How To Buy A Used Car Using Craigslist
98Buying a used car from a private party can be a bit intimidating. How can you trust someone you met on the Internet, right? The truth is that you can't really trust anyone, a private party or a salesman at a dealership. The only real option is to really do your research. It may seem daunting but the steps I'm about to outline are absolutely necessary to having a good car buying experience on Craigslist.
Before you get started looking on Craigslist for a vehicle there are a few things you want to do first.
1. Check out KBB and Edmunds to look up prices and read reviews of the makes and models you are looking at. Having a good idea of the problems associated with a particular car and how much it is worth will give you an advantage when trying to sort the good deals out from the rubbish on Craigslist.
2. If you are planning on financing your purchase you want to make sure that your credit history is accurate before applying for a loan. You are entitled to one free report from each of the three credit reports. Take advantage of this to make sure there are not any mistakes that adversely effect your credit score, if there are then you can call the bureau and have them removed.
3. If you are planning on getting a private party auto loan then apply for it before hand. Most listings wont stay around long enough for you to try and arrange financing after the fact.
4. Get a subscription to CarFax History report. For 40 bucks you can get an unlimited subscription for 30 days. This is probably best because you can get a report on any vehicle you are interested in.
Once you have all the of this done then you should be at the point where you have the following information handy:
A. A list of car models that you are interested in buying, one is fine but the more options you leave yourself the more likely you are to find a really excellent deal.
B. A range of years for each model that you would be happy with. Typically you will see different generations of a model over the course of a few years where major features change. You can use Edmunds to look up features and changes from year to year to make your decision.
C. A price range you feel comfortable paying for each model. Both Edmunds and KBB offer price guides for used cars, but in my experience the KBB prices tend to be more realistic. Obviously if you have gotten a private party auto loan you will want to make sure these ranges match up with the total amount you have been approved for.
Trying to start looking without this information is a recipe for disaster. You may end up buying a car that is notoriously unreliable, or one that has been overpriced. Whatever you do, do not rely on the seller to give you all the information you need to know.
Links To Sites Refrences In Hub
- Craigslist
craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events - Edmunds
Edmunds offers reviews and pricing guides of new and used cars. It is an excellent place to start your research. - Official Kelley Blue Book Site
Kelley Blue Book is the trusted resource for prices, values and reviews on new cars and used cars. Before buying or selling your next car, visit KBB.com. - The Car Insurances A Guide For Consumers Looking For Unbiased Insight Into Car Insurance Programs
A Guide For Consumers Looking For Unbiased Insight Into Car Insurance Programs - CarFax History Reports
CarFax Provides history reports that give car buyers in depth information on their potential used car purchases, such as title status, past accidents, past service, past owners. - Private Party Auto Loans Blog
This blog has helpful information on getting a private party auto loan. Where to find them and how to apply for one.
If you feel comfortable with everything up to this point then its time
to start searching for your next used car. Log onto your local
craigslist. You will find the cars under "For Sale" and "Cars and
Trucks"
For best results I recommend searching for your model
name, selecting "only show posts with pictures" and "only search post
titles" and leaving the geographic targeting to your broad region.
For
now don't bother putting in a minimum or maximum price, you want to
make sure your price ranges are on par with what is actually being
listed. If they do, then you can set a price range to filter out the
higher priced newer cars and the lower priced cars that are older than
you are looking for.
You should now have a fairly good picture
of the cars that match what you are looking for available in your area.
Now you will need to go through each one and find the ones that you
think are the best deals.
Obviously some will have lower
mileage, upgraded stereos, recent servicing. If you find one even
remotely interesting ask for the VIN number of the car if it was not
posted and run a CarFax report on it.
The CarFax will give you
details on the cars history and show any accidents or other red flags
that the seller may have tried to hide. A good rule of thumb is if
there are any serious problems on the report that the seller didn't
identify himself then you should probably just move on.
When
you find one that you are ready to buy arrange a time for a test drive.
Also see if you can have a mechanic inspect it before purchase. Most
sellers are more than happy to let you, assuming you pick up the bill.
