Used dealerships vs. craigslist?

I hate any dealership, period. They are an overpriced middleman. You can find way better deals on craigslist, you just have to make sure you inspect the car thoroughly before you buy.

Look up the ratings on edmunds.com and look up the blue book values for any car you are interested in, that will give you some negotiating room.

Dealerships scare the shit out of me, I have seen them wash cars with a dirt filled sponge after just getting body work done, as well as wrenching down oil filters too tight and crushing them. 99% of the dealership "technicians" they have around here are a step above the guys working at an oil change place. Your area may be different, but I have seen firsthand how incompetent they are.

 

That's good advice, also a great investment is to take a sharp auto mechanic with you, hook him up however you guys decide and have him check out the vehicle you are really interested in!

 

+1 to both of the guys above.

CG is a good option but take a mech. with you or take it to a shop.

Same with a dealership, take a mech. with you or take it to ANOTHER mechanic.

Having worked at a dealer, they buy cars from auctions, clean them up and fix them, sell them for double the price. Some of those cars are SUPER fucked up, and these are new car dealers selling "certified" used cars (which is basically just a sticker).

Always take someone who knows what they're doing with you.

 

This, never buy a car without having a mechanic look at it. Most private owners wont mind a bit if the car runs fine so long as you pay for the trip to the shop.

 

I used to do that too. I paid £500 for a car, £90 for an MOT and 2 tyres, buffered the paintwork and sold it for £1500 lol.

 

I made a few grand buying and selling cars on Craigslist quite a few times.

 

Definitely avoid buying from a dealer (lol). They're idiots for the most part. Decent people, they just don't really know what they're doing or don't care since it's not their car.

I took my Jeep to a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership after I got it to have it looked over. I warned them of an overheating issue it had (the fan wouldn't come on sometimes because the connector was loose, all you had to do was wiggle it and it would be fine). They took it out for a drive, most likely overheating the shit out of it then. Then once they got it back in the shop on a hoist, they had the engine running and were revving it a bit for some reason, then what do I see? FUCKING SMOKE coming from the engine. Fuckin' idiots paid no god damn attention to the temperature guage. I was so mad (and still am), they really fucked it there. And what could I do about it? Absolutely nothing. ARGH. /endrant

Never take your car to a dealership, and never buy from a dealership. Fuck 'em. Let other people give them their undeserved business.

 

[quote name='"SeanyCash"']I99% of the dealership "technicians" they have around here are a step above the guys working at an oil change place. Your area may be different, but I have seen firsthand how incompetent they are.[/quote]
That's pretty harsh brother. Letting a bad experience make every "technicians" shotty... Your the kind of guy that we dread servicing.

 

Not every dealership is shitty and not every tech is poorly trained.

To OP, yes every vehicle a dealership buys gets checked over by the used car techs, however, they do not have to fix every thing that is wrong with the vehicle before they sell it. They pass on paying for stuff all the time but it comes down to what they paid for the vehicle and how much they think they can get out of it. If the vehicle isnt worth much why spend money to fix it to get a few more bucks?

 

[quote name='"DarkSideofHerb"']
That's pretty harsh brother. Letting a bad experience make every "technicians" shotty... Your the kind of guy that we dread servicing.[/quote]

I understand that, but in my area they are terrible. That's why I said it may be different for him.

Its not just one bad experience, it is more than I can count

 

[quote name='"SeanyCash"']

I understand that, but in my area they are terrible. That's why I said it may be different for him.

Its not just one bad experience, it is more than I can count[/quote]

Then you may want to learn how to DIY... I understand the whole shotty tech shit. People come in pissed off all the time coming in from Walmart that had their car sitting there for 30 mins and then say yeah uh we can't do it. Or its fucked up.. Then they come to my shop all heated and see two 21 yr old techs and are like shit these guys don't know shit. And then we bust their car out in 10 mins.
Had an old man come in last week. We serviced his 05 impala or whatever it was and he calls back 20 mins later screaming at me through the phone demanding a refund for not lubing his chassis. I said sir there are not any places to grease on those newer cars. He screams BULLSHIT I go to Walmart for years and the ALWAYS lube my chassis. I said fair enough sir bring your car back and we will go down in the pit together and if you can show me where to grease I will give you a full apology and refund. He came flying up and we went down there and was lookin and lookin and lookin. Finally apologizes and said he was going to come o our shop for now on and appreciated the professionalism.

 

[quote name='"DarkSideofHerb"']

Then you may want to learn how to DIY... I understand the whole shotty tech shit. People come in pissed off all the time coming in from Walmart that had their car sitting there for 30 mins and then say yeah uh we can't do it. Or its fucked up.. Then they come to my shop all heated and see two 21 yr old techs and are like shit these guys don't know shit. And then we bust their car out in 10 mins.
Had an old man come in last week. We serviced his 05 impala or whatever it was and he calls back 20 mins later screaming at me through the phone demanding a refund for not lubing his chassis. I said sir there are not any places to grease on those newer cars. He screams BULLSHIT I go to Walmart for years and the ALWAYS lube my chassis. I said fair enough sir bring your car back and we will go down in the pit together and if you can show me where to grease I will give you a full apology and refund. He came flying up and we went down there and was lookin and lookin and lookin. Finally apologizes and said he was going to come o our shop for now on and appreciated the professionalism.[/quote]

Yea I do pretty much everything my self now. Problem is when you actually know about cars and they try and talk about things in general terms trying to get you to pay for things that don't need to be fixed.

When taking my truck in for new tires I had a guy tell me that "parts inside my transmission" needed to be fixed and he just would not tell me what parts, but wanted $1400. I said no thanks and proceeded to replace the transmission mount for $30 and it fixed the problem

I'm definitely not like those crazy old guys who blame shit on everyone but themselves, they are the worst.

 

Word that's why I hate stealerships. My mom took in her 2012 accord coupe in for the SECOND oil change they told her they needed to replace the oil pan and fix the exhaust. Before it could move! 1300 dollars they wanted from her. Holy shit man she called me right then and I told her to wait and I'd do it for her... It's crazy how they try to bully and intimidate people into buying shit.

 

Doesn't matter which you decide to do, just remember Craigslist is always a bit more sketchy, and always remember to bring or have a mechanic/friend look at it if you don't know what to look for.

Friend got his sister and mother to go to the dealer and pick up a Honda for him, thinking it had to be okay. He didn't see it, didn't have a mechanic look at it. It's been having problems since, and saying certain things aren't under warranty. You don't want that happening.

 

^this guy knows what's up