Buying a used car (Canada)

Aridhol

The wife and I went to the bank today and secured a $10,000 car loan so we can stop driving beater cars and barely making it to work and back. I have read as much as I can on how to buy used on edmunds.com which I know is american focused but has great tips.

The purpose of this thread is to help me decide WHICH used vehicle to look for and possibly purchase.

We've re-evaluated our needs and have come up with the following list

-4 doors
-good-great gas mileage
-good for future young children
-looks "young" / sporty
-low/cheap maintenance
-1999 or newer

I also am wondering what the opinion is on VW Turbo diesel of the 1999-2001 range as we've seen a couple and have been told that "diesel is awesome and for sure the way to go"

so Recommend On!:

saggio

www.driving.ca has some good tips, and is Canadian.

As for finding the cars themselves, I find autotrader.ca and buysell.com to be pretty good resources.

That's all I got -- sorry!

Hallucinogen

I know everyone says this but, based on your requirements, get a Civic.

I could be wrong, but I've heard VW's are pricey to repair. Talk to someone who's owned one and see. The best info is from the horse's mouth.

The Black Hunter

Honda Accord
Honda CRV
Toyota camry
Mitsubishi Lancer

Aridhol

autotrader is a nice resource thanks.

I see a bunch of civics and different price points. They don't *look* particularly sporty but not bad at all. lots of room, good mileage ratings.

More advice/suggestions would be awesome.

Camry doesn't seem to have very good gas mileage, mitsubishi is very nice but the options near me are at the very limit of my price point and neither of us likes the CRV, appreciate the suggestions though!

NorthGuard

Gonna second the Civic / Accord suggestions. The ones you can get for your price range should be in pretty good shape, especially with the way prices are for used cars right now. I'd also call around and ask dealerships about leasebacks - you can get some amazing vehicles that way.

Based on where you live, I'd be checking every car you look at for rust. Be wary of vehicles that were reently repainted, especially if they're not from dealers. If possible, you might even want to look at something very noncoastal, where rust is much less likely in newer cars.

SRT

Take advice from a sales man (you can trust me, I hope....) a Honda is going to be your best bet, if you are going to go that old.

My advice would be to try and get a vehicle that is a year or two old, or find one that has warranty left on it, the last thing that you want is to get a vehicle and then a month later have the motor implode on you. Yes, you can have a vehicle inspected by your own shop, or by BCAA (or whatever the local version is) but they don't always catch things that are internal in the powertrain that may cause big issues down the road, and then your $10,000 car can turn into a $15,000 car.

Two things you need to look at in my opinion:

1. What you want.

2. What you can afford.

I have a lot of people that have a set price in their mind of how much they want to spend, but don't always think it through.

An example:

Gentleman came on to my lot last week looking for a Jetta Diesel. He said that his price range was $15,000 and he was financing. We had a 2003 with 145 Kilometers (not sure where you are at, but I am in the lower mainland in BC in Abbotsford, about an hour from Vancouver. Most people buy these for commuter vehicles, so higher mileage is not unheard of) on it for $13,995 that we were clearing out that fit his price range. We also had a 2005 that just came off lease with only 75,000 kilometers that was $19,000.

We test drove both and he kept leaning towards the 03 because of the price. So I sat down and explained to him that because of the age of the 03, the longest term he could get was 3 years at 7.9%, his payments would be approximately $490 per month including taxes, for a vehicle with no warranty.

The 2005 was what is called a CPO or Certified Pre Owned (we have a VW dealer in our group so we have access to these vehicles). It qualified for two important things:

1. Extended warranty included (worth its weight in gold!)
2. Special finance rates at 2.8%

So now, even though the 05 was more money to start with, with the special rates and a term of 5 years, his payments would come down to $380 a month.

Kind of seems like a no brainer to me.

Gilbert0

I just went through this myself. Over a couple week period, I look at what dealers were offering for sale, prices online and advertising in the paper. Called a couple of dealers to see if the offers were too good to be true (couple were, advertised automatic w/ options were standard and base model) to see what was out there.

Eventually had one dealer pull a couple of cars for me to test drive on a Saturday.

