Where Do You Shop For Cars?

[onewhippedpuppy]

In my car selling, I never have an issue with closing the sale once I have a serious buyer. My cars are always top notch both mechanical and cosmetic, so they normally sell to the first looker. The challenge is getting the necessary exposure to connect the buyer to the car. Simple poll question - where do you all typically look for cars? The poll is multiple choice, so pick the ones that you use. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to market the vehicles that I sell.

[J P Stein]

I've been buying cars off Craig's List for 10-12 years. 5-6 cars/trucks.

I wait to find a low mile example of the car/truck I want....a late model....cept for a 65 Mustang. It can take a few months.
The toughest to find was a low mile Tacoma......bought an 06 with 40K & wrecked it...bought another , but an 05, with 55K . There are a lot of 2-3 year olds with 100k+ on em'.

I've also sold a few on CL.......one needs to be patient in either case. Never had a problem despite the conventional wisdom of CL.

Per the post below: We here in the Portland, OR. area have little chaff on CL......so that problem sounds like a regional thing.

[masraum]

Craigslist is kind of a pain, lots of chaff to sort through to get to the wheat, but I do check it. You forgot "online (other)" I'll usually just do a google search for " houston" or something like that as well as hitting up the websites of specific dealers. Granted, most of those seem to be on autotrader these days. Also, just the other day, I was looking at Yahoo cars.

I think most of my hits come from autotrader.

[RANDY P]

Jonesing for cars it's CL and Autotrader. If I pay cash for the vehicle by my track record it's CL- if I need financing then a lot. Lot cars I surf Autotrader.

With that said, I have a tendency to buy cars that are usually very minor projects - Minor interior / exterior fix, I expect to dump $$$ into them to bring them up to snuff- Up to snuff meaning, every little thing works.

When I sold my last truck- 2002 s10, mint (the only rig in the last decade that didn't go to a friend) it sold off Autotrader.

[Seahawk]

The last three used cars I have purchased I found right here on PPOT

Three different makes, three completely different models.

In my search for the ever elusive 2002, I used CL, EBAY and general search engines...and, again, PPOT.

[porsche4life]

Craigslist, ebay, and autotrader are the majors. I'll hit a few forums occasionally as well.

I hit other also, because some guy from KS keeps pestering me with cool cars he has for sale.

[Evans, Marv]

Either buying or selling cars is something I seldom do. I always end up keeping my cars for years. I've actually only had two vehicles since 1989 (except for my Porsches) - my Ford van bought new in 1989, & my Ford F350 bought used in 2005. I found my F350 in a Walmart parking lot with a "for sale" sign on it. My wife has always had new cars from a dealership of course. I guess she's lucky although for me, I couldn't care less if I have a new or used vehicle.

[Jays72T]

When looking for pricing I check out ebay, craigs, and enthusiast sites but typically by locally off Craigslist.

[BReif61]

While I surf CL a lot, I would only purchase a car on the lower end of the price spectrum there. The last two cars I've bought, the 996 and the E46, were both found on Cars.com. They have a lot of search customizations, and I don't have to sift through all the buy here/pay here dealers from four states away and ragged out yard ornaments to find what I want.

[Jrboulder]

Of the 9 cars I've bought, 8 were from Craigslist. I do check cars.com and autotrader but I've only called about a couple cars and I haven't bought any.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've bought off of eBay but not CL. I have sold a couple there however. My last "real" car I bought through carmax (no affiliation). I love their model. Clean showrooms, all info up front and available online, no pushy sales BS and no haggling - prices are up front, all out in the open - that's it. No negotiation or "call for price" BS - they're very transparent both online and in person. I will definitely buy my next "keeper" the same way. The only downside is they don't go much older than about 6-7 years and the in-house financing kinda sucks (I went down the next day and got a loan through my credit union for about ½ the rate CM gave me, they cut a check, I paid off the carmax loan and that was that). It's not criminal but not great - most people could do better doing what I did.

The 5 day "no strings" return policy was a huge incentive to drive off that night rather than coming back a couple of days later with the CU financing all done - I really had nothing to lose. If for whatever reason there'd been a snag getting the other check from the CU I simply would've returned the car and been done with it.

