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I've bought my last 6 used car or so all from private. None of them ever had major issues, lots of issues here and there that you gotta do your HW to sort and fix them. I find that majority of people that offload their car is because there's a repair bill they don't want to pay. It could be as simple as tires and brakes to new exhaust system.
I bought a car that I thought had transmission issue, I flushed the tranny fluid with synthetic and changed the filter and it fixed the issue.
I don't buy from major dealers because their prices as worst than buying new. Say a 2 yr old car, they wanted just $3k off MSRP even though it had 25k mi on it?
Occasionally you get an undervalued deal at a dealer lot. This GM dealer had a Subaru Legacy wagon, they don't know the value they just priced it based on age and shape. I bought the wagon and drove it for another 2 years and sold it for $1500 more than what I paid for it.
I've never bought a car from a guy wearing a plaid suit at a corner used car lot. Other than a few cheap beaters I bought privately in my younger days (late teens and early 20s), all of my cars have been low-mileage, late model purchased from a new car dealership. If you are a savvy shopper and know how to find (and sometimes fight for) a good deal, you can do well.
My Honda Pilot was a dealer demo driven by the GM of the dealership. They were selling it as a certified-used car with the 7yr/100k warranty. It was top trim-level and current model year (2012) when I bought it. Plus, it had about $3K in options added (OEM running boards, remote start, window tint, fancy grille, all the optional exterior protection stuff Honda had (bodyside molding, etc). They originally gave me a price of $36K (new sticker was $41K). I told them that wasn't good enough and after a bit of haggling, I told my wife we were finished here and walked. The manager came running out to the car as I was getting ready to drive out of their lot and told me if we came back in, he'd do the deal for $31K.
I bought my Toyota two years ago in 2016. It was a 2014 model year and only had 4K miles on it. Original window sticker was $42K. When I first found it while car shopping online, the dealer had it listed for $28K. Then about a week later I was poking around again and saw they had dropped the price to $23K advertising it as their manager's special. It had been on their lot for almost 90 days. I figured it was too good to be true, but took a ride to look at it anyway. It was just as advertised, dealer-serviced, fully documented with Carfax and all that. But I wasn't ready to pull the trigger. I drove my other car there by myself and left my wife (and my checkbook) at home, figuring I wasn't going to actually end up buying it.
I told them there were a few other cars I wanted to look at before making a decision so they took another $1K off if I'd buy it then and there. The rest is history.
My definition of a medium size dealership is 100 cars or more for sale, and it's own service center. I share space with 2 small car dealers. We all rent space in the same yard. They park their overflow cars in this area. One dealer is a small dealer. He has about 50 cars, operates out of a trailer or spot in his house. He mainly sells to auctions and from what I have seen many of his cars are in need of help. That's being kind.
The other dealer is over 50 cars, less than 100. He takes the "plum" picking for a very large Hyundai and KIA dealership that has numerous dealerships on Staten Island and Long Island. The cars this guy get's are on their last leg. I wouldn't buy anything from either of these guys.
Even if there was something I just had to have I wouldn't buy from them. Not saying that buying from a big dealer is perfect, or that CARMAX doesn't have junk but I think as a consumer you are better protected when buying from a larger, established dealership. Reputations do matter.
I also think it depends on the type of car you are buying and to be fair, I bought my first BMW from a small dealership 8 years ago and the car was great to me. It's just the luck of the draw I guess.
I prefer to stick to the larger dealers. Not sure if it's true, but I believe that the dealerships keep their best condition trade ins, and the rest go to auction where the smaller players live.
Working within my belief, it's likely worth a little extra for used cars at the bigger dealerships.
I've recently become aware of carvana.com which is an online only used car dealership. It's pricy but I would consider buying something from them.
I was told only factory dealers could buy lease turn-ins at auction. I feel like I got a very good deal but then again my car had sat on the dealer's lot for several months and had been discounted significantly. My opinion was the car wasn't a good match for the dealer's immediate market.
I wouldn't feel comfortable buying from a small lot. If I wanted a cheap car I'd buy cash from an individual.
Factory dealers get first, and second, choice of the lease returns/repos/exec cars a the auctions. This is why they tend to have better cars. The non-factory dealers get the sloppy seconds.
There are "open" and "closed" auctions. When Ford Motor Credit company sends a car to the auction, it goes through at least 2 "closed" auctions first. (Closed auction = Ford Dealers Only.) If it goes through the auction twice, and Ford Credit is not willing to accept any of the offers from the Ford Dealers, then it can go through an open auction for any other Joe Public dealer to bid on.
The "open" auctions are like the wild west. Different type of environment and lots of cars with major issues. You've got to be diligent in your research before bidding on any of those cars.
I prefer to stick to the larger dealers. Not sure if it's true, but I believe that the dealerships keep their best condition trade ins, and the rest go to auction where the smaller players live.
Working within my belief, it's likely worth a little extra for used cars at the bigger dealerships.
I've recently become aware of carvana.com which is an online only used car dealership. It's pricy but I would consider buying something from them.
I rent space in a commercial yard with two dealers that store their cars there. One gets the sloppy seconds from a large dealership and auctions them off, sells them etc.. The other guy is more of a wholesaler. He mainly sells at the auctions.
I cannot wrap my head around what a lot of lots, even small mom & pop lots, want for a
used-vehicle....many times a not so great used-vehicle.
They offer low down payments and convenient every-payday loan schedules. They assume you do not care if you end up spending $8000 for a $4000 car.
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They assume you do not care if you end up spending $8000 for a $4000 car.
