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Used car for under $11k - tricks to the trade? (1 Viewer)

A

Apple Jack

Footballguy
I have $11k cash to pay for a used car. I need a bit of space and 60K miles is as high as I'll go. I actually want $10k to be the limit, but I'm leaving myself a little wiggle room if I see a perfect fit. Any thoughts from those of you who have done this recently? Ideally, I'd get something like a 2010 Sonota, but it appears at first glance that I'm a bit priced out of that.

 
Good luck. I recently bought a used car and had $10,000 to spend. I finally settled on an '06 Sentra with only 60k miles. My recent experience is that used car prices are currently crazy unless you are willing to buy something with a boat load of miles or a salvaged title.

 
Supply and Demand.

Times are tight and EVERYONE is looking for a "good low mileage car for $10k or so"

Everyone.

 
[icon] said:
Supply and Demand.

Times are tight and EVERYONE is looking for a "good low mileage car for $10k or so"

Everyone.
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Which is why I'm trying to pick people's brains on a message board rather than just going out and getting a car.

As for these auctions...don't you need to have some kind of membership or affiliation with somebody or something to attend those?

 
I had pretty good luck with craigslist a couple of years ago when I bought my car. You get individuals selling but also all the dealers will list stuff too.

 
Given your budget, you are likely going to have to adjust your mileage consideration. Most quality automobiles these days are built to go far beyond the mileage of cars in the past. To stay within your budget, I'd consider certified used cars with 100,000 miles. If they were maintained well by the previous owner(s), then you should expect to get another 50k out of most. If you drive an average of 12-15k miles a year, you are looking at about 4 years of useful life left. Not bad for a $10k initial cash outlay. (+/- $200/mo).

 
Instead of burning the $10k, why not use a couple thousand and get something new with low payments until you save up some more and then pay it all off?

Don't get me wrong, I do similar and I got lucky when I found my Honda a couple years ago, 5 years old, 70k miles, V6 coupe for just under $10k but I had to look for several months and bought it from a slightly shady dealer, not a big name lot. Just went over 100k miles on it.

I really don't trust Hyundai in the used market but that's me.

You could find a nice Honda for about $15,000 used with lower miles, put 2,000 down, pay around $300 a month, keep using the money you were setting aside for the purchase, save up a few more months and then just pay it off. I understand it is more than you want to pay but in the long run you will get your money back out of it. Maybe in 2-3 years you trade that in, get $10,000 for that vehicle, get yourself a newer car. I'm just offering up another solution but I would not settle on a used car if it isn't what you want. It could cost you even more in the long run and I have had too much success with Hondas for anyone to tell me otherwise. Put gas in, change oil on time, change tires, do the maintenance as it is suggested, never an issue.

I also live in South Florida and while it is hot as the dickens down here, not exactly the horrendous weather you run into up North.

 
A big thank you to Obama and his "Cash for Clunkers" program that decimated the used car inventory and drove prices ridiculously high.

:thumbup:

 
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At least with Carmax you can do all your browsing online without an annoying salesmen up in your personal space. That's worth a grand right there.

 
Search craigslist for cars up to $2000-$3000 over what you want to spend. Use search terms like "sell fast" and "desperate". People are likely selling private to get more $$ than a dealer, so offering just above what a dealer is offering could get the job done. Especially if you have cash or a check in hand or readily available. People on CL don't want to show their car a million times and will budge. I bought a car about $6000 below KBB private party value last year on CL by finding a desperate seller.

 
This.

Can't stress enough to do your homework with this. (CarFax/have inspected)

TheWalkmen said:
Search craigslist for cars up to $2000-$3000 over what you want to spend. Use search terms like "sell fast" and "desperate". People are likely selling private to get more $$ than a dealer, so offering just above what a dealer is offering could get the job done. Especially if you have cash or a check in hand or readily available. People on CL don't want to show their car a million times and will budge. I bought a car about $6000 below KBB private party value last year on CL by finding a desperate seller.
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TheWalkmen said:
Search craigslist for cars up to $2000-$3000 over what you want to spend. Use search terms like "sell fast" and "desperate". People are likely selling private to get more $$ than a dealer, so offering just above what a dealer is offering could get the job done. Especially if you have cash or a check in hand or readily available. People on CL don't want to show their car a million times and will budge. I bought a car about $6000 below KBB private party value last year on CL by finding a desperate seller.
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Autotrader as well.

Good post.

