Quote:
Originally Posted by avasmom26
Unit731 thanks alot for the suggestions, I guess really what I am asking is there any car places I should stay away from? Thank you!
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I had the opportunity to observe the dealer only auto auction in Londonderry, NH one day. In those days one did not need an ID badge. When asked I was told to just say "driver for Al's Auto Sales" or some such statement. I did get in. Hundreds if not thousand cars. Every Thursday. As I remember the auction was inside a building with 12 lanes and 12 auctions going on at one time. Touch your hat, scratch your chin, wiggle your ear - and you own it. I had to stand still and keep my hands in my pockets. I could not buy any car as one needs a used car license. To obtain a used car license one needs to pay $1,000.00 per year AND have a physical location.
What I saw at this auction - and I want to be as polite as possible - were men that looked like they would sell their own mother - if the price was right.
The good newer cars were at one end. Mostly Hertz/Avis/National rental cars and another lane for off lease cars. The rest of the lanes were comprised of what looked like nice cars to real clunkers. One very nice newer Oldsmobile 88 leather interior - was pushed thru and sold for less than $1,000. I asked about that one. And someone took me outside, opened the hood, and there was no engine in car. Apparently some repair shop had tried to fix engine and gave up and just auctioned car off with no engine.
It used to be that former rentals were good deals. I have rented cars all over the country. The big cities/airports every single car I rented had dents/scratches/stains all over rental car. The smaller cities/airports the rental cars seem to be in much better condition. Do you wish to purchase a car that potentially had 365 drivers per year? No, there is no car that is rented to a different person every day but you get the point.
I had a neighobr - a professional - good job good company. He leased a Toyota for 2 years. He never changed the oil. He never did anything. He just drove it. And when oil was checked before turning in it was black and down two quarts. His wife made him have the oil changed just before he turned that Toyota in.
There are many good used cars out there. Some folks do take care of car. While others do not. Walking on a used car lot it can be difficult to find the car that was well taken care of. As the smart used car dealers clean up the car. Change the oil. Some change the transmission fluid also. Note. Most automatic transmission fluid should be pink in color. If the automatic transmission is any color other then pink you need to find another car. Note. Some automatic transmission are "sealed" and do not have a dip stick. Sometimes called "Lifetime" automatic fluid. Whose lifetime? What is the lifetime? You have to read the owners manual and determine when automatic transmission fluid should be changed.
Myself, I would stay away from anyone who claims car has new engine or new transmission. It is very rare that an engine is replaced with a real new factory engine. Most are rebuilts. None of the manufacturers rebuild engines or transmissions. Same holds true for automatic transmissions. Most are rebuilts. The rebuilding may be done by a reputatble company or a less then reputable company.
Good Luck.