Used car buying

[chiknbut]

...has changed quite a bit, and for the better.

Totaled my favorite car last week. In the market for new/used wheels and thinking about a Honda CRV. I loved my Chevy Traverse, but it was a gas guzzler. And the girls are bigger now - no more need to haul around basketball teams anymore. Can go slightly smaller and really don't need the big engine.

Carguru.com and Carvana have been great resources.

[Deleted User 89]

is carvana the one with the car vending machines?

[jfish26]

...has changed quite a bit, and for the better.

Totaled my favorite car last week. In the market for new/used wheels and thinking about a Honda CRV. I loved my Chevy Traverse, but it was a gas guzzler. And the girls are bigger now - no more need to haul around basketball teams anymore. Can go slightly smaller and really don't need the big engine.

Carguru.com and Carvana have been great resources.

It's certainly true that things like CarMax and Carvana have leveled the playing field (and smoothed out prices).

If you're agnostic on whether to buy new or used, I had some success recently getting a dealer to sell me a management loaner car with about 6k miles as certified used, bumping the warranty from something like 4/50k to 7/100k. I paid more than I would have for "used", but less than "new" and that warranty mattered a lot in my decision.

[Deleted User 104]

Nothing wrong with buying used, assuming they haven't hidden any previous wreck information. Cars lose value the instant you drive off the lot, so buying used makes a lot of sense.

[TDub]

My wife has a CRV. Its fine for what it is but ultimately I'm fairly dissapointed in its lack of space and usability. I shouldve gone with a larger vehicle. Of course, this is from living a rural lifestyle perspective. It might be perfect for city

[chiknbut]

Nothing wrong with buying used, assuming they haven't hidden any previous wreck information. Cars lose value the instant you drive off the lot, so buying used makes a lot of sense.

Who said there was anything wrong with buying "used?" I haven't bought a "new" car in decades. Doesn't make sense.

Looked at CRVs today with my youngest daughter. Also looked at a Rav4 - really seemed like a cheap piece of crap.

[Deleted User 62]

Wife and I bought a 2019 Volvo XC40 Momentum this summer.
Amazing car.

She had never had a new car in her life, she was due.

[DrPepper]

Carfax (or equivalent) and an impartial mechanic’s review allows me to buy used with confidence. I can’t think of anything that would convince me to buy new. Never has a new feature outweighed the negative cost and lack of history.

[Deleted User 62]

Carfax is no where near reliable.

[Deleted User 89]

when the wife and i decided we wanted a Subaru, we had a hell of a time finding one used with what we wanted

had to bite the bullet and go used

bought our camry used (~33K miles) and have been quite pleased with it 100K+ miles later

[pdub]

Buying used before 15k miles is the sweet spot.

[shindig]

I picked up a 2016 Audi A4 with 14k miles on it from Carmax. It was brought up from Dallas. They waived the delivery fee. They also gave me $500 over KBB on my 2008 Audi. Very happy and basically simple, no haggle process.

[Deleted User 104]

Carfax is no where near reliable.

Sadly, you are absolutely correct. Don't trust those guys.

[Mjl]

Buying used before 15k miles is the sweet spot.

Wife and I have both replaced our cars this past year and went with the 35k - 45k miles used car route. So far couldn't be happier.

[NewtonHawk11]

Carfax is no where near reliable.

Sadly, you are absolutely correct. Don't trust those guys.

Correct. Was close to buying a used car from a little one man dealership. Showed me car fax was clean, but when I drove it, something just seemed off on the front left of car. Found out through another site that the car had been involved in a wreck at one point and the dealership/body shop it went to to get fixed. Found out they had to replace almost everything on the front left side of vehicle. Told the guy and he was pissed because carfax basically lied on their thing

[Deleted User 62]

Carfax is no where near reliable.

Sadly, you are absolutely correct. Don't trust those guys.

Correct. Was close to buying a used car from a little one man dealership. Showed me car fax was clean, but when I drove it, something just seemed off on the front left of car. Found out through another site that the car had been involved in a wreck at one point and the dealership/body shop it went to to get fixed. Found out they had to replace almost everything on the front left side of vehicle. Told the guy and he was pissed because carfax basically lied on their thing

They aren't really lying.

Carfax only knows what Carfax is informed of.

[NewtonHawk11]

Yeah that's true.

[DCHawk1]

Twenty-five years ago, I bought a used car dirt cheap because it had a salvage title. I had a friend who is a mechanic and does body work look at and give it the all-clear. Best part is that both he and the seller informed me that if I could title it in Missouri, I would get a clean title and double the value of the car.

Missouri.

[chiknbut]

Looking at a 2018 Chevy Equinox. Essentially a stripped down version of my Traverse. Mileage is less than 8k, price is right around $20k.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Not sure if he has migrated to this board, but hydrohawk is the authority on all of this. Great guy, owns a dealership and is the fairest dealer I've come across. Has helped me out a couple of different times now, even when I've ended up going elsewhere.