How trashed can a six year old car be?

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Work the detail shop at an auto auction and you will see what people can do to a 2-4 year old car.

- Broken meth pipe in a two year old Grand Caravan.
- Pile of Black & Mild ashes a solid 6" high in the center console of a Buick Rendezvous.
- 3 55 gallon cans worth of trash in a Kia Rio.
- Two year old Mitsubishi Galant with so much food in the seats and carpet they needed to be pressure washed.
- One year old Cobalt with so much unidentified grime on the seats and carpet it needed to be pressure washed.
- Cadillac Deville with empty codeine cough syrup bottles, completely trashed dashboard (botched heater core replacement?), and clothing associated with prostitution.
- Nissan Xterra with severe meth head damage...hard to describe, but basically like a bomb went off inside. Meth found inside as well.
- Concrete all over 4-5 year old pickups.
- F-150 with coal dust literally everywhere, totally impossible to clean.

One of my clients has that car. There was a football wedged under the center stack. when one of the installers removed the football the whole dash fell down. I'll see if I can post his video. She must have had TB or something because the floorboard was full of prescription cough medicine bottles. I'm sure that there was a pair of clear heels in there too. Lot's of clothing. I didn't examine it too closely.


The expression on your tech's face must have been PRICELESS!

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
This is why I don't buy used vehicles, most people are slobs and seem to have a contest to destroy them as rapidly as possible.



My truck is the first "mildly" used vehicle I've bought--I've done either brand new or very very used. I think if it's got a CPO rating then odds are it's decent.

It's the ones on the lot with 10kmiles or less that would have me worried the most. Almost priced like new but traded for a reason.


Last year I looked at used cars to buy for my sister in the $6k-$8k range because she doesn't have any money and I didn't feel like spending more than that. The last time I looked for a used car before that was about 10 years before that when I started driving and I remembered their being all kinds of good used vehicles at that price point.

Well its not 2002 anymore and anything at that price point has either spaceship mileage on it or is ragged out. A lot of vehicles in the paper or on Craigslist are also sold by flippers. I only found one car that had been owned by someone for more than a year and it was the car that I bought.

The vast majority are owned by people who just don't care. Which baffles my mind because for most people a car is the single most expensive thing they own other than maybe a house. So you think their would be at least a small amount of pride of ownership. Nope, none. Garbage everywhere. My favorite was a 2010 Versa and I foolishly figured that at two years old it would still be pretty decent. I mean how much can you trash a car in only two years? Well this car was worse than my work truck. Looked like they used at as a little league backstop, and let wild dogs chase small animals inside...the kicker? They wanted $10k for it! I told them if I wanted a project I'd pay them $2k because it needed thousands worth of body work and a new interior. They were not amused.

My conclusion is that the average person is a slob who has no pride of ownership.

Used trucks are even worse. Contractors trash trucks for sport, I lost count of the number of $50k late model trucks with crunched up beds that I see.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog


The car smelled like cannabis, red-bull, feces, and armpit.


That's an interesting blend. LOL

 

[KrisZ]

While there is no doubt that there are plenty of thrashed used cars around, there are still tons of nice, clean and well maintained cars available for sale. Problem is that it requires work and time, something that a lot of people are not willing to do. They rather go to the dealer and overpay for something with no maintenance history, but with nice sounding titles like CPO or extended warranty.

My rule of thumb, when buying used, is to avoid dealers at all cost and look for private sells. Majority of buyers do the opposite.
I talk to the buyer and ask questions about the car, work done to it, who did the work etc. and only talk price once I'm satisfied with the answers. Most buyers do the opposite and start off with the price.
I am willing to pay a bit more for a well kept car with maintenance history. Most buyers simply try to knock off the price no matter if the original asking price is fair or not.
If I make an offer I am ready to buy the car on the spot. Most people will still try to look for a better deal, try to get financing or come up with other nonsense to stall for time.

I do a lot of things against the grain and I am willing to put in the work necessary to get what I want. So when I hear all these stories about used cars and how it's much better to buy new, to me it's a sign that now is the time to research used car market because the "word" is out that used cars are not good deals and there will be plenty of people to skip used car market altogether and go straight for the new.

 

[supton]

If you've got the time to search, good for you. After driving an hour plus to look at something, a few times, I decided my time was worth more than that. I'm more in hattaresguy's camp, stuff below $10k tends to be clapped out in this area--lots of miles over salty roads, owners who did the barest required to keep on the road--which might be fine if it has less than 100kmiles on the clock, not so much past that point. There might be some econoboxes around $5k with less than 100k on them, I haven't looked much into those.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I go to one of the dealers trade in lots and look at how bad people trash the cars. A month later, that same car is back on the lot and it is IMMACULATE inside. I'm amazed at how good of a job they do cleaning up the cars!

When I got my Cherokee it WREAKED of cigarettes. Whoever had the Jeep before me must have smoked 5 cigarettes at a time, all day, every day in the Jeep.

I had to pull the dash apart and clean out the HVAC.

That's why you don't buy a vehicle when you have a cold.

 

[KitaCam]

My last 3 used (4 and 8-year old) cars were from dealers....all sticks that the dealers wanted to unload to a low-demand market here in South Florida...got good deals on VERY CLEAN CARS...

 

[hattaresguy]

CPO doesn't mean much either. I wouldn't touch a CPO car unless the dealer could print out a reasonable service history on it.

My attorney buys a new E350 every two years and than trades. He runs them 35k miles without so much as popping the hood, and the cars look immaculate because he is a neat freak.

