Thoughts on Buyback Vehicle

P

panthermike

Joined
Apr 1, 2008
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Let me first say, for the most part; I won't even consider a buyback vehicle due to fear of the "unknown". However, I know that the reasons a buyback occur can vary greatly. I have seen a lot of major stuff like engine noise or differential loud etc. But I've also encountered things like "sunroof makes noise when opening".

I've been casually truck shopping for awhile now and recently something that fits the bill came up. I noticed it was buyback and was disappointed. When looking at the carfax though, the reason was "driver seat doesn't heat up like others". Shortly after it was reacquired there is an entry from a Nissan dealer that heated seat was repaired. The vehicle is listed for a pretty aggressive price as well, about $4-5k lower than comparable models.

As for the reason; this seems like nothing to me. I am more concerned with the possibility of wanting/needing to trade in the vehicle in the future. The dealer I am looking at sells several buybacks at all times and claims they give good prices for buyback trades since they are successful selling them. I am no expert though and the dealer can tell me anything they like.

Anyone have any thoughts/real world experience with these?
 
I suspect that it takes more than a seat heater needing warranty repair to have a vehicle actually bought back.
I would tread very carefully here and this is a road I would not travel myself.
Think of the potential headaches that might well make you regret having saved four or five grand.
 
fdcg27 said:
I suspect that it takes more than a seat heater needing warranty repair to have a vehicle actually bought back.
I would tread very carefully here and this is a road I would not travel myself.
Think of the potential headaches that might well make you regret having saved four or five grand.
Click to expand...
Depending on the state, it can be just that. More than a certain number of trips to be fixed or a certain amount of time an RO is open can trigger a buyback.
 
panthermike said:
Let me first say, for the most part; I won't even consider a buyback vehicle due to fear of the "unknown". However, I know that the reasons a buyback occur can vary greatly. I have seen a lot of major stuff like engine noise or differential loud etc. But I've also encountered things like "sunroof makes noise when opening".

I've been casually truck shopping for awhile now and recently something that fits the bill came up. I noticed it was buyback and was disappointed. When looking at the carfax though, the reason was "driver seat doesn't heat up like others". Shortly after it was reacquired there is an entry from a Nissan dealer that heated seat was repaired. The vehicle is listed for a pretty aggressive price as well, about $4-5k lower than comparable models.

As for the reason; this seems like nothing to me. I am more concerned with the possibility of wanting/needing to trade in the vehicle in the future. The dealer I am looking at sells several buybacks at all times and claims they give good prices for buyback trades since they are successful selling them. I am no expert though and the dealer can tell me anything they like.

Anyone have any thoughts/real world experience with these?
Click to expand...
I suspect a person can find the exact vehicle, that is not a buyback-- for a buyback price if the buyer has outstanding patience, along with ample time.
 
GON said:
I suspect a person can find the exact vehicle, that is not a buyback-- for a buyback price if the buyer has outstanding patience, along with ample time.
Click to expand...

And the willingness to travel and roll the dice a little hoping the truck you bought 1000 miles away doesn't have an unknown problem. @GON is an expert at long range truck buying but they usually have a small problem or two.
 
Here's a lot of important notes.

First off, certain states such as New York, California and surprisingly Michigan are litigious to the nth degree when it comes to applying Lemon Law legislation. They have absolute armies of luxury vehicles that become buybacks, and most are in the very high end. To give you a sense of scale, the number of buybacks that are under $20k wholesale are less than a tenth of those that are over that mark. Ford has over 200 buybacks every week. But roughly 30% to 40% of them are going to be Lincolns even though that brand is equal to less than 5% of Ford's sales. You get the idea.

Second, every automaker must resolve the buyback before putting it up at a wholesale auction. However some issues are easier to resolve than others. I just put a Toyota BZ4X Limited on 48 Hours And A Used Car that simply needed to have its 12 Volt battery replaced. Last week it was a Nissan Versa that had a wiring harness replaced, and the week before that a Nissan Ariya that didn't have its wipers automatically go on when it rained.

If the OEM replaced one specific component, powertrain part, or just needed a software update I'll pursue it. If it was multiple I'll usually avoid it. I won't touch Jaguar or Land Rover. Ever. The same is true for anything that is too new. I prefer to get vehicles that have been around for at least three model years old because the automaker will usually have a very healthy level of experience dealing with a specific issue.

If you need to know about me, my reliability study is here. My car buying service which is at wholesale auction cost plus $700 is here. And my write-ups all over the web can be found here. I buy a lot of buybacks, but I also listen to others who repair these vehicles before I do. It's not an easy segment, but it is navigable.

All the best.
 
Last edited:
GON said:
I suspect a person can find the exact vehicle, that is not a buyback-- for a buyback price if the buyer has outstanding patience, along with ample time.
Click to expand...

