best used car dealers (Dallas: rental, loans, buying)

[Alkonost]

Moving to Dallas soon and will need to get a car. Any recommendations for some good used car dealerships? So far my online search has lead to a lot of places selling scrappy cars from rental fleets with tons of mileage and high prices. Is that the norm for the dfw area or am I looking at the wrong dealers?

[Pete53FR]

Really depends what you are looking for in a used car. I buy used cars that are less than four years with low mileage from a reputable dealer. Usually pay less than half of a new cost and the car is new to me.

[Alkonost]

Originally Posted by Pete53FR

Really depends what you are looking for in a used car. I buy used cars that are less than four years with low mileage from a reputable dealer. Usually pay less than half of a new cost and the car is new to me.

That's what I'm looking for but not finding any on the web- instead I'm finding the opposite. Can you recommend any dealers? Since I'm a new driver I'm not looking to buy a new car, but I need something reliable and low mileage (don't want to buy a maintenance nightmare waiting to happen). I'm debating whether or not to buy a car where I live now and have it shipped, or buy something in Dallas when I arrive. At the moment I'm finding better cars where I live but I might not be finding reputable Dallas dealers online to compare to. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for recommendations here.

[ChristieP]

There are tons of car dealers here that sell used cars. All of the major manufacturers (Ford, Chevy, Honda, Nissan, Dodge, etc.) have a used car section. There's also Carmax, which only sells used cars. If you are looking at the small/individual used only dealers, those are usually the worst ones. You can also buy a used car on Craigslist. I personally sold a car there a few years ago.

No need to ship a car to TX, and if it didn't have air conditioning, you would be hating yourself!

[Souleiado]

You need to go to a car dealer from the brand of cars you are looking for and know exactly which model you want . Those usually are more reliable , checked and come with a better warranty.

[MckinneyOwnr]

What is your budget, and what type of car are you looking for? (Sedan, SUV, coupe, etc.)

[mSooner]

There's always Craigslist...we've had the best luck there so far.

Not a fan of Carmax. They claim "they make car buying easy" by sticking to a fixed price...no negotiating. To me it sounds like they are making car buying easy buy screwing you over. I went there once and was amazed at what they wanted me to spend $7-$10k on.

[Alkonost]

Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr

What is your budget, and what type of car are you looking for? (Sedan, SUV, coupe, etc.)

$18k, honda accord ex-l 4 cyl that was not prerviously owned by a rental fleet or bought at auction. We found one near us ('09 with 25k miles from a 3 year lease where the driver hardly used it) for that price (we were hoping to talk them down to 17k). Not sure if I want to pounce if similar can be purchased Dallas since having cars shipped across country is a pain in the rear . On first glance used car prices seem 2k higher in Dallas than where I am locally and tend to come from rental fleets.

[Alkonost]

Originally Posted by mSooner

There's always Craigslist...we've had the best luck there so far.

Not a fan of Carmax. They claim "they make car buying easy" by sticking to a fixed price...no negotiating. To me it sounds like they are making car buying easy buy screwing you over. I went there once and was amazed at what they wanted me to spend $7-$10k on.

Yeah I know what you mean about the fixed prices. These days you can research the cars and find out a lot about a specific car before you even visit the dealer, the retail value doesn't mean much when you find out how many accidents the car has been through

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by Alkonost

$18k, honda accord ex-l 4 cyl that was not prerviously owned by a rental fleet or bought at auction. We found one near us ('09 with 25k miles from a 3 year lease where the driver hardly used it) for that price (we were hoping to talk them down to 17k). Not sure if I want to pounce if similar can be purchased Dallas since having cars shipped across country is a pain in the rear . On first glance used car prices seem 2k higher in Dallas than where I am locally and tend to come from rental fleets.

Well, you'll get the best deal from an individual looking to sell than you will from a dealer, always. I would advise to start looking on craigslist for vehicle by owner, as well as autotrader. If you find one you like, with your criteria (09-10 model, low miles) you shouldn't have a problem getting financing from your bank or other places that do auto loans, like Capital One. That way you aren't forced into buying from a dealer. I try to avoid buying from a dealer at all costs, except when I may be trading in a car at the same time.