used cars . . .update! #13. funny. kinda.

[gardenmom5]

ds totaled our kid car today.  (no one was hurt.  it was his fault. great.)

 

so, we have to get a new kid car.  because he is now a full-time student, we are willing to do this. I don't want him working much over 10 hours per week during the quarter.  he will be the main driver.  it is seriously impractical for him to rely on a bus.  (and that's with living in walking distance of a park -n-ride.  what a joke mass transit is in this county.)

 

the incredilby irksome thing is the number of private parties asking dealer prices (and then some) for their cars.  some are even twice what Kelly or edmunds say the car is worth. 

 

then there are people who can't be bothered to put six digits in the mileage - so their car comes up when it shouldn't have.  or listing a rebuilt engine as "clean" (and it only comes out in the details after I've had to open their ad), or worse - a totaled car the guy was selling for parts (there's a whole separate category of "parts" cars.) - as clean.  and the only pix you can see of the car before opening the ad is the undamaged side.  (re: clean - meaning there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR that would change the title!!!!)

[NikiSC]

We bought a used car last month. It was gut wrenching. We haven't purchased a car in over 10 years, so the sticker shock was 😱. We spent countless nights after the kids were in bed with our iPads searching Craigslist! Luckily we found a very nice, reasonably priced Jetta at a small dealership near DHs job. Hang in there!

[gardenmom5]

we found a car.  time was really pressing (as if the week wasn't already unusually busy) as he's been driving his sister's car (he lives with her).  needless to say - she wants it back.  she can work from home, or walk if necessary (she's less than a mile.)  he has an early school day, among other things.  he's only working on weekends.

 

I was amazed at how over the KBB/edmunds prices many people were. (I asked one guy what was on his car that he didn't list that would make it worth $1500 MORE than a dealer would charge -and almost twice the rec for private party.  "oh, it's super clean". . . . um, no.)  

 

ended up with a deal on a nissan. supposedly gets good mileage.  the seller lowballed it because he'd been told it needed a new timing chain and didn't want to deal with it.  he was selling for his grandparents.  don't know why he didn't replace it.  anyway, dh took it to our mechanic today who said it was fine.  gave it a thorough service, and nothing wrong with it.  so, we got it for a great price for what is a new 'kid car'  (1ds will drive it most, but it belongs to us. we're doing this for him because he's a full-time student and working part time. we're grateful to have the resources to do it.). 

 

it even has a passenger side mirror - and a radio (the other one had neither).  1ds is very happy because it's an automatic. (and has four doors, and a real seat-belt in the front passenger seat instead of the horrible passive 'restraint'. aboslutely HATED it!, and even has a/c . . .)   supposedly it has enough guts to get up a hill . . . .it's still only a 4 cyl - so, I'm skeptical. I haven't driven it.

and dd get's her car back.

[3 ladybugs]

My 4 cylinder, 15 year old Camry has a lot of get up and go still. And it will go up hills. 4 cylinder cars are not all bad.

 

Good luck, glad your son wasn't hurt.

[Tsuga]

ds totaled our kid car today.  (no one was hurt.  it was his fault. great.)

 

so, we have to get a new kid car.  because he is now a full-time student, we are willing to do this. I don't want him working much over 10 hours per week during the quarter.  he will be the main driver.  it is seriously impractical for him to rely on a bus.  (and that's with living in walking distance of a park -n-ride.  what a joke mass transit is in this county.)

 

the incredilby irksome thing is the number of private parties asking dealer prices (and then some) for their cars.  some are even twice what Kelly or edmunds say the car is worth. 

 

then there are people who can't be bothered to put six digits in the mileage - so their car comes up when it shouldn't have.  or listing a rebuilt engine as "clean" (and it only comes out in the details after I've had to open their ad), or worse - a totaled car the guy was selling for parts (there's a whole separate category of "parts" cars.) - as clean.  and the only pix you can see of the car before opening the ad is the undamaged side.  (re: clean - meaning there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR that would change the title!!!!)

