Aaron and I spent a few months looking at cars on Craigslist trying to find a vehicle that met our parameters and was within our price range. We found a few that initially appeared to be a good match, but in the end never quite fit the bill. Finally I suggested what would be the ultimate, but necessary, nightmare - car lots.
Sure there are lots of terrible ways to spend a sunny, summer afternoon, but on that list you may find cruising up and down car row with the intention of forking over exorbitant amounts of your hard earned cash. That's exactly what we did yesterday.
First we made a list of all the features we wanted: 4 wheel drive, hatchback, roof rack, good gas mileage, low(ish) miles, etc. Then we determined how much we were willing to spend and withdrew exactly that amount from the bank. Well, apparently finding a car that met our requirements wasn't too terribly difficult, but finding one that met our requirement and was also in our price range was ($5,500.00 doesn't exactly buy you a luxury vehicle these days.)
As the afternoon began to disappear with the setting sun and salesmen began locking their doors, it was either buy or bust. Do we go home empty handed or spend upwards of one thousand dollars more than we wanted to? Either way, defeat was staring us in the eyes. However, after six long hours, getting accosted by salesmen more than enough times, and one almost over-priced purchase, we found what we'd been looking for.
A 2002 Subaru Outback Legacy (hmm, that sounds familiar). 97,000 miles on the odometer, an almost flawless exterior and interior, minimal features, and it was only $4,800.00? It sounded too good to be true. We asked the salesman if he had the CarFax, which he unfortunately did not, and asked him if he knew anything about the car's history. He claimed to know nothing other than he had bought it from an insurance auction. Feeling slightly uneasy not having any knowledge regarding the car's history, we left the lot and I proceeded to do some detective work.
CarFax can be purchased instantly and easily with a vehicle's VIN number and a credit card, but rather than paying $40.00, I decided to see if I could dig up any free information first. After typing in the VIN number into a generic Google search, I was able to click on a link that redirected me to the auction site where the salesman had purchased the vehicle, to which I discovered that the car had been in an accident. Luckily, it was only a minor fender bender resulting in some cosmetic damage, which had evidently been taken care of due to the vehicle's pristine exterior condition. Feeling confident that the previous owner had well maintained the vehicle and that there was no mechanical damage from the accident, we decided to head back to the lot and make an offer.
Concealing $500.00 of our total withdrawal, we offered $5,000.00 out the door, everything included, and the salesman said, "yes!" A wave of relief surged through my body as I silently celebrated our purchase in my head. Aaron and I sat, hand-in-hand, as the salesman processed the final paperwork, and I'm not sure if it was the stuffy office or the instinctual fear associated with a used-car purchase that was causing me to perspire, but regardless of the culprit, it wasn't until we finally made it home and the Subaru was in our driveway that I found myself able to fully relax.
Now, this is the part where I would normally provide a list of my do's and don'ts for used-car shopping, but if you want to know the truth, I don't think I'm experienced enough in used car buying to provide an adequate "how-to" this time (or maybe I'm just one too many margaritas deep). The advice I can give would just be to know what you're looking for, how much you're willing to spend, check out all your options before you purchase, be flexible, and even after you buy, just keep those fingers crossed - it's a used vehicle, anything could happen!
Now, this is the part where I would normally provide a list of my do's and don'ts for used-car shopping, but if you want to know the truth, I don't think I'm experienced enough in used car buying to provide an adequate "how-to" this time (or maybe I'm just one too many margaritas deep). The advice I can give would just be to know what you're looking for, how much you're willing to spend, check out all your options before you purchase, be flexible, and even after you buy, just keep those fingers crossed - it's a used vehicle, anything could happen!
xo.
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