Buying a Used Car

[EricTheCarGuy]

Here are some tips when buying a used car. Feel free to add your own opinions and experiences.

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

[quote=”Homer23″ post=54828]Eric,

Mechanically and reliability wise, which car is better? An E36 M3 (92-99) or a 97-01 Audi S4? I will get a better paying job in the summer and do much of the maintenance/repairs myself to keep costs down. I will also only get a 5/6 speed manual.[/quote]

I can’t say. Like I said in the video, get an inspection, find out what kind of shape they are truly in and go from there. You have to take used cars on a case by case basis. Just know that German car parts are expensive and they tend to be difficult to work on.

[Josh]

For me, I bought a used car from a private seller. It’s my first car and my credit is not the best. That said, I also bought the car so I could learn without the risk of killing someone else’s car. By sheer feel; it’s good, pulls strong, I have only had a few issues with it since I bought it this last january. I do have a couple CEL codes, but they are minor things that I will be addressing in the coming weeks. I did however have a gearhead friend of mine who knows more then I do look it over from top to bottom and he said it looks good. It has a few leaks here and there and it burns a hint of oil; but nothing really to caution about. Transmition feels fine and aside from my occasional shifting F ups, it’s butter smooth. When I bought it, I really didn’t care what possible future issues might arise after buying it because I was going to work on it anyway and learn from it.

The person I bought the car from though had told me that the only reason she was selling the car; was because she does not like stick shift cars…From what I have noticed is that aside from two oil changes and a muffler replacemnt she really didn’t give the Subaru much love. I am giving it a lot compared to it’s previous owner. I will eventually be tuning this car into a track ready car. But I am never going to sell it. As long as I have the ability and money to drive it; I will always keep it in as good condition as I possibly can. My next car though I think I just might go to a used car lot since by that time, that’s where my prized Evo X will be… I really don’t like new cars of today because they have made them so that technology really does most of the driving for you rather then you do the work. I just really like shifting the gears my self, no in dash LCD with a bunch of tablet like features or any of the current tech in a car. I just like strait up driving down the road knowing I am in full control of the vehicle. Only car’s I will buy with any modern tech are the Evo X from like two years ago and a GT-R from about the same model year…

[Leon]

Thanks, the M3 (E36) is becoming much cheaper than I expected.

[Craig Peters]

I’ve only bought one new car since I got my license in 1976 (No, that isn’t a typo. Yes, I am that old.) and that was for my wife.

I currently drive a 1997 Ford F350 XLT 4×4 crew cab long bed with the 7.3L Powerstroke diesel and E4OD automatic transmission that I bought in May 2002 with 62,222 miles on the clock. It now has just under 170,000 miles. I love it.

I replaced the starter, transmission, transmission range sensor, torque convertor, flexplate, vacuum pump, vehicle speed sensor, glow plugs, glow plug relay, and water pump. The torque convertor was replaced again under warranty.

This truck was purchased used from a dealership that I built up a relationship with through the years. I purchased several used cars from this dealership before I purchased the truck.

[Mark]

Just went through a three-month long process buying a used car.

I looked at cars ranging from $1200 to $10,000. My goal was to spend as little as possible but get the best value for my money. I was using craigslist in the Chicago area which has the upside of good selection but the downside of cars spread over a large geographic area (i.e. some long trips to get to cars only to not buy them).

I’m fortunate enough to have a buddy who is a mechanic; he inspected most of the cars I looked at, including the one I finally purchased. But when his schedule didn’t allow him to come see a car, I used the LemonSquad inspection service, which I thought provided a good value for the cost of the inspection.

The biggest complication was that I wanted this car to be my first stick shift car, and didn’t feel comfortable enough test driving the cars myself. Fortunately my mechanic buddy did the test driving and I trusted his judgment. Without his help I don’t know how how I would have, for example, evaluated a clutch, given that I don’t know how one is supposed to feel.

I ended up with a car that seems to have the “pride of ownership” that Eric described in the video. It’s a 2001 Nissan Altima with 88,000 miles on it. The owner was an elderly woman whose husband drove the car before he died three years ago. The car was well taken care of until his death, but was not driven much afterward. She sold me the car for $4500, which is under Blue Book value.

The car needed a few things (new rear brake pads/rotors/calipers) and has a few minor defects (a non-working rear passenger window). I spent a bit more than I may have expected to spend. But I feel I got a great value for a car that should have a lot of life left in it.

My biggest lesson from the experience is that in the used car buying process, there seems to be a relationship between preference/time/money. If you have strong preferences for what you want, and a rigid cap on what you want to spend, expect to spend a lot of time looking for your car. If you’re willing to relax your preferences, or perhaps spend a bit more money, you can reduce the time you spend. Conversely, if time isn’t an issue, you can look look at a lot of cars until you find exactly the right car given your preferences/budget.

[Andrea Orsini-Boyer]

My first perchase was a 1987 Honda Accord EXi.
Turned out it was a rust bucket, but it toughed a couple years for me.
Speaking of cars having souls, i gotta add this to that topic, but, it just gave me the impression that it was DONE.
I fixed the brakes, the altornator went. I drove it short distances while looking at my options, and my oil pump went.
Come on!!
I could just feel that the car was done with its “life”. I took what i needed for my 89 Accord, and let it go to the big scrapyard in the sky..

As for the 89 Accord.. I dont know how i do this, guys, but check this out..
1200$. No oil leaks, no fluid leaks of any kind, unless you count the condensation that dripped because the AC blew cold..
The tires were rather nearing the stage where they’d need replacing, but other than that the car was mint. It only had 97000 miles on it.
Now, it’s turned 25 years old and needs work, but what can you expect?

I recently got another car, a 1986 Pontiac Parisienne. It’s got a few kinks, but for 1000$, a car that’s got papers saying it was evaluated as 2500$, that’s already gotten me a few offers for more than that, and it just needs a couple little things.. cant really go wrong.
I did have a few surprises, one of which i should have checked out before buying it to avoid the surprise, but oh well..

Another thing about buying used, especially in the vintage that i seem to buy in.. My car (the Accord) is worth 2500$. I payed 1200$. It’s still worth 2500$.
Itll be worth 2500$ next year..and probabily worth 3000$ in a few years, and so on.
The pontiac is the same thing. Payed 1000$, itll be worth about 4000 or 5000$ with a bit of work.

New car? You pay 25000$ and it’s worth half that within a couple years..
Why would you do that to yourself…?

As for the topic of buying a used car… PLEASE listen to your friends if they know thier stuff.. Dont be the guy that buys a “lemon” or a car with lots of problems..
There is nothing worse, as the friend who gave advice, to sit there and have to ither fix the problems you bought, or to have to be the shoulder you now cry on as you pay thousands to fix the car your friend told you not to buy…

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