My requirements were:

- 2006 or newer
- 4 door
- automatic
- Decent gas milage (no hummer/SUV's)
- Around $10,000
- Lowest KM possible

Managed to get a mid-trim level 2007 Ford Focus with 30,000 km for $10,500 and after tax/warrenties I wanted it came to almost exactly $12,000. On the dealers website it was listed for $12,499 but "since I was a good guy" they were going to sell it for $10,999. I probably could have gone lower but it was what I was willing to spend. IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE PRICE, DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING AND LEAVE. This is probably the second biggest purchase you make (behind a house) and if you are not happy, don't do it.

If you go newer, you can get the balance on warrenties left. I still have 3 years/70,000 on the powertrain and 1 year/20,000 on the comprehensive warrenties.

Some other models you could look at are Mazda 3 or 6, Ford Focus/Fusion, and what others have said.

Aridhol

Appreciate the advice but from what I have seen there are no 2ish year old cars to be had for my price range.

PeregrineFalcon

Go to your local Honda dealer and ask if they have anything coming up off a five-year lease. You should be able to pick up an 04 Civic SE for ten grand, taxes in, easily.

Figgy

Depending on how old you are, research the change in insurance rates before you decide on a car. Nothing sucks more than buying a new car and finding out your insurance is more than the car payments.

Also, unless you're planning on buying two cars with that $10,000, look for something 2004-05 or newer. 1999? What are you smoking? That's 10 god damn years old!

Aridhol

I'm 27 the wife is 28 and it would be under her insurance (10 year safe driving discount).
What's the general opinion on a Mitsubishi Lancer http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/9498651
Edmunds says the TMV is $4400 so this would seem like a deal if there are no problems with the vehicle.

Suckafish

Aridhol wrote: »

Appreciate the advice but from what I have seen there are no 2ish year old cars to be had for my price range.

I bought a 2005 Hyundai Elantra in early 2008 for $8000 from a dealer. At the time, 2005 Mazda 6's were coming off lease and priced around or just over 10k. Unless BC used car prices are drastically different from Ontario, for 10k you should be able to get a car no older than 3 or 4 years that meets your needs.

Figgy

Last year, a 2006 Mazda 3 with about 25,000km was $21,000 after taxes and fees.

Quoting car prices without mileage is like selling a desktop PC by the number of keys on the keyboard.

Phisti

Look at Kelley Blue Book to get an idea of vehicles that meet your standards and are close to your price range. Note that prices will vary depending on what options you get on a used car. Also, look through the CARFAX on any used cars you're after. It's not fool-proof but there is usually a reason a car sells for significantly less than it's Blue Book value (even if it does have high mileage)

Eg. Two months ago when I was shopping for a used car we took a Mazda3 out for a spin. 2006, fully loaded manual transmission with 40,000km. It was under $10k. Drove it, didn't seem quite right, looked at the CARFAX, rebuilt from salvage - NEXT!

Figgy

Phisti wrote: »

Look at Kelley Blue Book to get an idea of vehicles that meet your standards and are close to your price range. Note that prices will vary depending on what options you get on a used car. Also, look through the CARFAX on any used cars you're after. It's not fool-proof but there is usually a reason a car sells for significantly less than it's Blue Book value (even if it does have high mileage)

Eg. Two months ago when I was shopping for a used car we took a Mazda3 out for a spin. 2006, fully loaded manual transmission with 40,000km. It was under $10k. Drove it, didn't seem quite right, looked at the CARFAX, rebuilt from salvage - NEXT!

Excellent example of why "If it's too good to be true, it is" applies so heavily to buying a car. No one sells a car for thousands less unless there is a reason for it.

THEPAIN73

Figgy wrote: »

Excellent example of why "If it's too good to be true, it is" applies so heavily to buying a car. No one sells a car for thousands less unless there is a reason for it.

You know I thought the same thing and I was weary on my 2003 Grand Prix. It being a salvage title and all. I got it for $5500.

Not a damn thing wrong with it after 6 months of checking up vigorously. It had been rear ended and totaled for God knows what reason. (I work at a dealership, free inspections from my friends).

I would ask whoever sells you a car to take it to a shop beforehand (one you trust) and have them inspect it for a few bucks.

EDIT: Now I know you can't have every car looked at. So just take the ones you REALLY like.