It’s like going for a routine physical and getting hit by a falling piano as you walk out of the doctir’s office. Things happen.
Read more

Heavy-handed sales tactics, add-ons, bad financing and professional sellers versus amateurs. For starters . . . .
Read more

I still can’t believe how often people fall for this. The dealer is trying to be so cheap that if you don’t buy it, they won’t fix it and will sell it to someone else unfixed. They don’t care that they are selling a defective car in the first place.
Read more

If is is stone, yes.
Read more

I agree. But what I worry about most is the stuff they are hiding from you. If THEY don’t know about it, then you should be able to find it as easily as anyone else. Read more

Just so long as you realize that CFax misses all kinds of stuff. I’d use it to rule out cars but not to prove any one car was OK to buy.
Read more

Is the family name the same? That would help. If not, at least you can explain it. I have heard from a lot of people who bought cars from someone who couldn’t even come up with a lame description of the relative they claimed to represent.
Read more

Why agree to buy a defective car? If they can fix it AFTER you buy it they should be able to fix it BEFORE. You have no leverage with them after. I hear this one all the time. Car was messed up before. They bought it, dealer did lousy repair and it’s still messed up. Read more

We Owe and Due Bills are the same thing. The problem is how “enforceable” they are when they are over a small value and a dispute arises. Read more

The dealer? Why would you trust their inspection? They don’t have the same incentive to find problems with the car that you do (and they are incentivized to not do a full inspection).
Read more

I hear about the second one surprisingly often. “They said they’d fix it it I bought it.”
Read more

#1 thing I tell people who don’t believe in inspections. Climb under the car and look for leaks. NOTHING should ever be leaking on a car. NOTHING (but be sure to tell them what AC condensation is - a drip - and why THAT and only THAT is OK).
Read more

No, I am talking more about dealers who promise to “fix” something after the sale. They often don’t or they argue about it. What leverage do you have then? Would you really sue someone to do a repair on a used car?
Read more

Wow. Read more

Not necessarily. There MAY be something to be said for how long the dealer has been in business at that location and how good its reputation is. But I know of some “brand name” dealers I wouldn’t trust to take out my garbage.
Read more

You don’t “pull the engine apart.” You find a mechanic who will do an inspection. If the shop is nearby, most dealers would allow you to take it over. Or, bring the mechanic to the used car lot. And if you don’t have a mechanic, find someone who knows cars. I have five older brothers who inspected my used cars when I… Read more

No, that won’t help you when buying a used car.
Read more

You mean to have the place selling you the car also do the inspection?
Read more

Step -1: Never give a car a name most Americans can’t pronounce.
Read more

Both. Often, these guys are from lots that look sleazy and they park and sell the car from a nice neighborhood.
Read more