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I bought a used car! And it was $2000 cheaper than anything else advertised with 200 miles of my home for the same model, year and apx. mileage. I asked the salesman why it was so competitively priced. He said, "look at the CARFAX report." It had been in an accident, had been repossessed once by the dealership because one of the previous owners had stopped paying, had been a rental car ,and had three owners over a three year period.
The salesman said, "in all honesty the car has had a checkered history but any damage from the accident has been repaired and we stand behind our product" I took the car for the afternoon and gave it to my local auto mechanic and he gave it a FULL evaluation and said it looked good for a three year car with 45,000 miles. And because it is a Hyundai Sonata, it still has either 2 years or 15000 miles left on its bumper to bumper warranty.
So I brought the car home and showed it to my friends and family and they said I was a sucker for buying a car with such a checkered history. (I know nothing about the severity of the accident it was in, the CARFAX just said that it had been in an accident-- and the highly respected car dealer said any damage had been repaired.)
What do you think? Would you buy a car like this with such a checkered history if it was $2000 less than market? (I spent $12K for a 2009 Hynandai Sonata with 45,000 miles which was $2000 less than offered anyplace else)
Last edited by Workaholic?; 11-20-2011 at 02:56 AM..
An accident is not the end of the world. Could have been body work, nothing major. Repossession worrys me, does the owner afford maintenance on a car he can't afford the payments on?
Rental car, during that period, it likely had good maintenance, but was beat by the drivers a bit(floored everwhere). Maybe blatantly abused.
But then again a clean carfax may have had worse owners.
time will tell if a deal is a deal. as they say many times it can be penny wise and pound foolish.
it can be hard enough many times just to get a brand new car to last enough reliable trouble free years to get our moneys worth out of it and fly those empty seats after its paid for without starting out in a questonable condition.
been in an accident, had been repossessed once by the dealership because one of the previous owners had stopped paying, had been a rental car ,and had three owners over a three year period.
A 3 year old Hyundai with that much baggage is something i would never consider. I wish you the best of luck but i suspect this is one of those cars that maybe a lemon.Any chance of contacting a previous owner?
Keep us updated on how the car runs..
For the price you paid you could have got something with a whole lot less potential problems
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/cto/2700719373.html (broken link)
I wouldn't have bought it because I prefer other cars. You bought it. Live with it... it may be fine. It is a crap shoot as most other cars, especially used (but also new), are.
Just keep a close eye on it for a while. If there are any serious issues they should become evident. THEN you have a decision. Until then it is 'just another car'. Don't worry...be happy.
The car in the Craiglist ad you list below costs $750 more than we paid and has over 60,000 so it is off warranty. Our new used car at least is only $12,000 and has 150000 more miles left on the bumper to bumper warranty. If there is problems not found by my mechanic or us during the long test drive we have a year to fix them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101
A 3 year old Hyundai with that much baggage is something i would never consider. I wish you the best of luck but i suspect this is one of those cars that maybe a lemon.Any chance of contacting a previous owner?
Keep us updated on how the car runs..
For the price you paid you could have got something with a whole lot less potential problems
2009 Hyundai Sonata SE - 62k mi - brand new tires and brakes (http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/cto/2700719373.html - broken link)
I bought a "clip" once. A Jeep XJ that had had the entire front of the rig cut off and another engine, frame, suspension, etc. from a junk yard clipped onto it. It looked ok and the price was right so I bought it against advice of friends.
Turned out to be a great vehicle and I drove the hell out of that rig and eventually made it into an off road rig.
But, there was the "safety" factor. What would have happened to that rig if it had another front end crash? It held up ok on the trails, but would it have broke apart in a wreck? We will never know. Still a great rig.
That question really can't be answered. You'll find out eventually. Any used car is a gamble. You bought a discounted car and maybe you'll end up paying more for it someday, maybe not. You can always buy an extended warranty once the factory one expires, with the money you saved off the top.
Also there are a lot of used cars have accidents on the carfax report. Total loss scenarios are usually more threatening. Other cars have major damage but no carfax entry and therefore you would have little or no way of knowing if there was a problem in the first place. Buying it from a dealer is a hell of a lot safer than buying it from some Ukranian curbstoners who set up shop on Craigslist selling flood cars with washed titles...
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Our new (used) car is still under warranty!