IMHO the carmax model is hard to beat. Anything that gets the sales crap out of the equation is something I'll at least check out. Their prices are decent. I probably could've found the exact same car on CL or through some third party dealer for a thousand or two less but it would have taken a lot more time and aggravation on my part. That's worth something. Not having to deal with sales scheisters is also worth something. I utterly despise being "sold to". I'll turn and walk away every single time.

Oh FYI the very first thing I look at on a car is the tires.

If it's got old, worn out rubber I'm prone to walking. I don't want someone else's $1,000 problem - that's an obvious one. I'm not forking out for a car then getting hit right off for a grand in upkeep (I figure a good set of tires is about a grand nowadays). Even a new set of halfway decent / cheapo tires is a big plus (FYI carmax had new tires on most of the cars I checked including the one I bought - smart in their part to not get a "rep").

FYI - all the best!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Thanks all! You guys are a great focus group!

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

IMHO the carmax model is hard to beat. Anything that gets the sales crap out of the equation is something I'll at least check out. Their prices are decent. I probably could've found the exact same car on CL or through some third party dealer for a thousand or two less but it would have taken a lot more time and aggravation on my part. That's worth something. Not having to deal with sales scheisters is also worth something. I utterly despise being "sold to". I'll turn and walk away every single time.

What if you could get the exact car you wanted for wholesale + a flat fee?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'd be interested - good model! Then you're more of a consultant / personal shopper than sales guy. I might eventually take you up on that!

[Paul_Heery]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

What if you could get the exact car you wanted for wholesale + a flat fee?

I'm sure kaisen could provide some input on this approach.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I'd be interested - good model! Then you're more of a consultant / personal shopper than sales guy. I might eventually take you up on that!

I talked with Matt a bit about this last night. It sounds like a great deal, and I'll most likely have him track something down for me soon. Give him a shout if you are looking, I just offhandedly mentioned being interested in something and he had tracked a few down the next day and had some input.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

IMHO the carmax model is hard to beat. Anything that gets the sales crap out of the equation is something I'll at least check out. Their prices are decent. I probably could've found the exact same car on CL or through some third party dealer for a thousand or two less but it would have taken a lot more time and aggravation on my part. That's worth something. Not having to deal with sales scheisters is also worth something. I utterly despise being "sold to". I'll turn and walk away every single time.

Oh FYI the very first thing I look at on a car is the tires.

Agree on tires. They can add $1K+ to price immediately.

Don't like the Carmax pricing. Just last year was shopping for a 2011/12 4 door sedan for the wife. Was interested in Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, and MB. It was nice to be able to sit in and drive all models the same day. No dealer pressure to buy was also a win. We were able to filter candidate car to the Infiniti G37. I spent the next couple days online and managed to find one with lower miles, same year and options, for a $3700 savings vs Carmax from a local guy who operates much like Matt (and Kaisen). I already had our CU finance package prepared which saved a step.

[javadog]

I do nationwide searches, so I start with cars.com. I have found Autotrader to be worthless, as there are as many out of date ads, where the car has been sold already, as there are active ads. Carigslist sucks, unless you like wading through 100 ads for every relevant one you find.

JR

[recycled sixtie]

Good thread. I would look in Autotrader, kijiji or new car dealership used car lots.
So far with second hand I do not feel comfortable with dealers. I do not like the lies and deception. I prefer buying privately but if you can sell quality used cars at decent prices then folks should come to you.

If I lived close to you I would buy a used suv from you. But I don't.
Hope this helps. Guy

[Rot 911]

Car lot or Craigslist.

[BRPORSCHE]

Matt,

Is your fee a percentage of the sales price or is it truly a flate rate? I am moving to Colorado in the next few months and will be searching for an AWD/4x4 vehicle. I would go through you just for your experience with vehicles alone. I am finding that I am in over my head when it comes to tacoma vs. full size and your comments on the other thread have made me completely change my viewpoint.

I am not in a position to buy right now, since I have no need for AWD capability currently. I think I may try and make it thru the first winter with my beater (2005 Mazda 6) with snow tires on it before purchasing. It has enough battle scars on it already that if I put it into a snow bank I really wouldn't be all that concerned.