My current car is 20 years old. The trunk doesn’t open anymore, and something is about to fall off the bottom of it. It’s time for something better, and thanks to my new job, I can afford to get something better.
However, I’ve only bought a few cars in my life. Cars, and the means of buying and selling them change drastically between my forays into the market. I thought I’d start a thread and see if I can benefit from the collected experience of the Dope.
I’m considering a Honda Crosstour. It wasn’t a great seller and so the used market isn’t exactly brimming with available cars. I’ve test driven a couple and they were fine. I’d kinda like a certain color, and I’d kinda like some particular options. I’ve been to some used-car search sites and I found a couple that were just what I want. The nearer one is in Oklahoma. I’m in Boston.
So what’s the car-buying experience like for those who’ve been there more recently than I? Would you buy a car over the internet without seeing it in person, would you compromise on colors or options (bearing in mind that I may own this for a dozen years or more), keep shopping around, or fly to Oklahoma and check it out? Or, really, any other light you all can shed on the subject.
Remember it’s not your previous car. It’s going to feel different in every way.
Put your butt in a car before you buy it. It’s going to feel different in every way from your previous ride, but do you like it? Does it like the way you drive?
Identify what options you need vs. ones you kinda like. Don’t let one of the kinda likes be the deal breaker if the car is otherwise fine
Unless you’re looking for a rare specialty item (1987 supercharged Toyota MR2…that runs) it doesn’t make sense to travel far for a used car.
Your current car still runs, right? You can afford to take your time shopping. And walking out on dealers who won’t work with you.
Friends have bought a car from across the country but it was a new one, not used. In that case, they were able to arrange transportation of the car through a dealer local to them, I think. In your case, with a used car, I would think you need to look at it, and perhaps have a mechanic check it out.
And the Crosstour seemed to me to be basically a station wagon version of a Honda Accord. Subaru has a couple of models that are similar in shape and size, if you want to consider alternatives.
Based on your experience, I don’t think you should buy this car since it’s so far away. There’s a lot of ways you can get a bad deal. If you had years of car buying experience you’d know what questions to ask and what to look for. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, so you’d be relying on luck and the integrity of the seller. Or you fly out there, but would you walk way if it was a bad deal? For this ordinary car, it’s not worth taking a chance. There are lots of other cars you’d probably be fine with. I would say to expand your search to other cars and look locally.
Way #38: Seller takes your money, hands over a title and a car. You take all to your home state who says, “Oh, out of state title? You need a VIN verification & safety inspection first.” Oh, there’s something wrong with the VIN (doesn’t match title, reported stolen, Title used to have a salvage brand but has been washed, whatever)? No title/no registration for you.
Yeah, don’t go doing an out-of-state purchase. You’ll never find the seller if the car won’t paper.
A former employer had a Crosstour as a fleet car, which I drove pretty often. It was not a bad car at all. Especially if it’s the 4wd version, great in snow.
The last used car I bought my wife was at a dealer a few hours away, so I negotiated a price and committed to buy it before I saw it in person. It was certified pre-owned, so I felt pretty good about it. And I had the dealer send me a bunch of pictures that weren’t on the online ad. They were more than happy to oblige.
Compromising on colors, yeah who cares. It almost never works out where I get the color I want. I’d be a little more picky on the options. For example, be a stickler on the 4 wheel drive if that’s what you want.
I would never buy a car I hadn’t at least taken for a test drive. The last time I shopped for a car, one had an uncomfortable seat, I couldn’t see over the dashboards of two others, and one just didn’t “feel” right to me.
And if you’re buying a used car a thousand miles away, who’s going to check it out mechanically for you?
It’s not so much the exterior, but the interior. In the summer, I hate sitting down on a black car seat that’s been baking in the sun for hours. Crosstours had either a black or tan interior, but the black seem to be a healthy majority.
Who’s going to check it out mechanically if I buy a local car. There isn’t a Honda mechanic around that I know and trust. If I’m buying from a dealer, will they let me take the car to another shop to get checked out, and how tough will it be to schedule all that?
The plastic plate on the bottom of the engine --is that what you said was falling off? That’s more of a gravel guard. You can get away with that for a long time.
If you get the car locally, it will be much easier to deal with any issues. A dealer is likely to be a lot more interested in making it right when you’re standing on the sales floor as opposed to being on the phone thousands of miles away. Even if the OK dealer wants to do the right thing, he may want you to bring it back to him.
What kind of seller has the car now? Is it a dealer, small lot, or individual? And how much warranty is left? If it’s a major dealer and still has warranty, that would mitigate a lot of the risk. You’d still want to do a carfax and insurance check of the VIN to make sure you know the history of the car.
I’ve been using the same independent mechanic for almost 20 years no matter what make of car I happened to drive at the time. I’ve had no problem asking him to check out the used cars my kids have considered buying over the years. Several of those cars came from dealers, and none of them ever objected to my request to have a mechanic look them over.