 

I am very glad your son is not injured and everyone is okay.

 

If you are looking at Corollas, that is because the cars are actually worth that much, because they really don't make them like that any more.

 

I fought and fought with insurance and finally won out in $500 in stress so I could replace my Corolla. They were going to give me the KBB value even though as they said, there were no Corollas for sale with that mileage within a five hour drive.

 

Honestly, I don't even know what the KBB value means. "What a Corolla is worth IF there were other cars competing with is, which there aren't."

 

I believe you live in my metro area so I know transport is no fun here.

 

I recall walking two hours before dawn to college... it was hard. But hey, I learned to appreciate the value of an education.

 

I wish I'd have seen your post. I'm looking to sell my Nissan. It's a nice little car with A/C and great for parking in big university parking lots!

[Lolly]

We ended up purchasing two new cars because the difference in price from used with 70000+ miles was only 3000. By the time you add in the free service for two years (not to mention the AAA equivalent plan), they were basically the same price (Corolla). Then, there was the second one. We actually got a brand new Scion tC with more features, free service, and the not AAA plan for LESS than a used one. What kind of sense does that make??? To add insult, the new vehicles cost less to put on insurance! Why???

[Carrie12345]

I would skip the hassle and go through dealerships.  They have more wiggle room to negotiate on used cars than on new, and are WAY less emotionally invested than a private owner.  Plus, most have had a full mechanical check and cleaning.

[gardenmom5]

My 4 cylinder, 15 year old Camry has a lot of get up and go still. And it will go up hills. 4 cylinder cars are not all bad.

 

Good luck, glad your son wasn't hurt.

 

so glad to hear it. long ago I had a 1970 volvo wagon - that thing had no guts.  but it was durable.  the body was falling apart and many things didn't work, but the engine and the chasis were good to go.  I relied up on momentem for going up hill - and if I lost it, it was very slow going.  and the car getting replaced, didn't have that much umph. (though more than the volvo.)  we have hills here.  lots of hills.

[gardenmom5]

 

 

Honestly, I don't even know what the KBB value means. 

 

I believe you live in my metro area so I know transport is no fun here.

 

I recall walking two hours before dawn to college... it was hard. But hey, I learned to appreciate the value of an education.

 

I wish I'd have seen your post. I'm looking to sell my Nissan. It's a nice little car with A/C and great for parking in big university parking lots!

 

well, experience has taught me that something is only worth what someone will pay for it.  and when a car sits and sits and sits on craigslist, and there aren't many cars in it's catagory but they come and go while it continues to sit - they're asking too much. (actually, reminds me of the housing market when I was helping dd shop for her house. it was a seller's market, very little inventory where she was looking.  you could tell which ones were going to go fast, and which were just going to sit - despite super low inventory.)

 

nissan hadn't even been on my radar. I drove my sil's 1980's era sentra years ago - the thing handled like a slug.  that was when they were trying to cull from the camry market and their commercials were comparing the two.  my mom had a camry.  I did find one that even though I responded an hour after it was posted - I was too late. sigh.)

but we got a very good deal on this, even with paying for its service. (not just based upon kbb/edmunds - but dealer listings for similar cars.).   dh likes how it handles, and says it can handle the hills.

 

I did uncover a scam for a low mileage avalon.  so, I had some entertainment. they wanted to go through ebay motors - but it wasn't listed with ebay. and it had to be shipped. (yeah, right.) I ultimately said we had family in their city, and we'd have a cousin come look at it. I never heard back after that. I reported them (with phone# and e-mail) to the FTC.

[gardenmom5]

well - an amusing update.  our neighbor came by and said it was fixable.  (he owns a body shop).  but he'd have to see if he could find an airbag unit at a wrecking yard (he hadn't realized it had deployed), as the whole car is worth less than a new one.

 

dh said he doesn't think he wants to - even if it's economially feasable.

