used car dealers? (Scottsdale: sales, buying, sales tax)

[Katimae]

Hi everyone, I'm looking to buy a fairly cheap (around $5,000) used car. I live in North Scottsdale. Has anyone had a good experience with a particular car lot? Thanks in advance

[Design7]

I've had great experience buying a car using craigslist.com if you are planning to buy cash. I find the used car lots tend to be overpriced.

[Rick Lee]

I probably wouldn't buy from a dealer, since they have to collect sales tax, while there is none on private party sales.

[observer53]

So long as you can arrange to have the car checked out by a mechanic you trust to make sure there's nothing wrong you can't deal with, I'd go with a private sale too.

[Ponderosa]

New car dealers have the best used cars and will usually stand behind them with a warranty for some period of time. They wholesale the old ones and the clunkers and these end up on Used Car (only) lots and are often sold "as is" or with a flimsy warranty they won't honor if something comes up.

In your price range, you are unlikely to find much on a new car dealer's lot and would have to go to the used lots. The alternative is private sales. You can find some good deals, and as has been said, you pay no sales tax. Check out values of cars you see advertised by using either kbb.com or nadaguides.com. There can be some risk in private sales so take someone with you when go to look at the car. Private sales also carry a risk of title fraud, uncleared liens, and so on. You can probably check the title at the MVD, but I don't know.

[Katimae]

Thank you all for your tips!