How/where to buy a good small used car in Austin area (Round Rock: sales, rentals)

[COCUE]

Hi

We need to buy a 3rd car this week to be used primarily by the nanny. We are looking for a used car, good condition and 4 doors ( car seats).
Our fear of buying from Craigslist or someplace like that is that hubby is not a car expert and won't know for sure if we are getting a lemon despite a good visual appearance.

We also not sure if a CPO vehicle is worth it, there is so much price differential between fair market prices from sources like kbb as well as what individual sellers are settling for and the dealership prices for these CPO vehicles.

So my question, how and where do you recommend us looking for a good used car ( price range not more than $7,000 and not too old) to buy that won't require going to the mechanic every week with different issues.

[Eastcoasting]

As a suggestion take a look at carmax if you want to avoid the vinyl flag roadside car lots.

[texasgirl1]

Use truecar.com and search the used car listings...they are dealers that pay to be in the the truecar network and you can tell if you are getting a "great price", a "good price", or if it's "above market" compared to sales data.

[mark311]

It's tough finding a used car around that price range without buying a private party car using Craigslist or something like Auto Trader. If you did want to go the Craigslist route, you can help protect yourself by getting a Carfax subscription while you're looking and have a mobile mechanic on hand to check out the car for $125 or whatever they charge now once you find something you like. Sure, you won't get a warranty, but at least you'll have an idea of what could be wrong with it.

Autotrader.com or Cars.com will help you browse the dealer inventory around and you can specify door count (in this case 4) along with price and mileage. You'll also see a few private party ads on there and the more risky smaller dealerships around. Staying with a larger dealership like Nyle Maxwell, Round Rock Honda, etc. could save you from some headaches that the smaller independent dealers could give. Round Rock Honda has a 2009 Sentra with 75,000 miles that was a former rental for $8K with what looks to be a good Carfax report. That's probably the best type of deal that you're going to get from a dealer at that price range and $7K is I think nearly impossible to find a non-private party deal in the Austin area.

With all that said, if you could bump up your price range to the $9000-ish level, it opens you up to Hertz Car Sales. They for example currently have some 2012 Versas and a 2012 Yaris (all 4 doors) in the $9200 range with 50,000 miles and they give you some type of warranty. Those are a couple thousand out of your price range, but you're getting a much newer vehicle with lower mileage. Those are still rentals, but they only put their name behind their really nice ones and auction off the lesser condition ones to the smaller dealers. The other cool thing about Hertz is that you can rent the car for three days to try it out before you buy it.

http://www.hertzcarsales.com/

If you must stay in that $7K range, then I think it's back to Craigslist. Good luck.

[mesmer]

Don't rely on the car salesman to tell which cars or good. Consumer reports is available online for $7 for a month, or for free at the library. You can get safety ratings at both the NHTSA and the IIHS online. You can get mileage ratings at the EPA online. Check for recall info too - not usually a dealbreaker, but good to know. Go into it with a list (hopefully a long one) of cars models with model years that you find acceptable.

Then, when you do find a car that you like, get it inspected! You can pay a mechanic to look over the car for you. Unfortunately, I don't have a recommendation for a particular mechanic to use, but perhaps someone else can chime in.

[Don in Austin]

Originally Posted by COCUE

Hi

We need to buy a 3rd car this week to be used primarily by the nanny. We are looking for a used car, good condition and 4 doors ( car seats).
Our fear of buying from Craigslist or someplace like that is that hubby is not a car expert and won't know for sure if we are getting a lemon despite a good visual appearance.

We also not sure if a CPO vehicle is worth it, there is so much price differential between fair market prices from sources like kbb as well as what individual sellers are settling for and the dealership prices for these CPO vehicles.

So my question, how and where do you recommend us looking for a good used car ( price range not more than $7,000 and not too old) to buy that won't require going to the mechanic every week with different issues.

A few thoughts from a 30 years + owner of an automotive repair shop.

"....hubby is not a car expert...." Well, he is way ahead of all those who are not and think they are! I see self-proclaimed "car experts" make disastrous used car purchases on a regular basis.

Which brings me to....whatever you buy have a third party mechanic check it out. As I think you already know, what can look great on the ground is sometimes a disaster looked at from beneath a lift.

I would not patronize CarMax. Very often when we tell a car owner they have a big problem looming in their car, for example because the engine was run without oil, they reply, "I don't want to sell it privately, I'll take it to CarMax." CarMax prices are non-negotiable -- and typically above market.

CarFax: A clean CarFax does NOT a clean vehicle guarantee. CarFax might rule out a vehicle with a dubious history, but has its limitations. CarFax only guarantees to report to you what was reported to them. Not all collisions are reported. Here is a hypothetical example: An irresponsible car owner lets his insurance lapse and gets drunk and has a major wreck in his car such that it should be totalled. Uncle Jack, says, "No problem, we'll trailer it across the border and get it all fixed up cheap." CarFax won't have a clue about this. We have seen more than one vehicle with a "clean" CarFax which has had collision repair -- sometimes professionally performed, sometimes not.

For your needs, a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic could be ideal. You may be able to get one of the early Honda Fits and they are one of the most trouble-free cars ever made.

And last of all, again third party buyer's check! I have never had a customer tell me I am sorry I had a buyer's check done. The opposite has happened all too often.

Best of luck in your search!

Don in Austin

[Eastcoasting]

Originally Posted by Don in Austin

I would not patronize CarMax. Very often when we tell a car owner they have a big problem looming in their car, for example because the engine was run without oil, they reply, "I don't want to sell it privately, I'll take it to CarMax." CarMax prices are non-negotiable -- and typically above market.

Good to know, carmax is compelling due to their biz model that manages to gather a pretty comprehensive list of late model vehicles.

Buyer beware as always,.

[mark311]

Originally Posted by Don in Austin

CarFax: A clean CarFax does NOT a clean vehicle guarantee. CarFax might rule out a vehicle with a dubious history, but has its limitations. CarFax only guarantees to report to you what was reported to them. Not all collisions are reported.

Good information and I completely agree with this, but it's better than not checking at all. It's well worth the $50 price tag for 60 days of reports in my opinion (5 VIN reports). Autocheck might show something different ($45 for 30 days unlimited reports). It just weeds out the known bad cars before you even have to waste your time to go look at them. And like you said, a third party car inspector (can often be done by mobile mechanics as some private party owners don't like letting you take their car for 2 hours) is another great way to help protect yourself a bit. There is always risk involved when buying a used car no matter where you buy it.

[Don in Austin]

Originally Posted by mark311

Good information and I completely agree with this, but it's better than not checking at all. It's well worth the $50 price tag for 60 days of reports in my opinion (5 VIN reports). Autocheck might show something different ($45 for 30 days unlimited reports). It just weeds out the known bad cars before you even have to waste your time to go look at them. And like you said, a third party car inspector (can often be done by mobile mechanics as some private party owners don't like letting you take their car for 2 hours) is another great way to help protect yourself a bit. There is always risk involved when buying a used car no matter where you buy it.

And I agree with you. Cheaper to weed out a car with CarFax than pay a mechanic for a buyer's check. I tell my customers if a seller does not wish to cooperate with a buyer's check, just say "thanks anyway" and move on.

Don in Austin

[10scoachrick]

It's a reach; but don't rule out a vehicle with hail damage. The owner may have 'saved' the money paid by insurance (or NOT paid) and the otherwise mechanically sound vehicle should sell for a fair bit less than market value. Got a very good deal a couple of years ago on a Taurus...a few thousand below market because of the cosmetic damage.