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Hi,
I will move to charleston from europe, and I want to buy, asap, a car.
I intend to buy an used car, and I had a look at craiglist, et similar.
I would like to buy a cheap car, just to save the cost of a rental car for the first months.
I saw very nice prices, compared to european prices, but most cars have big mileage, i.e. 150,000 or 200,000 !
It's normal so big mileage ?
To better understand: if I buy a CHEVY TRAILBLAZER 2003 with 200k mileage, at 3,800, or a Hyundai Santa Fe 2005 at 7,999 with 108.000 mileage, it's a bad business ?
I go on with some extra questions
How with insurance ? I have in the USA no story at all....
How much would it costs the insurance for a car ?
I'm 51 yo, it depends only on age, or are other matters ?
thanks !
When you move here, do you have a friend or someone who is going to be there to help with the transition at first? Would hate to see you get taken advantage of simply because it's all new. Things like looking for a car would be a great thing to do with someone who already lives here.
When you move here, do you have a friend or someone who is going to be there to help with the transition at first? Would hate to see you get taken advantage of simply because it's all new. Things like looking for a car would be a great thing to do with someone who already lives here.
This.
Quote:
It's normal so big mileage ?
To better understand: if I buy a CHEVY TRAILBLAZER 2003 with 200k mileage, at 3,800, or a Hyundai Santa Fe 2005 at 7,999 with 108.000 mileage, it's a bad business ?
A lot depends on the actual model (is it a reliable one, or not?) and where the miles came from. Mileage here vs. Europe can largely be explained by how the country travels and where everything is physically located. From here you can drive nearly 3,000 miles to the west and still be in the same country, and you can do it entirely at highway speeds. We put 2,000 miles on our car in two weeks because we wanted to see family in Texas and it was much more economical to drive there and back than to fly. Miles on the highway are much easier on a car than in a city, so with high mileage a lot depends on how they were acquired.
BTW I think the Hyundai is overpriced and the Trailblazer has more miles than I would be comfortable with. AND a friend bought a car from the dealer who posted the ad you saw for the Hyundai, and had had nothing but trouble from it! If you go with Craigslist I would recommend buying from an individual, not a dealer.
We've bought from CarMax and have been happy with the process. It looks like they do have them in the Charleston area, although we lived in the Charlotte area during our purchase so used the CarMax in Charlotte.
The nice thing about the south is that cars don't face terrible elements like the north so they last longer and look better. Also, driving conditions are sun or rain.....no snow in Charleston so you don't have to worry about purchasing a vehicle that will be good in the snow (unless you are planning on moving).
We've bought from CarMax and have been happy with the process. It looks like they do have them in the Charleston area, although we lived in the Charlotte area during our purchase so used the CarMax in Charlotte.
The nice thing about the south is that cars don't face terrible elements like the north so they last longer and look better. Also, driving conditions are sun or rain.....no snow in Charleston so you don't have to worry about purchasing a vehicle that will be good in the snow (unless you are planning on moving).
I also bought my 4Runner from CarMax and was extremely happy with the car, the process, everything.
Carmax is a pure ripoff!! Always marked up thousands above the selling price used. Buy from an private seller when you get here, autotrader is good, as is craigslist. You can easily run the VIN from the car to check the total history. Good luck.
Carmax is a pure ripoff!! Always marked up thousands above the selling price used. Buy from an private seller when you get here, autotrader is good, as is craigslist. You can easily run the VIN from the car to check the total history. Good luck.
You can negotiate. You can't go in without being informed, just like any car dealership. I personally wouldn't buy from a private seller, unless it was a sh=t kicker or I knew the person. I like dealerships because of the warranties and services. The nice thing about the internet is how easy it is to research vehicles....so it is much more difficult to get ripped off at dealerships. Plus, there is so much competition and dealerships do have some wiggle room.
Carmax is a pure ripoff!! Always marked up thousands above the selling price used. Buy from an private seller when you get here, autotrader is good, as is craigslist. You can easily run the VIN from the car to check the total history. Good luck.
The in laws continue to buy from Carmax, despite the fact that the last 2 or 3 they bought there were lemons. Maybe they'll figure it out someday...
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