Anyone drive an older Ford Escape

[jen3kids]

My oldest is looking into replacing his first car with a small SUV and seems to have decided on buying a used Ford Escape.  He has talked to a couple people (his cousin and the son of his boss) who have a 2009 and they both love them.  

 

Does anyone have a 2008 -2012 model? Problems or concerns with it?  Anything specific to look out for?

 

Plus, since we only buy new, or from our mechanic, we have no experience buying off craigslist or from a used lot - Any thoughts on that?  He has found a 2010 with 110,000 miles for $10,000 that he might go look at tonight after work at a local dealer.  That price seems high to me, based on the mileage.

[TranquilMind]

My oldest is looking into replacing his first car with a small SUV and seems to have decided on buying a used Ford Escape.  He has talked to a couple people (his cousin and the son of his boss) who have a 2009 and they both love them.  

 

Does anyone have a 2008 -2012 model? Problems or concerns with it?  Anything specific to look out for?

 

Plus, since we only buy new, or from our mechanic, we have no experience buying off craigslist or from a used lot - Any thoughts on that?  He has found a 2010 with 110,000 miles for $10,000 that he might go look at tonight after work at a local dealer.  That price seems high to me, based on the mileage.

 

That's outrageous for an older Ford Escape with 110K miles. It's worth 4K at most.  Use the Edmunds "What's my car worth" function to price out anything he wants to buy.  Don't pay more than Private party price, and maybe a little under dealer dream retail price only if it is a special, hard to find vehicle. 

 

I've purchased from legit Craigslist sellers but they seem to be harder to find.  There are a lot of "curbstoners" on there who don't actually own the vehicle titled in their name.  They are trying to flip the car, and it causes difficulties in titling it in your own name.  ONLY buy from someone who OWNS the vehicle and can show you a clear title with NO liens (paid off).  Otherwise, it's kind of a mess.

 

I just bought a vehicle last week.  I scanned cargurus.com for months.  It's a great site and gives you pricing information too. Dealers hate it, which is how you know it's a good one.  ;)

 

I finally pulled the trigger, bought remotely, one state over, and it was delivered to me with only 9700 miles and in perfect condition.  Love it.  It's a little risky, but I do my homework and background checks.

 

I do have a couple of Carfax reports left, that I have paid for and will likely not use now, that I have purchased.    If you have a real contender, and aren't just looking casually, send me a PM. 

 

Personally, I have owned a Ford for years, and will not buy another.  I would never buy anything over 100K miles.  It's not even that yet (I still own it), and it is having random things happen that aren't good, even at 95K. 

 

Edited September 9, 2016 by TranquilMind

[jen3kids]

That's outrageous for an older Ford Escape with 110K miles. It's worth 4K at most.  Use the Edmunds "What's my car worth" function to price out anything he wants to buy.  Don't pay more than Private party price, and maybe a little under dealer dream retail price only if it is a special, hard to find vehicle. 

 

I've purchased from legit Craigslist sellers but they seem to be harder to find.  There are a lot of "curbstoners" on there who don't actually own the vehicle titled in their name.  They are trying to flip the car, and it causes difficulties in titling it in your own name.  ONLY buy from someone who OWNS the vehicle and can show you a clear title with NO liens (paid off).  Otherwise, it's kind of a mess.

 

I just bought a vehicle last week.  I scanned cargurus.com for months.  It's a great site and gives you pricing information too. Dealers hate it, which is how you know it's a good one.  ;)

 

I finally pulled the trigger, bought remotely, one state over, and it was delivered to me with only 9700 miles and in perfect condition.  Love it.  It's a little risky, but I do my homework and background checks.

 

I do have a couple of Carfax reports left, that I have paid for and will likely not use now, that I have purchased.    If you have a real contender, and aren't just looking casually, send me a PM. 

 

Personally, I have owned a Ford for years, and will not buy another.  I would never buy anything over 100K miles.  It's not even that yet (I still own it), and it is having random things happen that aren't good, even at 95K. 

 

 

Wow $4000 - car prices sure do vary by area.  Everything on craigslist, private and dealer, is in the $8000-$10,000 range with mileage in the 75-100k.

 

We've spent a lot of time on CarGuru and TrueCar.  

 

We'll keep looking - no real hurry, just an impatient teen!

[TranquilMind]

Wow $4000 - car prices sure do vary by area.  Everything on craigslist, private and dealer, is in the $8000-$10,000 range with mileage in the 75-100k.

 

We've spent a lot of time on CarGuru and TrueCar.  

 

We'll keep looking - no real hurry, just an impatient teen!

To quote that great philosopher Polk, from Gone With The Wind, "Askin' ain't gettin'" 

 

:)

 

They all ask WAY too much.  I paid two grand less than asking for an extremely desirable vehicle I had been searching for country-wide, and that's the worst deal I probably ever made.  The deals are out there but it just takes a lot of sifting.  Last vehicle I bought had 30,000 miles and I paid 8 grand cash, to a very old man who said it was too big and he wanted to unload before the ice storm. 

 

You will find it!  And offer what you can pay. Someone will say yes.