this car buying thing is driving me insane!!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I have been looking for a used car for the past two months. I know exactly what I want.
Budget: $5k

Honda civic (1994+) or Toyota corlla (1994+) or a Geo Prizm (1995+)
Must have power windows, locks, steering.
4 speed Auto Transmission
less than 100K mileage
wouldnt mind two door cuz its cheaper
(obvious things like no body damage apply)

I have been looking at the Sun and the Washington Post for the past two months and would you believe I have seen just two cars that fit the above?

The first car I saw was a Civic 94 LX loaded. When I looked for insurance, the fact that I had to pay $200/mo shocked me for a day (i have had my license for four months only); the next day I found the car was sold.

The second was a 94 Prizm Lsi loaded; but since it was from a dealer I was going to pay MUCH more than what it was worth.

How much longer do I have to wait??!!! I have asking my friends to drive me around in their spare time; I have to make sure the seller is also free in that time. Then I have to pray that both guys are on time. Then I find out that all LX or LSI models dont necessarily have power windows!!! Or the dumb woman who claimed that her 96 Corolla had 4 sp auto was only guessing (it had 3 spd)!! ARGGH!!!

MADNESS!!! Absolute luncay!!!

So, how much lionger do you guys think its going to take me to find the car of my dreams?

2

You said you had a 96 corolla, 70K, AT, AC, stereo, green, pw pl for sale at $6000. I asked specifically “Does it have power window and locks?” and you said “Yes, it is has everything”.

Then why the fuck when we saw the car this morning did it have manual and not power windows?? It was a basic model, no wonder you were selling it for just 6K. I dont care if its your brother’s car or not; when I asked a Q you give me the truth; tell me “you have NEVER driven the fucking car before in your life!! You DONT know” Asshole!! Because of your pathetic attmept at smooth sales talk, I had to disturb a good friend of mine to drive me around on sunday morning to look at that piece of shit. For god’s sake, clean your car before you show it around; atleast get the bird droppings of the windshields!! Sonofaitch!! I SO wanted to catch you by your beard, set it on fire and watch you dance around screaming for help…

<Expletives I deleted since this is MPSIMS>

3

Short drive!

4

I think what you meant to say is, “this car buying thing is making me have to bum rides to insane from my friends!!”

5

Have you tried AutoTrader.com? I entered a search in the Baltimore area for just the Honda specifications, and came up with 8 listing, 2 with less than 100,000 miles.

6

DEFINITELY try Autotrader.com. We put our Honda up for sale using the newspaper and got few good leads. So we decided to screw the paper, and used Autotrader.com instead. That’s how we eventually sold the car, and we got tons of good leads from there too. I remember hearing this same advice from several people, who said don’t bother listing it in the paper.

As a car seller I would avoid the paper, so as a car buyer I’ll bet you’re not seeing all of what’s out there. You can also try stoneage.com, but since that site costs $$ for listings you may not find as much there.

7

This coming from a Car Salesman, yeah, yeah don’t hate on me for it.

Anyway, the fact that you have a price range is a good thing, the fact that your trying to narrow it down to one or two car models is a bad thing.

What you should do is just read the classifieds until you find something that fits your price range, your needs, and that you’ll be happy with, and that is the most important thing.

You will be driving this car for a couple years at least, so make sure it is something you like, not just something you can afford.

If you do go to a dealer, take the car to another shop and let them check it over, have them put it up on the rack, let them check for possible wrecks, anything and everything.
This might cost you a little now, but could possible save you hundreds later on, not to mention the head aches of not having a car because it’s in the shop.

And generally speaking if a dealership is selling a vehicle for 5grand that generally means they only have 3 to 3 1/2 grand actually in it. And don’t let them tell you thats all they can take off the price of the car. Assume everything they tell you is bullshit. Trust me on this I used to use the same lines they will tell you.

ex.
Sell price 5grand. Lot gets 500.00, and the salesman get’s usually about 25% of what is left over, the remaining 75% is the dealerships. They will always amy to make at least 1500.00 to 1000.00 off a deal.

Although they won’t cut their profit off completely, they’d just assume to wait for some sucker to come by and pay full price, than give it away to you, so you kinda have to judge where that middle ground is and come as close to it as possible.

Sometimes with this price range the best method to getting a deal is a blind guess, before the salesman tells you the sells price, just throw out a number. If it sells for 5 grand, tell him you’ll buy it for 3000.00. Of coarse this is the part where he looks at you like you’ve been smoking to much crack. Because he realizes that he is going to make much off this deal he will either try to lead you to another car (don’t think he is being nice a trying to give you a deal) or tell you that they have to much in the car to sell it for that price. ::cough:: bullshit ::cough::

Then he will start a counter offer, or try to call a bluff where he hopes you’ll just buy the car at whatever price he told you.

Just be smart and don’t think for a second that he is your friend.

When I started a car sells, the manager/trainer told me to think this.
Guy walks on lot with your money, in his pocket, you just have to figure out how to get it back into your pocket.
or something like that

8

Plus I know most people know/have used Kelly’s Blue Book before, but most don’t know there is a black book dealerships use, the don’t/won’t let the customer see this.
Instead of retail prices like the blue book, this one shows avg. wholesale/auction prices expected for the year. Ask if you can see this book, they probably won’t let you especially if your half way through the deal, because they may have taken the car in on trade for more than it was worth just to make the deal with the customer who traded it in.

9

Plus something else which would be a good idea is to ask them if you can drive the vehicle for a day or two, most dealerships will do this, if you tell them your going to have your mechanic take a look at it.

This is considered to be a good sign of a sell, of coarse your under no obligation to buy either.

Plus there is a 3-day period where you can return the vehicle to the dealership if you want, or if you get a bad feeling for some reason.

Uh… one more thing if you post the year and make of the vehicle or have any questions just post them on here and if I can help or give any suggestions I will.

10

But my company (Carfax.com) has a “find a car” feature (absolutely free) that allows you to search dealership inventories (clean titled vehicles only) in your area/zip code by make, model and year. Maybe that could help you out too.

11

I bought one finally!! After more than four months of sheer frustration, I found a car that I liked.

A 94 Corolla DX, 70K miles, P[WL], $5500, 4sp AT Tx, new tires; from a dealer all the way in Va!! Just drove it all the way to NY, watched Bjork in action and drove back; (shes soo smallll!!! but thats another thread). No major problems; brakes squeal occasionally, cant lock with keys, etc etc. nothing major. Somehow the car reminds me of the hand in the addams family; faithful but with no face; I thus have christened it “The Thing”.
Nicklz: Thanks for the advice on bargaining, I know what you said is true (about salesmen wanting to fleece you) I should have to tried to get the price around $4500, but its just not in me to bargain; it emotionally drains me.