I'm sure this is a question that has come up before for new immigrants. Well I been here for about 18 months or there abouts so far, Got my driving license a number of months ago and I'm badly in need of a used car. I've found ton's of cars, lots of prices and plenty of hidden charges from dealerships and private sellers.. tons of information along with the usual misinformation.

The problem I have is.. I'm not sure what to go for.. I still don't really have much of a credit score over here, doubt I could even get a credit card without being turned down.. so credit is not an option. I'm in Florida, I've got no car at the minute I work everyday and arrive quite hot at work.. unless it's raining then I arrive wet and it's beyond hot here most of the time! My budget would be around max of $2,000 or $2,500 at most.

Any advice on models, brands would be most welcome. Also any stories good or bad form experience buying cars here in the US or in Florida.

Thanks!

At those prices, don't buy American.

Well we already have an American car (although it could have been mostly made in China ) and it's running well. In fact I thought it should have died long ago... but it's like the ever ready bunny .. just keeps going and going and going! Anyway.. I only need to get something to take me to work and back each day!

I just got for my husband a 94 Honda Accord with only 83K. We got it cheap - a little over $2000. We need to get new tires and a radio. We looked on www.craigslist.org. I did a search for honda priced $500-$3100. Looked at many cars on the internet (also www.cars.com and www.autotraders.com) and got a feel for what the dollar would buy, then shopped around. When we saw the car I ended up buying I asked the person for their lowest price and they dropped the price by $300! So I suggest craigslist. We started out by considering Toyota - camry and Honda - civic and accord. Additionally, I would think that in FL because a good part of the population is older there are many cars with low milage in good shape that a family member may need to sell if someone passes on - those would have a flexable price probably. We purchased our car by a lady who's Mom was placed in a nursing home.

We got my husbands car off of www.craigslist.org too! We got a 96 honda civic with all the bells & whistles for $3000. They guy wanted 4400, but we haggled him down The car was in excellect condition, even gave us the service record of when he had everything done (first owner)

I don't like used car dealerships, not only do they rip you off on price, but you arent sure what the real state of the car is. Everyone says its in "perfect working condition" but since they have no warranty, this only guarantees you that you will be able to drive out of the lot!

My first suggestion would be to sign up with carfax.com for $30 I think they let you check as many VIN #s as you want. I used to say this was a waste of money, but it saved us from buying a couple junk cars. One car we were interested in had 35 records on it, 18 were accidents! Who the heck wants a car like that? So this saved us

I say stick with honda or toyota, because for $2-3000 you will get an american car that needs A LOT of work & more $$$ to put into it.

Buy Japanese. They're by far the most reliable, and have been for years, especially Toyota and Honda. I'd suggest getting a subscription to Consumer Reports if you want check the reliability of specific makes/models. It's well worth it for other large purchases, as well.

As for actually buying, you can check classifieds in the paper (look at the online edition too), and local convenience stores probably carry an auto trader magazine. Craigslist or similar online sources are good if you live in a good sized city. You can usually haggle the seller down a bit, let the better haggler deal with the seller. In our case, that's my fiancee

Oh, and while you're taking the car for a test drive, have a mechanic you trust check it out.

Good luck!

~Brad

I remembered seeing this post a few days ago:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry1082957

post #40 by Mr fancypants:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/us...t-406/index.htm

Consumer Reports - Best and Worst Bets for used car purchases. They're pretty reliable.

These vehicles showed multiple Used Car Verdicts that were much worse than average, according to our survey respondents. They consistently had more problems than other models overall.

BMW 7 Series
BMW X5 (V8)
Chevrolet Astro
Chevrolet Blazer
Chevrolet Express
Chevrolet S-10 (4WD)
Chevrolet Venture
Chevrolet Uplander
Chrysler
Town & Country (AWD)
Dodge
Grand Caravan (AWD)
GMC Jimmy
GMC Sonoma (4WD)
GMC Safari
GMC Savana
Infiniti QX56
Jaguar S-Type
Jaguar X-Type
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Kia Sedona
(except ‘06)
Land Rover Discovery
Land Rover LR3
Lincoln Aviator
Lincoln Navigator
Mercedes-Benz CLK
Mercedes-Benz
M-Class (V8)
Mercedes-Benz
S-Class (V8)
Mercedes-Benz SL
Nissan Armada
Nissan Titan
Oldsmobile Bravada
Oldsmobile Cutlass
Oldsmobile Silhouette
Pontiac Aztek
Pontiac Trans Sport
Pontiac Montana
Pontiac Montana SV6
Volkswagen Cabrio
Volkswagen Jetta
(turbo, gas)
Volkswagen Jetta (V6)
Volkswagen
New Beetle (4-cyl.)
Volkswagen Touareg
Volvo XC90 (6-cyl.)