Perfect CPO car! Everything is 100% factory two years and 35k some odd miles later!!!

 

[andrewg]

I could trash a car in five minutes....let alone 6 years. With the interior being a barometer of the 'care' the previous owner gave to the vehicle, I'd NEVER buy that vehicle.

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

Well its not 2002 anymore and anything at that price point has either spaceship mileage on it or is ragged out. A lot of vehicles in the paper or on Craigslist are also sold by flippers. I only found one car that had been owned by someone for more than a year and it was the car that I bought.


Funny you should say that. When my '94 Geo Prizm reached 230K my daughter was riding with me and I said we made it to the moon, let's head back, explaining that the moon was about 230K miles from earth give or take.

That indeed is spaceship mileage

I love the term.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
CPO doesn't mean much either. I wouldn't touch a CPO car unless the dealer could print out a reasonable service history on it.

My attorney buys a new E350 every two years and than trades. He runs them 35k miles without so much as popping the hood, and the cars look immaculate because he is a neat freak.

Perfect CPO car! Everything is 100% factory two years and 35k some odd miles later!!!


The reason for free maintenance on luxury marques is for CPO. If it has not been performed they auction off these cars in many CPO programs. Carfax hooks back into the dealer records for service and it is reviewed for CPO cars and typically handed out as part of sale.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
CPO doesn't mean much either. I wouldn't touch a CPO car unless the dealer could print out a reasonable service history on it.

My attorney buys a new E350 every two years and than trades. He runs them 35k miles without so much as popping the hood, and the cars look immaculate because he is a neat freak.

Perfect CPO car! Everything is 100% factory two years and 35k some odd miles later!!!



35k miles on the factory fill?!

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: DemoFly
I rarely meet a smoker who isn't a slob.
+1


+2. Cigarettes are DISCUSTING. Ever see the chick who looks and sounds 50,but is really 20,and it's because she's smoked all her life. Smoking accelerates the aging process by leaps and bounds.

 

[glock19]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
CPO doesn't mean much either. I wouldn't touch a CPO car unless the dealer could print out a reasonable service history on it.

My attorney buys a new E350 every two years and than trades. He runs them 35k miles without so much as popping the hood, and the cars look immaculate because he is a neat freak.

Perfect CPO car! Everything is 100% factory two years and 35k some odd miles later!!!


Haha for a second I pictured an attorney driving a Ford E350 van.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

Well its not 2002 anymore and anything at that price point has either spaceship mileage on it or is ragged out. A lot of vehicles in the paper or on Craigslist are also sold by flippers. I only found one car that had been owned by someone for more than a year and it was the car that I bought.


Funny you should say that. When my '94 Geo Prizm reached 230K my daughter was riding with me and I said we made it to the moon, let's head back, explaining that the moon was about 230K miles from earth give or take.

That indeed is spaceship mileage

I love the term.


Yeah and if it was a 10 year old Japanese car you could sell it for a LOL price to someone who worships at there alter!

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: DemoFly
I rarely meet a smoker who isn't a slob.
+1


+2. Cigarettes are DISCUSTING. Ever see the chick who looks and sounds 50,but is really 20,and it's because she's smoked all her life. Smoking accelerates the aging process by leaps and bounds.


+3000! Although there are probably MANY on here who will disagree, and vehemently defend their offensive habit to the(ir) death(s).

 

[javacontour]

Bought it for $2500, drove it 7 years and 150K miles. Sold it for $1200.

I didn't get hurt

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

Well its not 2002 anymore and anything at that price point has either spaceship mileage on it or is ragged out. A lot of vehicles in the paper or on Craigslist are also sold by flippers. I only found one car that had been owned by someone for more than a year and it was the car that I bought.


Funny you should say that. When my '94 Geo Prizm reached 230K my daughter was riding with me and I said we made it to the moon, let's head back, explaining that the moon was about 230K miles from earth give or take.

That indeed is spaceship mileage

I love the term.


Yeah and if it was a 10 year old Japanese car you could sell it for a LOL price to someone who worships at there alter!

 

[artificialist]

All this talk of smoking in cars makes me think of something:
A decline in smoking led to a decline in ashtray design.
American cars were the first cars that I saw without factory ashtrays.
Japanese cars were the last cars I ever saw without them. Before I got my Mitsubishi, I thought all Japanese cars had one.

But since nobody in my family smoked, an ashtray was a miniature garbage can that could easily be emptied.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
CPO doesn't mean much either. I wouldn't touch a CPO car unless the dealer could print out a reasonable service history on it.

My attorney buys a new E350 every two years and than trades. He runs them 35k miles without so much as popping the hood, and the cars look immaculate because he is a neat freak.

Perfect CPO car! Everything is 100% factory two years and 35k some odd miles later!!!


The reason for free maintenance on luxury marques is for CPO. If it has not been performed they auction off these cars in many CPO programs. Carfax hooks back into the dealer records for service and it is reviewed for CPO cars and typically handed out as part of sale.


Not just luxury...a guy I know has a leased Focus, and all maintenance is included in the lease.

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
All this talk of smoking in cars makes me think of something:
A decline in smoking led to a decline in ashtray design.
American cars were the first cars that I saw without factory ashtrays.
Japanese cars were the last cars I ever saw without them. Before I got my Mitsubishi, I thought all Japanese cars had one.

But since nobody in my family smoked, an ashtray was a miniature garbage can that could easily be emptied.


There's a warning on the dash of Kitacam telling me that the little slide out "drawer" there is specifically NOT an ash tray...I use it for coins...