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We are faced with having another driver in the home, and as excited as I am for her, I remember my own early days driving and would rather her drive a reliable used car than mine, which is fairly new. I've considered Carmax and craigslist as the obvious choices, but wondered if there was a small local dealer who might make fair deals on older cars (such as a 2005 Civic or something like that). Carmax seems to sell good, later model cars and craigslist is a nightmare to search. Anyone have suggestions? Ideas?
I bought my used Subaru from Stars Auto Sales and had no complaints. Your standard used car lot where you'll want to haggle the price. And this is good advice for any used car, but pay the $40 to have a trusted mechanic look over it before you buy it. The $40 might seem like a lot if you don't end up buying the car but it's better than $$$$$ fixing a problem that could have been uncovered in an inspection. Made that mistake with the first car I bought from a newspaper ad (before the days of Craigslist oh my!).
Just remember that a used Civic is really gonna hold its value.
Yeah, that was just an example, as we are a Honda driving family. I have no real insistence on a particular type or brand for this one. My first car when I was 16 was a 16 year old vw beetle!
I bought my used Subaru from Stars Auto Sales and had no complaints. Your standard used car lot where you'll want to haggle the price. And this is good advice for any used car, but pay the $40 to have a trusted mechanic look over it before you buy it. The $40 might seem like a lot if you don't end up buying the car but it's better than $$$$$ fixing a problem that could have been uncovered in an inspection. Made that mistake with the first car I bought from a newspaper ad (before the days of Craigslist oh my!).
Bring it to the mechanic who fixes the car you drive.
yes, this.
if you are looking at a honda or acura, i highly recommend dale radcliffe. i heard about him on these boards & have now been going to him with excellent results. he is fair & reasonable & a likeable guy. he inspected my car before i purchased it.
Dale's Honda and Acura Repair
1900 Al Boat Dr Raleigh, NC 27603
(919) 803-0054
Our son went to a dealership in Wilkes County and got a good deal on a used car. Can't remember the name of the place but I am sure a google would make it show up. They sell a good volume of used cars or so the report goes.
I would do everything I can to pursue a private sale if I was trying to buy a used car sub, say, $10K price.
Network with neighbors, workplace, church, you name it. Check Craigslist every 15 minutes-that's what everyone else is doing.
The supply of such cars is very low right now. Anybody who has a nice car fitting that description doesn't want to sell it, and most people selling an older car are doing so because it has developed an issue that they cannot justify repairing. The economy, while continuing to improve, doesn't support people selling the kind of car that you want to buy.
If someone has, for example, a 10 year or less old Civic/Accord/Corolla/Camry
(a good target for a teen from most people's perspectives) that is
A) Paid For
B) A car with a known history within the family
C) A car that is currently not possessing some sort of fatal flaw
They are going to continue to drive it until they pass it down to their own child
OR
It gets to the point where it is no longer viable transportation.
The cars being traded in at the dealership I work at fall into a few predictable categories.
Somebody made a mistake when they bought something 1-2 years ago and are choosing to correct that mistake-it might be an SUV that is too big and thirsty, or a hybrid that somebody bought on a whim when gas prices were climbing and they finally came to terms with the fact that they hate the way it drives, or a sporty car (Camaro, Miata, or similar) that again was bought on a whim and then the owner came to terms with the fact that it is not compatible with their lifestyle or budget. None of those trades fit your criteria.
Lease vehicles being turned in at the end of what is typically a 36 month term-in some cases these vehicles have a value higher than the specified residual or "buyout" price because of a shortage of clean used cars. I have customers who are returning leased vehicles and are able to trade them in and apply equity to their next lease-these people are repeat lessees who understand the benefits and take advantage of them. Again, the cars they are turning in don't fit your criteria.
The last category is simple-JUNK. Cars that limp into the parking lot. Cars with WELL upwards of 100,000 miles on them that are literally falling apart. Cars that will bring $1,000 at auction but need $2,500 worth of work to get tham to pass inspection. Cars that are just plain obsolete-things like 2000 Ford Explorers or Jeep Grand Cherokees that I would NEVER let my teenager drive because they lack in safety equipment and handle unpredictably.
I have plenty of neighbors that know what I do and I am ALWAYS being approached by people looking for a "teenmobile"-could I keep my eyes open and call them when the right thing gets traded in? I tell them as politely as I can that I don't have any supply chain for what they are seeking, and that my only source for such a car is a client coming onto the lot willing to trade.
Their next question is always the same-"can you just go to the auction and find something for me there?"
I can't buy cars at auction that I could sell in good conscience to a friend or neighbor. The auction is like "The Island of Misfit Toys". It's all of the junk that dealers took in trade that CAN'T be reconditioned for sale-if it was good enough for somebody to sell, it never got to the auction in the first place. Those are the cars that end up on the "chain link" or "buy here pay here" lots in Mini City.
If I needed to put my teenager in a car, I would lease one. I can get a safe, reliable car for under $200 per month with very little money out of my pocket. Civic, Elantra, Corolla-no Volkswagens. (You can blame 26 years in the automobile business for my STRONG bias against Volkswagens, but that's a topic for another thread.)
It will have all of the latest safety content, be extremely fuel efficient, and be under warranty for the duration of the lease. A teenager should not need a high mileage lease. I will have zero unplanned expense during the term. I don't have to lay out the purchase price-I can pay as I go. I will be paying sales tax on the payment, as opposed to paying a lump sum in tax on the purchase price. I won't be buying tires or brakes or incurring any maintenance costs beyond a few oil changes and tire rotations. If the car gets totalled, I am off the hook thanks to GAP insurance. If it is involved in a wreck that is serious but not a total loss, as long as my insurance company repairs the vehicle properly I am unaffected by the diminished value of the car-it becomes the bank's problem after I turn it in. If the car has a value higher than the agreed upon buyout at the end of the lease, I can buy it out below market value-what better used car to buy than the one that's been in my driveway the first three years of its life? Another option is to trade it in using that equity to leverage me into the next car if our needs have changed. If the car is worth less than the buyout at the end of the term, I can just turn it in. 36 months is just enough time to get through High School and hopefully off to college, where a car may or may not be necessary or desirable.
That to me is a much more effective solution than laying out $10,000 for a car that three years from now will be worth less than half that and have unpredictable reliability and maintenance costs along the way.
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