----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you click on the consumer reports address it pulls up an article on The best and worst used cars.
Good luck

thanks so much everyone for the info and advice. i'm looking to buy a used car too in that exact price range. this will be my first car so i need all the informed input i can get. i've been checking out craigslist regularly and its good to know folks have found good cars at an affordable price though that listing. and thanks Aidan80 for the thread.

No problem.. this is a question I had to ask! Thanks to all who have responded!

I've been looking at the local press, reading reviews and checking auto trader and of course cars.com and a few others. I've a half decent idea of what's out there, what it should cost. I wanted to see what people thought or had been through themselves when buying a used car.

I have been aiming for a Toyota or a Honda or even a Volkswagen but what I found has been few and far between. Lots of early - mid 90's selling for too much money. Although I've seen quite a few 1999 - 2001 KIA's around for about $1,800 - $2,200 with less than 100k on them . I've also seen a few 97 - 99 Saturn SL and SL2 around for the same money in good or decent condition. Another car I've seen around a lot is the Dodge Neon I've seen a 1999 model with around 80k miles on it selling for $2,300.

What do you all think of the Doge's, KIA's (I hear they are really bad), Saturn's (we own one, never had a problem) or even the Chevrolet?

I drive a 2001 Kia Rio. Love it. Bought it last year for $1,000 from my mother-in-law's colleague's daughter, who had to sell the car because she had put money down for a new car at the credit union and needed to get rid of the Kia fast. What makes the deal even sweeter is there was only 53k miles on it when I took over.

It's a good, reliable car. I have not had any problems with it. Mine's an automatic and gets approximately 31 mpg. Because I only drive it to and from work (and to church some Sundays), I only need to fill her up once a week.

My original plan was to drive my Kia for a couple of years and then trade it in for a brand new Honda Fit sport model (my dream car). But my little Kia has been doing so awesome that I told my husband a month ago that I think I want to drive her till she can't go any more. It doesn't bother me that she doesn't have power windows or automatic locks. She does what she needs to do. Besides, I like not having a car payment.

And her BRIGHT green color doesn't exactly hurt either.

The Mountain Dew car!

I have a Kia also, which came from craigslist. Mine is a 2000 Sephia, with about 56K on her when I bought her. The biggest recommendation seems to be that you make sure you get the timing belt done at 60K for Kias, although I believe that's recommended maintenance on any car. I paid $2200 for my car, but she is not cosmetically perfect and is the base model (no AC - OMG I'm melting right now!).

You may also be surprised what you can do with credit - I have a friend whose ex-husband screwed her over royally, and she still keeps discovering debts she didn't know about or thought were paid. She managed to finance a brand new Ford Focus earlier this year. Of course, the interest rate is not the best, but she's planning on using it for a year to build her credit rating so that she can refinance after the first year. If you could use that $2500 as a deposit against a new or "gently used" car, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Precisely!

When I got the car, I christened her Pookie. I dunno why that name hit me between the eyes when I first laid eyes on her. When I told my colleagues about the name, one of them said, "You should have named her Dewkie instead."

I was in a similar predicament until recently! I know nothing about cars, so I was pretty terrified to buy one. This was a pretty useful website for me, as well as carsurvey.org.

I ended up buying a '97 Nissan Sentra with 77,000 miles on it. I paid $4950 at a dealership for it, which was a decent price according to kbb.com and a high price according to some other website. But whatever, it runs well and is supposed to be a reliable car. Ooh, and it gets really good gas mileage! Like, 37 mpg on the highway (but I drive like a grandma and I don't usually use the AC).

The hunt for a used car continues! So far I've discovered I'm probably not buying from a dealer unless I want to pay extra and get lied to!

I just looked (online) at a Saturn SL 1997 with 112k on it, looks to be in decent shape minus the dirt on the seats and floors. The paper advert said this car was selling for $3995 but would go for less online... I was sent there by a work colleague who said I'd get a decent deal there! On the online advert it stated this car had side airbags, power steering, remote trunk lid and remote fuel lid along with a techometer, sports mirrors.. and a bunch of other stuff I'm sure isn't standard on a 97 SL. Online it's selling for $2948. I did check some sites online with that millage and the age, that thing cant really be worth anymore than $2000 at most?