[Annie G]

Glad your son wasn't hurt, and happy to hear the car has been replaced...just wanted to commiserate that we're going through the same thing. We need a 'kid' car (even though the kid is 21).  The few we've looked at are asking about a third more than either kelley or edmund's has them valued. And this is a small, depressed town so not a hot market.  If that's what they're worth, ok. But it really seems like they're asking too much.

[gardenmom5]

Glad your son wasn't hurt, and happy to hear the car has been replaced...just wanted to commiserate that we're going through the same thing. We need a 'kid' car (even though the kid is 21).  The few we've looked at are asking about a third more than either kelley or edmund's has them valued. And this is a small, depressed town so not a hot market.  If that's what they're worth, ok. But it really seems like they're asking too much.

 

there were a lot I also found listed price well over KBB or edmunds. (even the RETAIL price).

 

we actually found one that "needed a new timing chain" (his 'mechanic' told him it needed one.) and the guy didn't want to put one in.  he was selling it for his grandparents estate. (even with the repair, it would be a deal). he was actually asking well below what comparable cars were listed at.  dh went out there, liked it, took it to our mechanic the next day.  nothing wrong with it - just needed it's major mileage based routine service. $:eek:$  it still turned out to be a great deal.  I picked up a set of unused z-chains off craigslist I'll give him as a Christmas present. (i'll sell his unused chains)  I'm sure he's already forgotten I told him to get chains - and the likelihood of a snowstorm requiring chains before Christmas is pretty slim around here.

 

just be patient - and keep looking.  I may be buying another one soon for another kid. at least that one won't be pressed for time.

[gardenmom5]

dh took the ds's new (to him) car to the dealer to get keys made (you know, the computer kind only the dealer can make .  .)

 

anyway - "oh, there's a recall on the master cylinder.  you need a new one." (at least they're paying.)   ds now has a dealer loaner truck.  ds doesn't like trucks. at. all.  could be worse - could be a manual . . . he likes them even less. (he knows how to drive one.)

 

so, in the last 10 days, this is the fourth car he's been driving.  (his, dd's, his new "used" car, and now the loaner.)  he's had to register each license plate at the school.

 

dh was like "do you want to go buy shrubs to replace the ones that died over the droughty summer? we've got a truck"  me - how about a dump run . . . .

[Catwoman]

dh was like "do you want to go buy shrubs to replace the ones that died over the droughty summer? we've got a truck" me - how about a dump run . . . .

I'd be wondering if there was anything big I needed from Ikea. :)

[Tsuga]

well, experience has taught me that something is only worth what someone will pay for it.  and when a car sits and sits and sits on craigslist, and there aren't many cars in it's catagory but they come and go while it continues to sit - they're asking too much. (actually, reminds me of the housing market when I was helping dd shop for her house. it was a seller's market, very little inventory where she was looking.  you could tell which ones were going to go fast, and which were just going to sit - despite super low inventory.)

 

nissan hadn't even been on my radar. I drove my sil's 1980's era sentra years ago - the thing handled like a slug.  that was when they were trying to cull from the camry market and their commercials were comparing the two.  my mom had a camry.  I did find one that even though I responded an hour after it was posted - I was too late. sigh.)

but we got a very good deal on this, even with paying for its service. (not just based upon kbb/edmunds - but dealer listings for similar cars.).   dh likes how it handles, and says it can handle the hills.

 

I did uncover a scam for a low mileage avalon.  so, I had some entertainment. they wanted to go through ebay motors - but it wasn't listed with ebay. and it had to be shipped. (yeah, right.) I ultimately said we had family in their city, and we'd have a cousin come look at it. I never heard back after that. I reported them (with phone# and e-mail) to the FTC.

 

LOL! Yes, Nissans handle like slugs. Because they are cheap. For poor people. Like me and my family.

 

And those Corollas? They sold like hotcakes, because they are great values. They last.

 

I am glad your son found a good car! Also glad you reported the scam to the FTC. Ugh, scammers.