What do you do to find a car you want to purchase?

[TridenT]

What websites are your favorites? And how do you go along buying the car you want?

Craigslist private party section is almost nothing but a shit show. Almost entirely car flippers and dealers these days. Anything that is actually private party usually vaporizes within a couple days. I use the Craigslist email alerts that are a built-in feature to the website now to alert me of new postings for certain criteria.

But, I'm starting to eyeball dealers a bit now too.

 

[jlee]

I bought my CTS-V through an eBay seller. Landcruiser from Craigslist. GX470 from Craigslist. First Tacoma from a friend. Second Tacoma from a forum. Tundra from a car dealer I found online. MR2 from a forum. Other MR2 from a forum. Forester XT from a dealer (found online). SV650 through a relative. Snowmobile through Craigslist.

Craigslist is fine. If private party cars are selling in a couple of days and you aren't getting anything, it sounds like you need to be more on top of them.

 

[Raizinman]

Since you stated Craigslist you are obviously speaking about USED cars. Here is how I find a used car once I determine what year, make and model I want.

Check all the car newspapers that you see in restaurants and grocery stores.
Check the car dealerships - just because it is a Ford dealership doesn't mean they won't have a Chevy on their used car lot.
Check Ebay and Craigslist
Keep a spreadsheet for all the cars you find with pricing.
Once you have 10 or 15 cars, you can then determine which is the best deal.
Then make sure to run a Carfax and have a mechanic check the car.

 

[jlee]

Since you stated Craigslist you are obviously speaking about USED cars. Here is how I find a used car once I determine what year, make and model I want.

Check all the car newspapers that you see in restaurants and grocery stores.
Check the car dealerships - just because it is a Ford dealership doesn't mean they won't have a Chevy on their used car lot.
Check Ebay and Craigslist
Keep a spreadsheet for all the cars you find with pricing.
Once you have 10 or 15 cars, you can then determine which is the best deal.
Then make sure to run a Carfax and have a mechanic check the car.

I can't imagine having 10-15 cars available to buy locally...I had to fly ~400 miles to get my last one, and ~700 miles for the one before that.

I might be picky.

 

[razel]

carsdirect.com, autotrader.com, cars.com. Most recently true.com, but through Allstate. That is what I would recommend to people who want to avoid the hassle of negotiating with smaller used car dealers who don't officially certify used cars. I was VERY impressed by it. Not only are the cars certified, but the price is very fair with an additional Allstate discount.

 

[TridenT]

I can't imagine having 10-15 cars available to buy locally...I had to fly ~400 miles to get my last one, and ~700 miles for the one before that.

I might be picky.

Yeah... I'm having a hard time even finding 1 that meets the criteria I'm looking at within 200 miles of where I'm looking for the moment. There was one that hit almost everything a week ago but I couldn't meet the guy. I was too busy at the time and our schedules didn't align. Of course, it sold immediately.

I'll have to wait for my craigslist alerts...

 

[jlee]

I've never been in a situation where I had to buy a car ASAP. Why not buy a $1500 Saturn that'll last another 100k and use that while you wait for the perfect deal on the perfect car?

 

[HeXen]

What a stupid question. For brand new, I research and look for features that suit my needs and desires then I check them out at dealerships and test drive, then act like I'm going to buy and when they won't come down in price I get up and leave just to see the their faces and end up buying it later on anyways.

For used, similar to above except go through every thing down to smelling the oil, I nit pick out things wrong with the car as he's showing it to me and then haggle afterwards. After I state my final offer and it's a no go, then I say F this pos and leave slowly hoping they give me a desperate offer before I make it to my car...if not I circle around and come back and give a new final offer.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I found my used truck at a ford dealership. I checked craigslist for weeks but it seems people think everything they sell is worth 2 or 3k more than kbb excellent used value. The dealership was actually the only one with a reasonable price and even worked with me on getting little things fixed on the truck before purchasing it and even came down on the price.

 

[Riverhound777]

I did a lot of research on forums for the car I was looking at and Edmunds.com

 

[tracerbullet]

I went to the website dedicated to the car I wanted and kept looking at their F/S section (1 Series BMW). And kept an eye on CL, Autotrader, Car Soup, ebay, etc. as well as the 2 local dealerships.

 

[Jumpem]

Go to Subaru.com and look at things with ground clearance (Crosstrek XV, Forester, Outback). I am eyeing an FXT at the moment.

 

[madoka]

What websites are your favorites? And how do you go along buying the car you want?

I let ATTG members vote on it:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2256547

I'm thinking of a Accord Hybrid vs. Dodge Viper poll next.

 

[Griffinhart]

What websites are your favorites? And how do you go along buying the car you want?

Craigslist private party section is almost nothing but a shit show. Almost entirely car flippers and dealers these days. Anything that is actually private party usually vaporizes within a couple days. I use the Craigslist email alerts that are a built-in feature to the website now to alert me of new postings for certain criteria.

But, I'm starting to eyeball dealers a bit now too.

http://www.cargurus.com/

 

[Auric]

http://www.safercar.gov/
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

 

[Pulsar]

What a stupid question. For brand new, I research and look for features that suit my needs and desires then I check them out at dealerships and test drive, then act like I'm going to buy and when they won't come down in price I get up and leave just to see the their faces and end up buying it later on anyways.

For used, similar to above except go through every thing down to smelling the oil, I nit pick out things wrong with the car as he's showing it to me and then haggle afterwards. After I state my final offer and it's a no go, then I say F this pos and leave slowly hoping they give me a desperate offer before I make it to my car...if not I circle around and come back and give a new final offer.

There are no stupid questions... only jackasses like you.

 

[waffleironhead]

Once I figure out the car im looking for, I go on forums I participate on and offer a reward for finding the exact car im looking for. Then I come up with lame excuses to get out of paying the finders fee.