I could very well be mistaken (I'm far from an expert or even a novice) here but.. our first car a Saturn SL 1998 we got 2 years ago for (a good deal at the time) $2,500 had 80k on it and none of the above, clean inside and out! It came with the bare essentials! it was the most basic model they made, no power steering, locks no side airbags (where they even on Saturn's in 97 - 98?) and I'm sure the rest of the above didn't come with it?

I'm just shocked that they have lied so blantenly or havent checked the specs or just guessed. Thats insane.. can car dealerships really lie outright like that on the side of the road and online?

Ohh now.. talking about car dealership lying!!! I'm going to go to new Orleans tomorrow (and drive abck 13 hrs!) to buy my "new to me" car from a dealership.. now i'm scared!!! The carfax said no problem though... But i got quite a good deal (about the same as kbb traid-in value) but we got the "junk" fee for another $400 but overall it's still a very good deal.. HOPEFULLY there's no lying here at my dealership!!

you can also go to www.nadaguides.com to look at the traid-in value and retail price too.. kbb is actually for cardealers so the price on there are actually favors them.. my to be new car worth a lot more in traid-in in this site than kbb and it's the website my credit union use to determine the LTV

Anya,
I hate to rain on your parade, but i would be leary of buying a car from NO, there are still flood damaged cars out there. Make sure you check it out.

Funny you mention a KIA, I've heard a lot of bad reports about them! Although I'm seriously considdering buying one if it's a 2000 model or later! They got bought out in 1999 by hyundai and they don't appear to be bad cars at all!

Well I actually wouldn't mind picking up a KIA if I could at a decent price in good shape. Although I couldn't see myself withought a working A/C... the heat here in Florida would murder ye inside the car!

My credit seems to be doing a little better lately although I don't have enough of a record yet to get anything big. Even if I could get a car on credit right now with a decent sized deposit I wouldn't. We're going to move to a different State over the next year or so and a car payment would suck up additional funds.. although I would like to use that to build my credit... It's annoying having to start from scratch again!

When it comes to used cars looks like it's a case of trust no one!

Is CarFax worth the money? I'm thinking about getting it or something to check out the VIN's before I part or think of parting with any cash! Has anyone used eBay Motors to buy a used car?.. and can anyone tell me what the "dealer fees" or "processing fees" are for other than being used to make the car appear less expensive than it really is?

I have to admit I'm still trying to get used to the idea of everything in the US not being priced as it is. Back home if something was 99c or 99p then that's what you paid! Here it's ex tax and any "fees" (if it's a large item) that get added after that?..

I thought I'd update my status while hunting for a car! Good news is I've found a number of cars with less than 100k on em and within budget. Some of them actually have around 70k - 85k which is decent enough considering our budget of only $2,500. Most of what I've found are mid to late 90's and appear to be in decent shape. So far so good...

Well as was mentioned here before, I thought maybe I should try credit as it's gonna take weeks if not an extra 2 months to get a car now. I thought I'd try online with the bank the wife and I are with and I got refused in about 10 seconds! I didn't really expect to get approved but I thought it'd least say we'll call you or something? Maybe I shouldn't have applied as it'll register as a small negative mark on my small as it is score. It also puts me off trying again at the same bank or any other bank for fear of having another bad mark on my file.

Although I did just get an approval for a credit card from capital one? I also just got a preapproved credit card application from the very same bank? Grrrr… Maybe we should just got borrow $1000 and use $1000 of our own money as collateral then pay it back the next day? I’ve heard that it adds a few extra points to the score!

It's really annoying not having any credit or very little credit!

Banks are much more rigorous about who they extend credit to. You might want to try at a dealership; although the rates are typically less good, you can always refi after a year once you've developed a history.

Good luck!

Carmax is a good place to buy a car, they dont have the hidden fees, the price advertised is the price you pay.
Not a lot of dealers will give you a guarantee for long but carfax will give you say 3 months with a follow up option.
They tend to have better cars that will actually last you a while, ive been recomended to carmax by lots of people, im in Florida too.
I check online what cars they have, im just waiting nearer the time that my AOS is complete, well when my EAD has come through, then im of to Carmax to get my motor, i will also get the carfax thing done too.

My mate is a mechanic for mazda and he said they will guarantee your car for say three months, so when you buy the car you want...go to another garage and get them to give your car a complete going over to see if anything needs doing, if it does get the list and take it to carmax and tell them this needs to be fixed or sorted out or you want your money back, because they have a money back policy too.
They will fix any problems it has... but you should get a good car without any problems

Carfax is, I think, only $25 for a month of unlimited VIN# checking, and well worth saving you from getting a totally crappy car.

