Buy a used car that owner kept for only 5 months?

[Phishin]

For a recent price reference on a used Accord, I just bought a 2010 Accord with 34k miles on the clock. It was CPO from a Honda dealer.

Mine is just the LX. So, as basic as it comes. Steelies and hubcaps included. I paid $14,200 for mine before taxes. I ended up buying an extended 120k-7year All-Inclusive Honda Care warranty for another $700.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: Mykl
If anything my ideal situation is to find a clean, well kept Accord or Camry with around 100k miles for $7k to $8k and pocket the extra money.
This makes perfect sense. If you want to save money, go that way; otherwise get a new car. Paying 14K for used does not make much sense when you can buy new
(different) cars starting at 15K.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Originally Posted By: Mykl
If anything my ideal situation is to find a clean, well kept Accord or Camry with around 100k miles for $7k to $8k and pocket the extra money.
This makes perfect sense. If you want to save money, go that way; otherwise get a new car. Paying 14K for used does not make much sense when you can buy new
(different) cars starting at 15K.


Given the space and comfort requirements it's unlikely that we'll find a sedan for $15k. However, if you know of a specific dealer anywhere in the country selling sedans for that cheap I'll happily travel.

We just test drove another 2010 Camry LE for quick contrast to the Accord. We both walked away with the same impression.... the Camry is more comfortable, but the Accord was more fun to drive. I also noted that, although it may be due to how well the Accord we looked at was cared for, but we both felt that overall the car seemed to be screwed together better and with nicer materials (interior fit and finish).

For $12k, we'll buy that Accord if it's available. If not, a new Camry/Altima/Fusion for $18k does seem to make more sense than any similar used car for over $12k.

 

[Mykl]

I'm stunned.... I just found a brand new Altima S for $16,500 just down the street.... I had no idea they were so desperate to move these cars that they were so cheap.

I guess that particular dealership will be our next stop.

*edit* the fine print states that you lose $2000 worth of that discount if you don't finance through them, and you must pay an additional $700 in fees. Still not a bad deal, and one that we will not sign unless the loan allows for an early pay-off with no penalty.

*edit* Autotrader was being misleading. That deal existed many states over. We still have to test drive.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Mykl
I'm stunned.... I just found a brand new Altima S for $16,500 just down the street....

The CVT trans on the new Altimas leaves a lot to be desired, IMO. Make sure you do some extended test driving to confirm you can live with it.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Mykl
I'm stunned.... I just found a brand new Altima S for $16,500 just down the street....

The CVT trans on the new Altimas leaves a lot to be desired, IMO. Make sure you do some extended test driving to confirm you can live with it.


Yeah, I am immediately skeptical because my experiences with CVTs in the past hasn't been exceptionally positive. But I'll keep an open mind and take one for a spin so we can see how we feel about the car. If we don't like it, it's not really an option.

 

[Jeffs2006EvoIX]

KBB is great for Private purchases, but off subject, Dealers dont use KBB. They use Blackbook for their cars. At least for the prices they give you on trade, then go around and use KBB for the car your trying to buy.

Blackbook is Wholesale, or Auction Prices, which is what dealers try to give you on trade, while KBB is an average selling or buying point. KBB usually is several thousand higher than Blackbook. That is why Dealers use Blackbook on your trade, and turn around and sell your car for KBB. Its a scam.

The route your taking is best. Buy from a private person. There are risks though, and I stand by my above post about what to do. I think you would be safe that way.

Dealers are scandals. Boy I hate buying cars.

Good Luck on this one.

Jeff

 

[SatinSilver]

I think I'd get a certified Camry with low miles. Our family has bought our last 7 cars from this dealer. Example, 2011 Camry LE 4 cyl with 10k miles listed for $16k that you could probably get for $14k plus tax, title, plates etc. They have a few others similiar to this one except color but miles are low as well.

http://www.metrotoyota.com/certified/Toy...700f542537e.htm

I agree with you 100% about your statements regarding the differences between the Camry and Accord. Hard to go wrong with either. I just don't like the Honda dealers around here.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: Jeffs2006EvoIX
KBB is great for Private purchases, but off subject, Dealers dont use KBB. They use Blackbook for their cars. At least for the prices they give you on trade, then go around and use KBB for the car your trying to buy.

Blackbook is Wholesale, or Auction Prices, which is what dealers try to give you on trade, while KBB is an average selling or buying point. KBB usually is several thousand higher than Blackbook. That is why Dealers use Blackbook on your trade, and turn around and sell your car for KBB. Its a scam.

