Sometimes on autotrader I’ll see a car for 50% below blue book and I don’t know why they are so cheap. What all catches are there as to why these cars would be so cheap?
Some are salvage titles, some have been in accidents so that explains most of them. But what else is there to explain the low costs? Would the car have a lien on it and if someone bought it, would they be responsible for the lien? Will all liens show up on a VIN check or is it possible that if you find a good deal on a car you’ll inherit 10k in loans as well as the car and that is why its so cheap?
What else could be wrong with a car that cheap to make someone sell it so cheaply if it is mechanically fine and the VIN doesn’t show liens or a salvage title?
By ‘low cost’ I merely mean a car that is selling for way less than it should be selling compared to other cars of similiar make and year (ie a car selling for 10k when all the other cars of the same year/make are going for 18k or so). Not a 1989 hyundai or anything.
Here in the hail belt, a low price can mean either unrepaired hail dents or a repaired car that cost less to fix than the dealer’s insurance company allowed.
If you keep your cars until they fall apart (and thus resale value is meaningless), hail cars are a good deal so long as windshield and rear window frames are unaffected.
If you’re finding cars that are 50% off the Kelly Blue Book listing for private party sale, factoring in their options and condition (did you?), then there’s a big reason the seller is not mentioning. If the car doesn’t have something wrong with it, even the used car lot down the street would give him more than that in cash in an hour.
I can’t imagine that you’re liable for someone else’s lien. HOWEVER, I can picture the situation of someone trying to get some money out of a car instead of having it repossessed. So then the question becomes, what would happen if the lender discovered you had bought their collateral for cash, and the borrower had disappeared with the money owed them? Could they repossess the car from you? It’s just the sort of question I would make sure of before buying something so cheaply. My few minutes of Google searching has not produced an answer.
My stock answer is to be suspicious of almost everybody. I’ve been around too many people who could win awards for their acting but were just crooks.