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So I followed ya'lls advice on my previous post and sought out some private sellers vs. Used lots & auctions.
The one I looked at today seems great, looks great, feels great..I felt good about the guy who's selling it, seems like a straight forward honest guy, nice house, nice neighborhood (since I know some people said this stuff counts when buying private seller? Lol)
So this is a scion xb 2006 with 128k mi asking $6500ish. AutoCheck shows no accidents, repos, salvage, weather damage etc. majority of stuff on here shows vehicle reg, odo reading, a couple lien reports on 2 sep occasions?, vehicle used for fleet/rental/lease - but no taxi, police, gov, driver ed. Reported at auto auction in 09 with 49k mi and then reported again at auction in 2014.
Besides this telling me it's an auction vehicle...what else does it tell me?
The other Scion is an 06 from a nissan pre owned lot 111k mi. Asking $7100. The CarFax shows complete maintenance always done at dealership up to a T until ~97k mi. At 105k mi.(2010) ownership changed (personal owner), registered each yr, and then at 111k mi (8/2014) this pre owned nissan lot obtains it ??? AutoCheck shows in 4/2014 there was "minor" accident or vehicle damage reported (not disclosed on their CarFax). It had obviously been repaired as I did not see any damage. Would we assume a senior had it? 6k miles over 3-4yrs just seems odd. Also, is the asking price fair on this?
Not sure which to go with as I'm throwing all my savings into either one and won't have much $ left over if any repairs are needed.
Last edited by FloGrownGrl; 10-11-2014 at 06:19 PM..
To me the big question on the first car is when it was registered as a lease/rental/fleet/etc. If it was the first owner, it may be that it was a standard lease and came off-lease at the 49K mark, after which the leasing company sent it to auction. However... it did accumulate an awful lot of miles in its first 3 years of service, making me suspicious that it was a rental car. That would be a caution flag for me; on the one hand rental cars take a beating, but on the other, they are usually maintained per the factory-recommended intervals if owned/leased by one of the major rental fleets. Perhaps the most important question is, what does the service history look like? Don't worry about the liens as long as the current owner holds the title free and clear; those likely just mean the car was financed rather than purchased outright.
For the dealer car, a 10K gap in service records wouldn't be a big deal as long as you have it inspected and the inspection folks give it the green light. They would also be able to give you an idea of how much damage it suffered in its accident and whether it might present problems in the future. While minor accident may still have some affect on resale value later on, the car is already far enough along on the depreciation curve that it won't make a significant difference by the time it's your turn to sell it.
In both cases I'd say the asking price is pretty fair, depending on market conditions in your specific location.
I'd probably be more interested in the one at the dealer. You have a maintenance trail on the car and it was done at a dealer. The issue with vehicle is that it's grossly over priced. Kelly Blue Book has it at just under 6 grand. I'd offer them $5900.00 plus TTL for it or walk. The other is worth less because of mileage and no maintenance trail. The best way to get a good deal on a car, don't fall in love with it. Once a saleman feels like you can see yourself driving it, he knows you're hooked. Show no interest in the car and consider it ho-hum at best and work the deal against the salesman.
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