How fussy are you when buying a used vehicle?

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Had one for new cars but what about us guys that only buy used.

It took me a year and a half to find my 08 Lucerne. I wanted a certain color for interior and exterior and a 3800 but no sun roof, leather or console and low miles.

I've had good luck with it, in the two years I've owned it I've had to replace door handle (froozen shut) battery and speakers, other wise it's been a great car.

My 89 GMC was my FIL's so it is what it is but only had 72k on it when I took possession.
 
I guess it boils down to how desperate you are for a vehicle. If your looking for a particular vehicle, and you have one to get around in, you can take years to find the perfect one.,,,
 
Very. We looked at lots of FJ's before we bought ours. I mostly concentrated on maintenance and not so much on door dings. One had so much sludge under the oil cap that I just walked away. Another had the plastic bumper falling off. If they won't even tighten that up with some push pins or zip ties what else did they not do?

Same with my F250. Looked @ over 30 till I found the one. One in particular had no oil on the dipstick and no coolant showing when I removed the Radiator cap. When I mentioned that the seller rounded up 3 qts of ND30 and started putting that in.
 
Pretty fussy.

Maintenance records in particular, matter a lot. Make or break for me.

Bought my 1990 4Runner in 1995, for example. Bought from a friend. Every service record since new. Every oil change, all of it. Drove that truck until 2016, when it had 270,000 miles, and it's still on the road with over 300,000.

I credit careful maintenance.
 
I guess I'm fussy. I keep my vehicles for a long time, so I don't want to buy a poorly maintained vehicle.

If you have patience and don't mind looking at lots of poorly maintained vehicles, it will pay off in the end. I'm sure most of the non-bitog crowd doesn't do a great job of maintaining their vehicles.

When I sold the last two vehicles, the guys weren't interested in service records. I'm pretty anal about servicing vehicles and it shows. When I sold the Sienna, the guy tried to tell me the engine was bad because it was making noises.
 
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Originally Posted by BigCahuna
I guess it boils down to how desperate you are for a vehicle. If your looking for a particular vehicle, and you have one to get around in, you can take years to find the perfect one.,,,


Great point. If you need to get to work because your car died and it's too expensive to repair, you get what you can afford. Been there. It's not a fun place to be.
 
Most of my cars are sub $1k purchases, so I look for the least maintenance performed the better. That way I can do it all myself and know it's done properly.

My Passat had a recent timing belt with receipt. The thermostat (which is behind the belt) was frozen open. So I had to pull the timing belt, etc only to find that the shop that did the belt reused the old thermostat, and RTVed it back, instead of using a new $2 gasket
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Most cars I buy get a full new suspension, brakes, belts, fluids, etc.

I would rather spend less and do the maintenance myself.
 
I guess it depends on the vehicle and how old it is.

I wanted something safe and dependable to replace our previous too-small '08 Civic coupe. I got lucky when someone posted the now-mine '15 Legacy Premium on the company board a couple of years ago. $15,750, 36k miles, NC car with no rust, 100k-miles extended warranty.

It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I thought it was great short-term and, now that I've been in it for a couple of years I'm happy to keep it long-term.
 
I look at a lot of things- but if time is limited I look at tires, especially on a older model. If the tires are michelin- it may point to a owner that is not afraid to spend on the maintance of the vehicle. Same if I see a off brand Chinese tire- might indicate the prior owner used the lowest cost to maintain the vehicle.

Of course, carfax, where the vehicle lived, and blackbook are all items to review prior to a used car purchase.
 
BigCahuna is right about having transportation whilst looking.
The best time to look for a job is when you have one.

As my 2002 Volvo V70 neared 200K I looked for a 2007-the last year of that style with the 5 cylinder.
I saw V70's in 8 states over 2 years before I found a maintained one.
So many examples had wobbly wheels and highway vibes.
An honorable mention went to a low mileage Pennsylvania beauty with an incredibly strong electrical fire smell.
Underhood was incredibly clean...the wiring looked new! I ran like a scalded dog.
Is that fussy?

Mine's been good for 3 years and 3 months so far.
The very first guy who saw and drove the '02 bought it.
He wasn't fussy per se but when he saw my complete maintenance schedule he drooled.
 
Majority of the public only look at color and if it's AWD so I'm guessing I'd qualify as fussy. But by BITOG standards not very. No smoke, no rust. Has to have good parts availability, easy to work on, 4 doors.

Last time I was looking I came across a car that said it was owned by a mechanic, and the only problem was that it needed the a/c to be recharged. Yeah right--if you're a mechanic, then you charge it. So I guess I'm fussy about the ad, if it doesn't pass the sniff test then I don't bother to go further.
 
I bought my Cooper from a friend's daughter; her family had outgrown it. It was perfect timing as the several issues that plague the N12 motor at @100k miles had all been addressed except for a VANOS solenoid. It's a great commuter car, usually averaging over 38 mpg. It has heated seats and SiriusXM, which is all I really need in a commuter sled. If I was buying a Mini for fun it would have to be a JCW or GP, but for my sedate 24 mile round trip commute the Cooper is perfect.
 
I keep a book in the glove box. Write down gas and mileage and date plus oil and filter,antifreeze and brakes. Everything gets documented.
 
When I buy a used car I dress and dirty old clothes my wife talks to the salesman I'd crawl underneath check it out I don't look at the pretty finish I want to see what's underneath oil leaks repaired surfaces Etc really freaks of salesman out to see my feet sticking out from underneath the car I actually did this also on a brand new car in the showroom freak them out
TOMB
 
I, along with my girlfriend and daughter, are extremely happy with buying three HyunKias from Hertz. I'm a geezer and may never get another car. If I have to again, I think I'll probably go this route.
 
I wanted another manual Focus wagon after my buddy crashed my old one at autocross, but they are getting rare so I couldn't be as picky as I'd like. I keep telling myself not to get hung up on a particular car model but its been nice having a parts car since the new has needed a few repairs. I almost got a newer Focus hatch but our autocross venue has some walls and I'd rather smash $2000 than $8000 if the worst happens again...
 
Depends, honestly all the fuss in the world doesn't prevent a major repair from happening, but it's good to do some homework.

Tires are a HUGE deal breaker...if you need tires you just lost yourself $400-$700, so don't downplay that. Important to crawl under the car with a flashlight and take a look, if not you might be buying yourself a rust bucket with a whole in the frame (hello used Nissans). I'll check the paint and NEVER EVER if the car is wet (rain drops will hide everything), next thing you know you get the car home and there's a scratch from bumper to bumper.

CarFax is important...if that thing has been in any sort of accident, walk away. Because you'll take a pounding when you try to sell the thing. Trust me.

Don't ever believe the whole...it's all highway miles. It's not. And ask about maintenance, you can get a good idea what they're like and what they've done just by asking questions and talking to them (if records aren't available).
 
Originally Posted by IndyIan
I wanted another manual Focus wagon after my buddy crashed my old one at autocross, but they are getting rare so I couldn't be as picky as I'd like. I keep telling myself not to get hung up on a particular car model but its been nice having a parts car since the new has needed a few repairs. I almost got a newer Focus hatch but our autocross venue has some walls and I'd rather smash $2000 than $8000 if the worst happens again...

Yikes! Totalled the car at Autocross? Walls? Not good.

Aside: if it's a 1.9 engine it'd be an IB5 (???) transaxle; if it's a 2.0 litre you're after it'd be an MTX75 box. The latter is quite a job to repair but quite durable. The former has nice ratio spread, easy to repair.
 
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