This will probably run you about 100 dollars, so you don't want to do
it for every car you look at. However, it is definitely worth the
investment if you are ready to buy a car to have it inspected before
you buy it, because if something is seriously wrong with the car you
are only out 100 bucks. Chances are if you have gotten to this point
there won't be anything too major, but it is better to be safe. Also if
something minor comes up you may be able to talk the seller into the
reducing the price accordingly. Even if nothing comes up the 100
dollars is worth it so that you have documentation that the car was in
good shape when you bought it.
Like I said in the beginning of this post, you cannot trust anyone but
yourself when you are looking to buy a used car online. The fact is the
seller is trying to sell something, not get you a good deal. So here
are a few things you will probably see that you should be wary of:
1.
People trying to sell salvaged vehicles. They may say it only is
salvaged for theft but there is no way for you to really confirm
anything about the vehicle. Which puts you in a situation where you
really just have to take their word for it. Proceed at your own risk.
2. People offering to ship vehicles. This is a SCAM! Do not have a seller ship you a car upon receipt of payment.
3.
Sellers who request being paid with money-gram or money order. This is
also a SCAM! Do not deal with a seller who will only let you pay by
these methods.
4. People selling cars with mods, especially
engine mods. In general these are the type of car owners that really
push their vehicles. I'd rather buy a used commuter vehicle that spent
most of its time driving at normal speeds on the freeway and not 80 mph
down a winding mountain road, but that's just me.
I've bought
several cars on craigslist using these methods and have never had a
serious problem and have found some excellent deals. However if you
think I've missed something leave a comment or get in touch, it may be
worth adding to the hub.
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Buying a used car from a private party can be a bit intimidating. How can you trust someone you met on the Internet, right? The truth is that you can't really trust anyone, all you can do is be prepared.
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Some really good ideas here. I've got to be honest, I never even thought of craigslist as being a place to buy cars, but definitely worth keeping in mind...
I LOVE craigs list. you cna really grab an awesome bargin.
I love craigs list and have purchased many items and sold many items through there before...a car was one of them! Great hub
Very good article. Yes, it is very easy to buy cars and other luxury items on craigslist, but one has to be careful because of the scams.
Good article. One other thing I would add is to beware the large number of dealers now selling cars out of residential settings, pretending to be private sellers. I am told they do this to avoid legal regulations. I ran into several of these guys this week while car shopping.
You can figure out who most of them are by searching their phone numbers on google, or searching their name on craigslist. You will see multiple listings for them.
Interesting, I've never thought of buying a used car on craigslist although I've used Ebay for the same purpose a couple of times.
Some great information, thanks!
It is hard to believe that anyone uses Craigslist anymore it has gotten such a bad wrap for scams. I did purchase my last car somewhat through an Ebay auction and it went really well. We eventually agreed outside of the site on a price lower than his reserve he had set.
If anyone buys a car outside of the framework of ebay they risk not having the buyer protection under ebay's guidelines. We were a top seller on ebay so we know a little about eCommerce sales. If the title comes with a lien on it, you will be out of luck and will not own the car until the lien is paid off.
As for Carfax, they only post what insurance companies and police departments report to the authorities. So, if I was driving and hit a deer, I can actually not report the accident and have my car repaired at a body shop. The body shop will not report the damage to carfax.
I actually bought a car from a dealer auction with 100,000 miles on it. It turned out to be 191,000 miles and carfax missed the fraud. Carfax never paid. Has anyone ever been paid from Carfax for an error they missed?? We have not been paid from carfax and cancelled our carfax contract.
Great hub with useful information as i am thinking off putting some of our used cars on craiglist
Seems like the key to being successful and purchasing cars on Craigslist is to do your research about the car. This is a very useful list.
Nice detailed Hub, but for a large investment like a car I would be very cautious. No consumer protection in the least on Craigslist. Buyer beware.
E-bay does provide protection for buyer and seller.
Nice Hub with useful information
i found it very useful article, you deserve to get rated:)!!
Great tips on buying a car on Craigslist. Thanks for the info on what to be wary of as well. For those buying on Craigslist, there is no consumer protection, but as long as you know what you are getting in to, there are great deals to find out there.
