$ Buying a Car General - Eight thousand dollars for a 2005 Subaru Baja?

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Where to look for a car?

  • Used car dealership

    Votos: 20 25.6%

  • Facebook marketplace

    Votos: 35 44.9%

  • Craigslist

    Votos: 23 29.5%

  • Mexicans outside of Home Depot

    Votos: 36 46.2%
  • Total de votantes
    78
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Lady Bizness dijo:
Make friends with all of the elderly in your area. Statistically one of them will die and you can scoop up their low mileage old person car from their kids who just want to liquidate everything. Tell them you'll take the beanie babies if they knock off another $250.
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Thats pretty much how I got my car lol. Elderly couple next door where going to move down to florida permanently and sold me their civic in mint condition for 5k CAD. I also know somone who got a fucking range rover in good condition for literally nothing from a police auction though, so idk.
 
Autotempest is a good compiler of multiple website's searches. Facebook marketplace is also a good spot to find good private sales but there's a lot of garbage to wade through. While many "commercial" auctions let in private buyers now it is generally a good idea to make friends with someone who knows what they're doing there. Auctions can be an excellent way to get yourself into a problem vehicle if you make the wrong gamble. The best thing you can have when looking for a car is patience. Walk away if it's not the right vehicle/price for you.
Edit: I just saw your subtitle, we might have looked at the same Baja. I can't deal with how hot a black vehicle would get though. They've got a double cult following being a Subaru and a ute. They're supposedly awesome cars if you can deal with the lesbian jokes.
 
Based on my own experience:

Independent used car dealers are probably the least ideal place to buy a car. Occasionally you will find a dealer that is respectable/has standards for what they choose to sell, but the majority of them buy beaters from auctions, polish them a bit, and stick it on the lot with a price markup. I've bought a few cars from places like this- they will run, but you will probably have to fix or replace something within a short time of buying.

Buying cars from FB Marketplace/Craigslist- hit or miss, hard to generalize since some people are liars and some aren't, and not everyone is diligent with car maintenance. My first car was from FB and despite being advertised as having been maintained it lasted about a year before the timing chain broke and destroyed the engine.

Buying cars from your neighbors, esp. longterm ones- I (somewhat) recommend this since you probably know a bit of the history and most people will admit to their neighbors what problems their car has. My dad did this for a truck, he bought it knowing the issues and drove it reliably for a few years before it became unable to pass inspection.

"Official" dealerships that have a manufacturer franchise generally have ok used cars, but like independent dealers, there is some variance in how much each one will filter out junk cars. You can get good deals at these depending on how desperate they are to move inventory. My current car is a VW bought used (almost new) from a Dodge dealer for a good price and has been reliable thus far.

Carmax is, in my limited experience, best for quality used car buying- they charge more than other dealers, but they are also more thorough with vetting cars before putting them on the lot. You basically pay a premium for quality, whether that is worth it is up to you. Ancedotally, my parents, friends' parents, and neighbors have all bought Carmax cars of varying makes and have generally been happy with them.


Advice for actually choosing a car to buy based on model would be way longer and I don't feel like writing that tonight. (its also more subjective)

When reading manufacturer reviews and quality reports, be sure to ignore "initial quality" (meaningless marketing term) and focus on longterm reliability.

A basic tip- when you start the car, all the dashboard warning lights will normally come on, then turn off. Obviously if a warning light stays on, there is a problem, but if none of the warning lights turn on at all, that means someone probably disconnected them to hide problems.

Also if you have any "artistic" eye or any eye for detail, check for slightly miscolored bumpers/fenders or inconsistent gaps around headlights and between body panels- these are often signs of accident repairs, and it's not unheard of for people to pay cash to fix crashed cars without telling insurance. So even a car advertised as having "never been in an accident" could have been crashed and repaired off the books.
 
Última edición:
I have good and bad luck buying cars with a salvage title. My first one was a lemon, my latest one has lasted 10+ years with less than 1K in repairs, but being old parts are hard to come by. So if you have a good mechanic to inspect it , I'd reccomend, because the resale value is garbage. Paid 5K for it.

I had looked into buying a newer car a few years ago, but they only offered 400 dolars for my trade in, the same one I kept driving.
 
RollingRock2 dijo:
Hey guys rate my purchase
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It's just a pricy nissan. Same as renault, dacia or other crap. A lot of money for a bucket of rust.
Fascist Kirk dijo:
I have a geo metro with 2 million miles
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I call doubt. The early ones only had 5 digit odo and the later ones 6.
That only makes it up to 999.999 even tho that tiny engine will shit itself way earlier.
Most recorded is one with 400k.
 
a lot of doomers on you tube saying trucks are un attainable. . . .If you know what a truck is and how to work on them there are deals every where. if you only shopping for new shit your a lost cause, lease a cyber truckor rent a ford lightning and kys . . .
 
Cars are my main hobby. I've owned a little of every kind of car, and I love to flip them. I spend like an hour a day on and off refreshing my craigslist searches. I look for the most clueless people, who don't even know what they're listing. Bad pictures, awful marketing, people who need to sell now now now while you say "hmm let me sleep on it and I'll get back to you". That kind of stuff is where I get the best deals. I often get told "I already have a buyer I don't need to sell it. He's coming in a few days blah blah blah". Walk away. Call back in a few days and I bet the sellers tune has changed.

Private party is the way to go, but understand it's playing with PvP on. Read up everything you can about the car before you purchase. You should know more than the seller does, but don't let them on too much

Okay sperging done
 
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