 
TheWalkmen said:
Search craigslist for cars up to $2000-$3000 over what you want to spend. Use search terms like "sell fast" and "desperate". People are likely selling private to get more $$ than a dealer, so offering just above what a dealer is offering could get the job done. Especially if you have cash or a check in hand or readily available. People on CL don't want to show their car a million times and will budge. I bought a car about $6000 below KBB private party value last year on CL by finding a desperate seller.
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That's the post I was looking for. Thank you.

 
Private seller and cars that are not associated with longevity like Honda or Toyota that are still decent cars.. Something like a Chevy Malibu.

 
TheWalkmen said:
Search craigslist for cars up to $2000-$3000 over what you want to spend. Use search terms like "sell fast" and "desperate". People are likely selling private to get more $$ than a dealer, so offering just above what a dealer is offering could get the job done. Especially if you have cash or a check in hand or readily available. People on CL don't want to show their car a million times and will budge. I bought a car about $6000 below KBB private party value last year on CL by finding a desperate seller.
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People seriously use "desperate" in their CL ad when selling something other than poon?
 
Craig_MiamiFL said:
This.

Can't stress enough to do your homework with this. (CarFax/have inspected)

TheWalkmen said:
Search craigslist for cars up to $2000-$3000 over what you want to spend. Use search terms like "sell fast" and "desperate". People are likely selling private to get more $$ than a dealer, so offering just above what a dealer is offering could get the job done. Especially if you have cash or a check in hand or readily available. People on CL don't want to show their car a million times and will budge. I bought a car about $6000 below KBB private party value last year on CL by finding a desperate seller.
Click to expand...
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By the way be careful with CarFax. I think it provides a false sense of security. Autocheck is another one that may provide additional information.I traded in a vehicle that was in three accidents. When I went to the dealerships site and looked at the CarFax after I traded it in, it only showed one. I believe that was because two were never reported to the police (one was a minor rear end accident and the other a car backed into mine).

I would definitely try to find an independent mechanic especially if the price looks too good to be true.

 
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Bull Dozier said:
Good luck. I recently bought a used car and had $10,000 to spend. I finally settled on an '06 Sentra with only 60k miles. My recent experience is that used car prices are currently crazy unless you are willing to buy something with a boat load of miles or a salvaged title.
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They have been crazy for a while now.
 
About as boring as it gets, but it if you want something roomy and reliable and inexpensive, get an off-lease (2010ish) Chevy Impala.

 
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I got a 2010 Focus w/ 50k for $10k a few years ago off of Craigslist. Took a few weeks of looking through the trash.

 
culdeus said:
Mr.Pack said:
Mr.Pack said:
A big thank you to Obama and his "Cash for Clunkers" program that decimated the used car inventory and drove prices ridiculously high.

:thumbup:
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culdeus said:
When did cars get so damn expensive?
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That was like 4 years ago.
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Doesn't matter, the used car prices and inventories are still feeling the effects of it today. See used car prices.

Cars are lasting longer than ever nowadays, nothing to replace the lost cars to the clunker program.

 
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STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
Apple Jack said:
Carmax is a ripoff. I'm looking for good value, not a fleecing.
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I've bought two cars from Carmax. Both times I felt like I fleeced them. Provided you're not disparate for a car and can be patient, there are deals to be had at Carmax.
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Just bought a car with 20k miles for 12k from them. I checked trade in prices before I did. I would have lost like 400.00 if I took it down the street and traded it the day I bought it. I don't feel like I got ripped off at all.

 
Get a grandpa owned 2004-2006 Mercury Grand Marquis for $6-8000. You'll look like a pimp, but you'll be comfortable.

 
Getting the miles under 60K for that price will be tough unless you want a car that isn't rated very highly. I'd consider bumping up the miles and trying to find something more reliable. Don't get set on a hard miles limit.

I recently bought a 2009 AWD Subaru Impreza Hatchback 72K miles for $9,800 and thought that was a great deal. It took a while to find what I wanted, my criteria was AWD under 10K that would fit in my garage(pretty much narrowed down to Impreza's). I used some online sites(Cars.com/carguru)that would send me daily alerts of cars available in my area.

 
I'm looking outside my area as well. I'll find something, I'm sure. I took a new Toyota pickup to 210K and a Honda Accord to 200K. I know reliable high mileage cars. Not really looking for high mileage now. Dealing with a four hour radius on the east coast, something will stick.

 
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