The route your taking is best. Buy from a private person. There are risks though, and I stand by my above post about what to do. I think you would be safe that way.

Dealers are scandals. Boy I hate buying cars.

Good Luck on this one.

Jeff


Yeah man, aside from the Fusion which we didn't like, every dealer car that we've driven had something "off" about it. Maybe it's just our luck.... we aren't even shopping at small used car lots, all the used cars we've test driven have been at very large name brand dealerships.

The best car we've looked at, by far, was the Accord we checked out today. It was also seemingly the most fair price compared to the noticeably flawed used Camrys we've driven that cost even more.

Originally Posted By: satinsilver
I think I'd get a certified Camry with low miles. Our family has bought our last 7 cars from this dealer. Example, 2011 Camry LE 4 cyl with 10k miles listed for $16k that you could probably get for $14k plus tax, title, plates etc. They have a few others similiar to this one except color but miles are low as well.

http://www.metrotoyota.com/certified/Toy...700f542537e.htm


The Camry we just drove is supposed to end up being a CPO car, which may be fine, but immediately it needs all the wheels to be re-balanced along with a four wheel alignment. Then there are some of the visible flaws on the exterior of the car, some of which I understand (it is a used car, after all), but a three year old car with 50k miles shouldn't have too many dings or scratches if somebody was looking after it.

If we see the right one for the right price, we'll buy it, but if we decide against going the brand new route I'll probably just keep my eyes open for a good, clean car from a private owner.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

When I bought my Sonata (back in '07) there was a short list of choices available. Had to be a stick shift, fit 4 comfortably, have stability control and ABS. Only way to get the Honda was top of line version for about 26k. Camry was 19k. Sonata was 14.4k It now has 115k on it with no major issues. Driving cars back to back there was not much difference between Camry and Sonata. People complained about resale value being poor. When you spend 5-6k less to start I think that would be kind of obvious.

One dealer was selling a "used" one with 4k on it for 12k BUT it would sacrifice the warranty 10/100 vs. 5/60. Dealer wanted to sell me an extended warranty for $1500. I said wrong direction as it just made buying new that much more clear.

Check some leftover stock if still around on a Kia Optima or Hyundai Sonata. I personally like the 11-14 Optima style much more than the same years Sonata. Value for dollar was very good.

My '07 has more head room in back seat than the sloped style new ones. Car still is great smooth and quiet on highway everyday.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Mykl
I'm stunned.... I just found a brand new Altima S for $16,500 just down the street....

The CVT trans on the new Altimas leaves a lot to be desired, IMO. Make sure you do some extended test driving to confirm you can live with it.

My mother has a 2010 Altima with the CVT, and I think it's an awesome transmission. Of course, her's is the V6, so that probably helped tremendously.

I still think the CVT criticism is unfounded, especially in the age of 6-spd autos that "hunt" way too much.

 

[Mykl]

Test drove a new Altima 2.5 S....

It needs to be said up front, this is not a "driver's" car. The steering, while accurate, is overboosted and completely numb. Grip seemed adequate and the car didn't feel like it was bothered when you asked it to change directions, but there was no entertainment to be had by throwing the car around... not like the Accord we drove earlier today, anyway.

With that said, I was a little surprised at just how nice the car was overall. I'm stunned that for the same price as a Honda Civic you can get this much more car which almost matches it for fuel economy and just how much nicer overall the car is compared to the late model Camrys we've been testing.

My wife commented that it had the most comfortable seats she's ever sat in, and I agree that they are quite comfortable. The interior is handsome, materials are acceptable, and it comes well equipped in base trim.

The ride was smooth, comfortable, and quiet. We could see the bumps in the road, but the chassis ate them up very effectively.

In light of the fact that this car was never intended to be driven like a sports car, I felt that the transmission did a perfectly acceptable job. Bearing in mind that I haven't driven any of this car's modern competitors, I feel like this transmission did a better job of properly selecting the necessary ratio to deliver the desired amount of thrust quickly than the auto boxes in any of the other cars we've tested recently.

Would I want this gearbox in a sports car? Absolutely not. But it feels well suited to the task of moving a comfort oriented sedan down the highway.

So here's where I'm at....

If the other guy doesn't buy the Accord, it's highly likely that we'll go that route because it appears to be a solid used car for the right price that will give us many years of good service. It was pretty fun to drive and had all the equipment we're looking for.

