Looking for some input on a used car purchase.
I live in CO and have been looking for a new daily driver. I currently drive an 96 Infiniti G20t, but it's getting up there in miles and new little problems seem to be kicking up all the time.
There are a couple of cars I've seen that I'm interested in, but I'm a little torn.
The first car is a 2004 Infiniti G35x with 133,000 miles. The interior and exterior are both in great shape, but the carfax shows that structural damage was reported at 33,000 miles. The car was bought by a local Infiniti dealership at auction. They repaired and sold the car to the person that the current seller purchased it from. (ie. the current seller is the third owner)
I was concerned about the structural damage so I called the dealership that repaired the car to ask about the repairs, extent of damage, etc... They advised that someone had brought the car in two days prior to my call for a full inspection. They provided me their estimate and it had numerous issues: suspension, tires, power steering column, all fluids in need of replacing, a valve gasket cover, and some other small $ items.
I called the seller back with the above and he stated that his mechanic disagreed with not only the prices for repairs (which he felt were far too high) but that the power steering column and suspension were not necessary to repair and showed normal signs of wear for a 10 year old car. He did find that the valve gasket cover was leaking and he is paying to have it replaced.
The seller is completely on board for me to have my own mechanic inspect the car, but it's an $80 fee. Would this be a worthwhile expenditure? I talked the seller down to $7k if an inspection revealed no additional problems.
The other option I am looking is a 2002 Infiniti I35 with 95k miles on it. It drives fine and is in good condition inside and out. It has a clear carfax with only service records listed. This seller is asking $6,500 and I have not done any negotiating. This isn't AWD, which is something I'd definitely like, but can manage without as I have for the past 10+ years.
My questions are:
Is it better to pony up for the inspection or can I be comfortable with the seller's mechanic's word?
Which car seems a better value?
Thanks for your input.
I live in CO and have been looking for a new daily driver. I currently drive an 96 Infiniti G20t, but it's getting up there in miles and new little problems seem to be kicking up all the time.
There are a couple of cars I've seen that I'm interested in, but I'm a little torn.
The first car is a 2004 Infiniti G35x with 133,000 miles. The interior and exterior are both in great shape, but the carfax shows that structural damage was reported at 33,000 miles. The car was bought by a local Infiniti dealership at auction. They repaired and sold the car to the person that the current seller purchased it from. (ie. the current seller is the third owner)
I was concerned about the structural damage so I called the dealership that repaired the car to ask about the repairs, extent of damage, etc... They advised that someone had brought the car in two days prior to my call for a full inspection. They provided me their estimate and it had numerous issues: suspension, tires, power steering column, all fluids in need of replacing, a valve gasket cover, and some other small $ items.
I called the seller back with the above and he stated that his mechanic disagreed with not only the prices for repairs (which he felt were far too high) but that the power steering column and suspension were not necessary to repair and showed normal signs of wear for a 10 year old car. He did find that the valve gasket cover was leaking and he is paying to have it replaced.
The seller is completely on board for me to have my own mechanic inspect the car, but it's an $80 fee. Would this be a worthwhile expenditure? I talked the seller down to $7k if an inspection revealed no additional problems.
The other option I am looking is a 2002 Infiniti I35 with 95k miles on it. It drives fine and is in good condition inside and out. It has a clear carfax with only service records listed. This seller is asking $6,500 and I have not done any negotiating. This isn't AWD, which is something I'd definitely like, but can manage without as I have for the past 10+ years.
My questions are:
Is it better to pony up for the inspection or can I be comfortable with the seller's mechanic's word?
Which car seems a better value?
Thanks for your input.
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