Where do/did you look for a used car before you bought?

[dud]

I already have two vehicles (for me and she) and am looking for a "project" car to use to teach my youngest how to maintain a car. I have targeted a specific model of convertible to buy. I have tried the Autotrader but most of the ads are from dealers asking way too much. I would prefer to buy from a private seller but unless I see an ad for a car in my local paper I have no other avenue in which to find potential sellers. I could just keep hoping that I will drive buy a car with a FOR SALE sign on it. Does anyone have any methods or ideas to find a used car other then dealing with an overpriced dealer? Thanks ...

 

[minendo]

ebay, classifieds

 

[ElFenix]

you honestly think the dealers are looking for the price in the ad?

 

[dud]

Ebay is almost as bad as the Auto Trader. Many of the auctions are from dealers/brokers and people overbid way too much. They get overly enthusiastic and bid on a car they have never even touched or sat in before. There are more reports of neg feedback there from people who are dissatisfied with their purchase. Buy a car you have never actually seen, touched, driven and then complain about it ... go figure?

 

[dud]

you honestly think the dealers are looking for the price in the ad?

Of course they are LOOKING for the price in the ad ... but they are very unrealistic when you offer what the car is REALLY worth.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: dud
Ebay is almost as bad as the Auto Trader. Many of the auctions are from dealers/brokers and people overbid way too much. They get overly enthusiastic and bid on a car they have never even touched or sat in before. There are more reports of neg feedback there from people who are dissatisfied with their purchase. Buy a car you have never actually seen, touched, driven and then complain about it ... go figure?

My family has purchased 3 cars from eBay with no problems. Of course, all were purchased off site in person.

 

[AMCRambler]

Have you checked edmunds.com yet? They've got a few classified too. And definitely make sure you go see the car in person before you buy it. Ebay is full of scammers who will lie to you. I bought a parts car from Oklahoma sight unseen and off Ebay and had it shipped here. I was supposed to be a running car, when it arrived however the starter motor wasn't even bolted to the engine and it had to be retimed as well. Running my a$$! At least it started after some work though, so I wasn't totally screwed.

 

[Quixfire]

I have been looking for a 1970 to 1971 Ford Torino GT Convertible on Classic AutoTrader & several other sites. You just need to keep looking until you find one at the right price for you. Dealership tend to overprice there cars to give them room to bargain, plus if the vehicle is in demand the price will be inflated.

 

[maziwanka]

everywhere and anywhere

 

[CChaos]

I've been looking for a couple of weeks myself and I'm still not sure of the best place to look. My car was stolen last month and I got the settlement yesterday so I guess it's time to get serious about this. Autotrader and cars.com do indeed have alot of dealers on them, and I've been to a couple of these lots. Needless to say I'm not really impressed with thier prices or level of honesty. I'm also checking local dealers but they don't tend to keep the kind of car I'm looking for on the lot. I only drive 6 miles a day so I'm looking for a cheap station car so I can bank some of the settlement. I've really only found 1 car that's interested me in that time but I never heard back about it. I guess I'll just keep looking everywhere.

Good luck!

 

[Parrotheader]

Did all the usual things:

-Looked at new dealership's used lot.
-Looked at used-only dealer lots.
-Looked in the paper.
-Looked online (AutoTrader, etc.)

I was looking for an exact year model truck so online ended up having the most options since I could expand my search geographically fairly easy. I ended up finding what I wanted on AutoTrader from a dealer in Atlanta (I live a couple hours away in Birmingham.) Their asking price was already fairly reasonable at private party book value which made me a bit suspect. And it did turn out that the truck had been keyed and had a flair stripe placed over it to try and hide it (I made them remove the flair stripe when we were there.) It had also been in a fender bender on one side and repainted, but it was only cosmetic damage - paid a 3rd party mechanic/body shop to look it over thoroughly. I had the dealer fix/repaint the keyed damage, throw in a bedliner and then knocked another $500 off our previously negotiated price for making me have to drive out there twice (since they couldn't fix everything that day.) It reinforced what most people think about car dealerships, but I think we ended up walking away with a pretty good deal in the end.

Now that I said that the wheels will all probably fall off on the way home today.

 

[stev0]

www.cars.com

here in the tri-state area (nd, sd, mn) we have www.keepitlocal.com, you might want to check and see if you have something similar in your area.

edit: I wanted a specific truck when I was looking for mine, took a little over 5 months to find the one I want in the condition that I wanted. Be patient, the best things come to those who wait

 

[Ornery]

I think the problem is, you're looking for a good deal, not an equitable deal. When I decided exactly what car I wanted, I was more than willing to pay a fair price for it. I found that private owners were the most unreasonable people to deal with, though. After a while, I didn't have a problem with buying from a dealer. There's always CarFAX, to check the history. The dealer is in a position to throw stuff in, like detailing, and replacement parts at discount.