There is a cheaper way to buy a car, it's Auto Auction
On auto auction you can buy Salvage Cars or a clean title cheam
Great tips on using Craigs list. One more thing you might what to do when you are actually buying the car. Ask for a lower price then whats being asked. And don't forget the classic car negotiating tip of splitting the difference. Great article thanks for the tips
Thanks for your hub found it really interesting and useful
thank you for the info. I really need to buy my first car soon :)
Craigslist is good, but you overpay, because all cars on craigslist from resellers.
If you are looking for Salvage Cars from Auto Auction better use big auctions like Copart and IAAI.
Here is the links to buy it without overhead, first two you need to be a cars dealer to buy there, and the third is open to anyone.
Good Luck
The key to buying from craigslist is to buy in your area where you can go check out the car in person. Never, I mean never buy a car unseen. Either check it out yourself or have someone else check it for you. I have never had any bad luck buying from craigslist, just do your homework first.
I have sold 4 cars and bought one on craiglist and have been very happy with the results! If you do not understand the process of buying and selling then stay away or you will be taken. Better to pay a little more at a dealership then lose all your money on a scam.
Hope there are used Toyota cars there thanks.
thanks for the very useful information. i will use this in the near future for my car
Great post, I would add that Kelly Blue Book (KBB) is more accurate then Edmunds as far as pricing. Both are great sites though.
Great info!
This is a great list... comparing used cars is often an apples to oranges delimna. Especially with different years and mileages... this graph tool pulls Craigslist listings into a graph to help compare value. Listings are red dots, and green area is where the best value buys are; http://www.usedcargraph.org
Thanks for pointing out so many things for us to look for. Voted up!
Occam's Razor dictates that you look at the facts to draw the simplest conclusion. Making up some creative conspiracy theory of you own is hardly an appropriate application of Occam's Razor. All the facts, Apple's past history with suppressing leaks, the potential damage to current product sales, and the effort by Apple in trying to get back the phone, prove this was not some publicity stunt made up with Photoshop and a "creative artist".
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20002834-260.htm
You are considering buying a new car and you want to get the one with the best gas mileage. Maybe it's because you're socially aware and want to be kind to the environment. Or maybe it's just because you want.
Excellent advice! I'm on a national board for a car club. And, one thing I always tell friends is, whenever possible, get mechanic recommendations from your local car club. Officers/board members of your local car club will likely have 2-3 local mechanics to recommend.
Im trying to buy a car Over Craigslist But the person said He is a Sargent in the U.S Army and the car is in Georgia but I live in Massachusetts, the car is listed Under MA In Craigslist. He says he would have it shipped by a delivery service made only for US Army members.
Is this still considered Fraud?
Whoa! These tips would probably be so useful for those who want to shop online. Yes, shopping through online is so convenient because it is easier to find the stuff that you want, especially cars. On the other hand, it is quite difficult to judge an item if it is of quality if you haven't checked it personally. It would be good if you do research first about the item that you want to buy and ask trusted people. With that, you'll save time and money, and avoid such troubles.
Some good point here. I use http://clcarz.com when searching craigslist for cars. It allows you to search multiple craigslist cities at a time.
Online shop is a good thing it allows us to look for thing that is hassle free but then the disadvantage would be it is costly. I had once purchase metaxeirismena aytokinhta online turns good.
I can't seem to find a way to purchase a 30-day unlimited Carfax subscription. I only see a 5-pack and a single. Can you help me?
should I trust it if the vehicle is being sold thru ebay
http://www.cheapcarfinds.com is a great place to find cheap craigslist cars for sale.
Here's another great place to learn about getting the best deals on used cars: http://www.auto-broker-magic.com/car-auction.html
I saw that http://craigscarsforsale.net has a search function that can search all cities for cars on Craigslist (not just one city at a time)...looks kind of neat.
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I got burned once when buying a used car, so now I run a vin check myself no matter what the owner says. it's just $10 at vinaudit.com
Great hub I must say. Craiglist has been extremely popular amongst car buyers as they can certainly bargain properly.
Jazel Auto 3 years ago
Great info....I have sold a car on craigslist...it is a wonderful resource and hugely popular!