Thread: Car buying tips

Originally Posted by Rad

1. Don't go in waiving around your money. They will steer you into a more expensive car because they don't care about cash they want you to finance it.

2. Most places have specials with 0% financing. Take advantage of this.

3. All cars are not the same anymore, this is completely false. Not only are the parts different, but where they are manufactured plays a role as well. In my opinion, the Nissan is your best bet for reliability out of the cars you posted.

4. Good tip on the mileage - make sure the maintenance has been done or you'll be handing over some extra money for the timing belt, water pump, etc. 100,000 miles is a milestone for a lot of these more costly maintenance items. When you inspect the car, look for any obvious signs of oil leaking around the block and underneath. A lot of people get rid of their cars when this starts to happen.

5. Dents and dings are normal for some used cars, just keep them minimal. You really want to check for rust (look under the car).

6. Check carfax report.

7. Always get the internet pricing. It is typically the lowest price most places will offer. If they label you as an internet shopper you have a better chance of not being scammed.

8. There is a calculator to determine the delivery charges and other costs that can be negotiated away for each car. Make a firm offer at around this discounted price and be prepared to literally walk away. You can always come back another day and buy it for the price they want, but if you walk away they may lose the sale. Trust me.

9. Never pay for GAP insurance or any of the bogus extras they try to sell you at the signing.

10. If you want to speed up the process, bring your own financing from your bank of choice. Sometimes their financing department will screw you over on %.

11. You can finance the car 100% and then make your payment to the bank later. Bringing in the cash just doesn't help you at all with most places unless it's a mom & pop place or a for sale by owner situation that actually wants your cash for tax purposes.


You can shop around online easily at cars.com and look at used inventory. I like to use this as a benchmark.

Whatever you decide ignore the advice he gave on #'s 3 and 9. As an expert mechanic i can assure you cars are the same and gap insurance is a good idea on any vehicle being financed. Have one get totaled without it and you will see how important that gap insurance is when you get the bill for the balance of the loan.

Originally Posted by Rad

You have a good point. If you end up buying a car for 15k instead of the max 8k you mentioned then you might consider this. I personally do not buy this, but I have to admit that if I totaled a car I would be able to pay the difference without an issue. For a lot of people I understand the financial burden that this would present. I bought GAP insurance on a car many years ago, along with an extended warranty and couldn't help but feel scammed after I left for paying extra money. Use your own judgment here. There are other charges they will try to add on at the end that are truly a scam. GAP insurance is debatable. For some people it's good. Fair enough.

However... I think we could have a pretty lengthy debate on this "all cars are the same" comment. I don't want to threadjack.

I am not a certified mechanic, but I have spent the past four years building a hobby race car (engine swap/rebuild, electrical, fuel, brakes, suspension, aero, etc). I've seen a lot of differences in not just OEM but also in the aftermarket parts. The quality of everything from interior plastics to electronics, engine tolerances, etc.. There is definitely a difference from manufacturer to manufacturer. A simple personal example is that our Jetta has had problems with water pump, temp sensor, thermostat, radiator fans, brake switch, sunroof leaking, stereo speakers shorting out, internal plastic trim pieces breaking randomly, and bad coil packs in the 4 years we've had it.

The 3 Nissans I've owned (88 Maxima, 96 240sx, 10 370z) have never had any problems like this. If you look up the parts manufacturers, you'll see there are different brands and they are not simply re-badged. They have readily apparent quality differences.

Maybe you're talking about something else? I'm genuinely curious to understand what you're talking about.

I would love to have that debate. You gave me a bit of your experience so i can give you some of mine. I was an ase certified mechanic many years ago. I've built about a dozen race cars. I've owned and i have to think about this one 15 fbodies, a chevelle, 2 f150's, a datsun 200sx that i put a sc 460 in, 1 escort, 1 nissan pulsar nx/se with a tranny that should not have been out of japan, 1 lx, 1 mustang, 1 lebaron, 1 cutlass supreme brougham, 1 ford elite, 1 g20 van, 2 motorcycles, 1 boat and no one touches my vehicles but me. Now if you want a list of the vehicles i have done anything from spugs to engines swaps to mods it will be faster for me if you just got get a kelly blue book and read it.

We'll put my experience this way. I built my first engine over 25 years ago and there are mechanic shops in the area that call me when certain things show up for repairs. One of those shops is still using an engine i built in high school for their wrecker 22 years ago. But by all means lets discuss the difference between automotive manufactors. Also what your talking about is aftermarket parts which do have different qualities. As an example you can get 4 levels of quality for brake pads at any autoparts store but not one will compair to the pads that came with the vehicle. The only way you get that is to go to the dealer or napa in some cases and buy them.

The reason they have different part numbers is because the casting can be different but the internals are the same. Meaning the bolt holes dont always line up from one to the other but tear it apart and you will find its all the same shit.

Originally Posted by DJ Mr. White

Do not buy a Saturn Ion...trust me on that one.

LOL

It depends on what you want to do. If building your credit is one of them then financing is the way to go. Doesn't hurt to give them a decent chuck of money down and all it does is lower your payments. The timing belt issue is if the vehicle is near 90k or over ask if its been changed. If it has not been give them the option to do the work or take money off the vehicle so it can be done.

Remember buying a car is like playing poker. Never show your hand until its over. Your new at this and the salesmen wont be. He knows the game very well. Negotiate the price down then telll him what you will give him as a down payment or cash payment.

death you are an expert mechanic and charge people $1200 for a water pump and timing belt? (or would pay that?)

just wow.

and speaking of timing belt, they arent always at 90k. some are recommended at 60-70k depending on your driving conditions. or it might have a timing chain which isnt replaced at all.

personally I would spent 5000-6000 max for the used car and save the rest for repairs, new tires down the line, etc. etc.

as death wrote, a well maintained car can last 200k+ miles easy if you maintain it well, and aren't afraid of paying maintenence costs.

people get paranoid about paying repair for "older" cars. well guess what, that 120k, 135k, 150k service cost the example same as a 30k, 45k, 50k service. The only thing you are paying more for is stuff that wouldnt break on a brand new car, like alternators, cv boots, suspension etc. But you make up those costs by having cheap license tax, cheaper insurance, and zero interest and payments.