Pantone287
Legend
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2012
- Messages
- 13,489
My only advice is to find a mechanic that seems trustworthy, find a car being sold directly by the owner (craigslist, etc.), and figure out a way to take it to the mechanic to check everything before committing to buy.
So many benefits to doing this - it makes direct buying just as safe (or safer) than Carmax without the 25% markup, and if there are things that need to be fixed, it gives you a lot of leverage to negotiate. That's what I did when buying my last car and essentially upgraded from Camry to Lexus of the same year without paying extra. Which may not have been the smartest use of my extra budget, as I now have a 12 year-old luxury car, but the point remains.
So many benefits to doing this - it makes direct buying just as safe (or safer) than Carmax without the 25% markup, and if there are things that need to be fixed, it gives you a lot of leverage to negotiate. That's what I did when buying my last car and essentially upgraded from Camry to Lexus of the same year without paying extra. Which may not have been the smartest use of my extra budget, as I now have a 12 year-old luxury car, but the point remains.