A late model Camry is almost completely out of the equation. The new Altima really does feel better in so many ways that I'm willing to spend the extra money.

I have still yet to test drive the new Camry or the new Fusion. Based on everything I've read it sounds like I probably won't like the new Camry, and I'm not really sure what I'll think of the Fusion.

Unfortunately the Altima, Camry, and Fusion seem to be my only three options for a brand new sedan in that segment for under $19,000. Thankfully at least the Altima appears to be a really good option to have.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
My mother has a 2010 Altima with the CVT, and I think it's an awesome transmission. Of course, her's is the V6, so that probably helped tremendously.

I still think the CVT criticism is unfounded, especially in the age of 6-spd autos that "hunt" way too much.

Yes, my comment was regarding the 4-cyl version. It's been discussed here numerous times. The CVT keeps the revs really low, and the whole car falls into some resonance when you try to accelerate, as if the engine was lugging. I'm sure it's not a problem on the V6 as it's much smoother at lower rpms.

This is based on my experience with a rental 2013 Altima. Maybe there was something wrong with it, but a number of other BITOGers posted similar experiences.

 

[Mykl]

If I can rent an Altima it might be worthwhile to pick one up for a day and drive it around, just to get a better feel for it.

 

[Mykl]

Also, while I didn't specifically look for it because I didn't realize I should have, I never really got the feeling that the engine was lugging under load. It always seemed to be willing to bring the RPMs up to an appropriate point.

But as I search for more information it sounds like the issue appears only under very light acceleration. I wasn't driving like a lead-foot, but I don't know if I was specifically giving it a light touch to see how it would respond. That, or maybe the 2014s were programmed in a way that resolved the issue.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Mykl
That, or maybe the 2014s were programmed in a way that resolved the issue.

Very possible. After all, it felt like something that could have easily been fixed with updated programming. I'm guessing Nissan was shooting for max fuel economy, and so they programmed it accordingly.

 

[CBR.worm]

The new Altima's are pretty nice, I rent them regularly. I prefer them over many of the other rental cars.

We have bought a couple cars in the past that were owned by short term owners.

The first was an '00 Maxima that the second owner had it for less than 6 months when we bought it in '02. We put 105k good miles on it before selling it to a relative who totaled it within a year.

We also bought an SUV at one point that had 3 previous owners and less than 40k on the odo. It appeared to be in perfect shape, we put another 70k on it with no issues. We were worried, but over time we quit worrying about it - we assumed that people didn't like paying for gas for the V8 and it had probably always been a 3rd car.

Normally we buy new, but in these two risky cases it worked out well.

 

[Mykl]

So the wife and I, when we sat down for dinner and compared notes, had a refocusing of priorities...

The first thing I learned is that she found the Accord to be painful to ride in, and in the moment told me she was okay with it because I liked the car. The Accord is off the list. I informed the owner quickly and all is okay; I'll probably still get invited to a poker game.

The second thing is.... as nice as we felt the Altima to be, it is ultimately incompatible with our financial goals.

A viewpoint presented here that I do now agree with after testing a new car is that it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy what is an inferior machine for about $5k less than a brand new one. So we've decided to search for older vehicles that will meet our basic need for simple transportation that I can just write a check for.

I found a 2003 Camry that appears to be in excellent condition for about $6000. We'll have a look at it tomorrow and if looks/drives as good in person as it looks in pictures, we can take that route.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Mykl
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Originally Posted By: Mykl
If anything my ideal situation is to find a clean, well kept Accord or Camry with around 100k miles for $7k to $8k and pocket the extra money.
This makes perfect sense. If you want to save money, go that way; otherwise get a new car. Paying 14K for used does not make much sense when you can buy new
(different) cars starting at 15K.


Given the space and comfort requirements it's unlikely that we'll find a sedan for $15k. However, if you know of a specific dealer anywhere in the country selling sedans for that cheap I'll happily travel.


Central Auto Group (Norwood, MA) was advertising Chrysler 200 Limiteds (loaded with leather, power everything, and Pentastar V6) for $16K new a few weeks ago.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

Central Auto Group (Norwood, MA) was advertising Chrysler 200 Limiteds (loaded with leather, power everything, and Pentastar V6) for $16K new a few weeks ago.


I completely forgot about those. I hear the Pentastar V-6 is a gem.