers said:
hmm thats what I was afraid of with the ATF, I advised him to change it asap, But we also do not know what the other owner did to maintain the car, she took it to another place. We have her info so we will probably call her.

when he gets the car ill check for the color of the ATF since I did not have any paper towels on me and it was windy so it was hard to smell anything. But apprently this Tranny uses Toyota Type T-IV which is gold in color when new.

For the brake fluid, I opened the top cover and looked in it was dark, I shined a light through and it was very dark. I never done anything with the brake fluid but can that filter be removed so I could use a syringe?
Click to expand...

Well, issues I am talking about pertains to the 5 speed tranny. 6 speed is a different beast. AFAIK, most Toyota liquids are hi mileage liquids.
 
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