All in all definitely agree with you. Although I will say the vehicle I'm looking for is not real common especially in the configuration that I'm wanting. But I am very leery and cautious of the whole thing 🍻
 
PM, I know you are looking at a rare nearly new vehicle, so this reply not applicable to your specific situation.

Used cars almost always poise a risk of someone trading in a vehicle with a undisclosed problem, and the problem may not show itself during a test drive or inspection.

If I lived in the greater Phoenix area and wanted a used car, I might target vehicles fom deceased estate sales. Senior citizen owned and driven, sale is not to pass on a problem to a unsuspecting buyer, etc.
 
I wouldn't worry about it too much, sometimes a manufacturer will bend over even when there isn't a real issue if a big enough stink is made.

My dealer had a Civic bought back over ACC/lanewatch issues (client made a huge fuss with lots of service visits) they had me put over 1000 miles on it before Honda picked it up without issue.

Eventually ended up back on our lot for resale/remarket and the new owner never complained of anything either.
 
panthermike said:
Let me first say, for the most part; I won't even consider a buyback vehicle due to fear of the "unknown". However, I know that the reasons a buyback occur can vary greatly. I have seen a lot of major stuff like engine noise or differential loud etc. But I've also encountered things like "sunroof makes noise when opening".

I've been casually truck shopping for awhile now and recently something that fits the bill came up. I noticed it was buyback and was disappointed. When looking at the carfax though, the reason was "driver seat doesn't heat up like others". Shortly after it was reacquired there is an entry from a Nissan dealer that heated seat was repaired. The vehicle is listed for a pretty aggressive price as well, about $4-5k lower than comparable models.

As for the reason; this seems like nothing to me. I am more concerned with the possibility of wanting/needing to trade in the vehicle in the future. The dealer I am looking at sells several buybacks at all times and claims they give good prices for buyback trades since they are successful selling them. I am no expert though and the dealer can tell me anything they like.

Anyone have any thoughts/real world experience with these?
Click to expand...
As you state residual value is the elephant in the room !
short term no go !
four to five years probably very little loss to occur .
My take at 4 to 5k less than comparable truck roll the dice and hope you don't have to unload it within a year.
 
If the vehicle is a Nissan-
A buyback from a dealer for more reasons than is probably mentioned.
A manufacturer that doesn't have enough cash flow to stay in business for an additional year. (This is a published fact).
Talks with Honda have ended.
What could possibly go wrong in this picture?
 
If not scrapped or parted out it should be a federal law that any buy back vehicle can only be sold for 5K or less.
I think the main thing for most buy backs is huge electrical issues, that could be a very expensive headache.
 
A friend of mine bought a buy back Mazda CX5 about 2 years ago, and she hasn't had even one problem with it.
Something to do with satellite radio cutting out intermittently. My friend says that the radio in it works way better than her previous car, a Toyota, ever did.
 
Nissan is struggling to sell anything and deals can be had on brand new. The tainted carfax will get you if sold in next 10 years of low desire brand.
 
After reading all the posts and taking into account that the vehicle may have been bought back for a simple thing.

Aw hail naw.
 
I've bought 2 buy back vehicles. A 2015 Cherokee (lemon lawed in NY) and a 2019 Jetta (lemon lawed in MD or VA, can't remember), both bought with under 5k miles and a year old, Cherokee was $23k (new MSRP was $38k), Jetta was $19k, new MSRP was like $26k). Cherokee had to get the tranny replaced under warranty before it was bought back, Jetta had an AC drain issue. Neither issues ever came back. Only thing with the Cherokee was that an O2 sensor was cross threaded during the trans replacement and gave a code about a few months after we bought it. Still under warranty, it got the whole exhaust system replaced. Then they didn't hang it right, so it had to go back again to get it re mounted. And they lifted it wrong and ripped out one of the body plugs. Kept it till 82k and the trade in value was terrible. A non-lemon one would've been $15k trade in or $18-20k retail, dealer and carava offered like $3k. This was in 2022, so the market was still hot, so was able to sell it private party for $15k. Got lucky there.

Wouldn't do it again if it's something you would want to trade in after a few years. If you're going to keep it and run it into the ground, then it's probably okay depending on the issue.
 
Thank you for all input thus far everyone. I am somewhat apprehensive on the buyback. I am not concerned about the actual issue that is was bought back for, but the potential trade in value down the road. This would be a vehicle that I intend to keep for quite some time but I know life can cause pivots sometimes.

For a little context on the truck, it is a loaded model that goes for about 65k new. They are selling for 41k(its 1.5 yrs old with 13k miles).

There is another model available locally that I am also considering. Although it is a lower trim level w/ a few options, for about 3k less.

Lots to think about, and I won't be hasty!
 
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