Good day everyone,
I am in the market for buying a used car. I would like some recommendations on what type of car to get as I am not very savvy when it comes to not getting screwed over by "stealerships" (AvE Reference) or private parties.
I would like to stick with either Honda, Toyota, or Subaru if possible since my family and I have had great luck with them. I currently have a 2000 Honda Accord LX with about 200K miles and is still going strong as well as a 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra SL with about 108K miles that I have as a trade in options. I would prefer to have a sedan style car since I am comfortable driving those more so than SUVs or pickup trucks.
I heard advertisements on TV about Carvana. Are they any good, or would you rather go up to a dealership and test drive a car and decide right then and there? I live about 43 miles from Coeur D'Alene Honda which my dad thinks they would be better to deal with than the crap show that is Larry H Miller Honda. (Ask me about that later)
Any consideration is great. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful rest of your day.
Thank you,
Franklin James
Carvana's a silly business, Scotty's talked about them a few times. Why anybody would buy a used car online without even test driving it is beyond me. Fiat and Chrysler products would sell well that way, because they look great. Haha. Maybe the 7 day return policy makes up for the test drive. It seems like way too much hassle if you don't like the car.
Private party is generally better than buying from a dealer, unless you have a connection at the particular business. The other part is knowing when to buy and when to not buy, as well as what to buy.
From my experience, I bought my 2017 Mustang V6 as a leftover in 2018, the week of St Patrick's Day from a sales guy my step dad worked with in IT years before. He showed me the purchase order for the car, and explained what the absolute lowest they could go would be, based on the information, which they did. He also offered $1,000 more for my trade-in than another dealer where I supposedly had a good business relationship with the sales manager. I ended up leaving the dealership in the brand new Mustang for something like $5,000 less than MSRP. Buying at the end of a model year, especially right before a redesign is the best time to buy new cars. Also looking for outgoing models, and models in low demand (2017 was the year Ford axed the V6, and all of the low end sales were in the EcoBoost Mustang).
With the chip shortage, unfortunately, deals like I got are going to be hard to come by. If you can wait a few more months for the supply chains to start moving again, you'll save a lot of money buying at a dealer.
for a new sedan , Toyota Camry is tough to beat
my next car is going to be a used Lexus
If possible, never buy anything from a dealer, or an online company. Private party is best and have it checked out by a mechanic. If you have to go to a dealer, get your financing first from your own bank. The dealer will totally rip you off on financing.
If there’s nothing wrong with your Accord, I recommend you hold on to it & maybe spend $1000 to spruce it up and complete any deferred maintenance items.
They don’t build cars like they used to, not even Toyota & Honda..
I know you said that you would prefer different brands... but I can’t think of a better priced luxurious sedan than a Lincoln town car. And the 1998-2011 generation can be had for a song (like, under $5000 for one in really decent shape). The best part is that they have ford’s modular 4.6 v8 motor, which is arguably the best engine they have ever made 🙂 I have heard of town cars going 600,000 miles on the engine/transmission so reliability is not an issue at all. My town car is the smoothest riding thing I’ve ever driven or been driven in. It’s like driving a floating couch lol. I couldn’t recommend it more. Best of luck in whatever car you choose 🙂
Without knowing what you’re looking for in your next car it’s hard to make a recommendation. Although I love Acura TSX, so if you want a sedan and aren’t looking for something with more recent technology that could be an excellent buy if you can find a good one. I’ve had several friends with them and they’ve all been happy. Well except for the girl that wrecked hers, but until then she loved it. It comes in a manual or automatic, there are some years to avoid though. 04/05 had some issues if I remember correctly on the 1st gen, which are a lot harder to find now anyways. And the 2012 had some problems on the 2nd gen so I would avoid that as well. I think the rest were free of widespread major issues, and they’re basically just the EU/JP Accord that wasn’t sold as a Honda in the U.S. (with some luxury ish stuff added). Not quite as large as an NA Accord, but a lot more fun to drive.
Thank you guys for all the answers. I really appreciate it. I will consider going private party over a dealer. and I actually may hold on to the Accord since it is still going strong although there is a burning oil smell. Yasser told me that it may be the valve cover gasket as stated here: https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/general-vehicle-questions/#post-119072
Words CANNOT express how grateful I am for a community like this where I can ask car questions without having my head cut off by everyone yelling at me. THANK YOU!!!!