We did it when we bought my husbands Honda Civic from craigslist. Did you check out what they have on that site? I just browsed and saw a couple nice cars in case you were intersted.

Carmax is only good if you like paying a lot for your car. The stated price is what you pay, you dont have to negotiate, because THEY ARE RIPPING YOU OFF. Usually the prices they have are way over Kelly Blue Book Value. Once you are off the lot, is not that easy to get them to fix stuff, sometimes they say its wear & tear and parts are due to break... go figure what kind of saying is this when they have all the "guarantees" in place... its just advertising to get you in. They also make tv commercials that they never buy cars with frame damage, that is such a lie! My sisters friend worked there, and told me of a story that Carmax bought a totalled Mercedes, got the title redone to take out the "rebuilt" part, and after being fixed sold as any other car. Be careful no matter where you get your car, dealer or person. Checking Carfax with the VIN is a super super thing!

Thanks for the responces! I will keep on hunting for something

garyandmarylou - Thanks for the warning!! lol Everyone i talked to about getting a car from NO said the same thing... But fortunately my new car is perfectly clear from flood damage.. from the carfax report it showed that it was Honda certified used car twice after the hurricane... We went to new orleans on Friday and looked at it and it was a beauty for me.. a little tear and wear as normal used car and we drove it home (13 hours!!!!! that'll prove how good the car is ) and no sign of flood damage... and i got it $3,000 to $4,000 cheaper than normal retail price.. so i'm very very happy with my new car (actually it's a CR-V so it's a SUV not a car lol.. I call everything "car")

At last the wait is finally over!... We finally found a decent used car within budget! We got a nice wee 1998 Mercury (Ford – based on the Mazda 323?) Tracer with 75k on the clock. Of course it’s an automatic and I find it hard not trying to find the clutch or shift all the time!..

We somehow managed to get the price down from $2,650 (KBB $2,300 - $2,700) to $2,200 and with the cost, of the title/tag, registration, dealer fees, taxes we ended up paying the $2,650 all in. Not that bad of a deal paying the price you see and drive home in!!!

The bad news… The car does require a new strut ($60 part!) in the next few weeks. Other than that it’s clean inside and out, almost new inside and apart from a minor scuff mark on the rear bumper it appears almost flawless!

All I need to do now is stop by the insurance place tomorrow on my lunch break and get it 100% road worthy!

My advice to anyone still looking is… keep looking till you get something. We looked at lots of total junk, car lots of junk selling for insane prices before we got this. Either we got lucky like others here have or it’ll fall apart tomorrow on my way to work! I think we got a decent deal.

Sorry I got in this discussion too late ... buying the car is the cheapest part. I would recommend you learn how to perform routine maintenance on your own (change fluids, brake pads, batteries, etc. ) because mechanics will charge you ALOT to do this, and with a 98 Merc this should all be accessible and pretty easy to do. Also keep the radio off for the first couple hundred miles so that you learn the sound of your car on the road - this first sign of something going bad is when the car sounds "wrong". Preventive maintenance is cheaper than fixing after it has been broke. 75k??? It better be from an old lady only going to church and back (and hitting a few curbs on the way to bust a strut), that is way under yearly average mileage in the US. In Florida you really need to watch for corrosion from the "salty" air (I used to live in Sarasota) - it kills cars faster than anything else down there. Hopefully it was treated well.

I have bought cars with over 100k miles with no problems, cars today tend to last alot longer than they did 20 years ago. Being proactive in maintenance and upkeep will make that car last well over 200k miles. Can't vouch for foreign-made cars being better that american-made cars, they are all machines.

According to a more knowledgeable friend it appears to be the strut/shock. I had him check it over, no rust no leaks no crash damage. With the millage on this thing and just how very clean it is I'm assuming it's very possible in this part of the world the previous owner was an old person. Like you said I wouldn't be shocked if the last owner ran over a few curbs/potholes! I've been doing just what you suggested and listening to the engine running, it's a low hum on the road and louder at speed very smooth pickup and doesn't struggle too bad even with the air at max. It's actually a lot quieter than our Saturn!

Luckily we have a decent mechanic that charges decent prices for most work although I do intend to become familiar with basic maintenance myself. I intend to get it over to a garage in the next week or 2 and have the mechanic give it a once over to ensure all is well and get that strut/shock fixed.

I've noticed from the reviews I've read that quite a few cars will hit the 200k mark if treated properly. We got our first car from the same dealership for slightly more than we paid for this car with 83k on it. It has just hit 120k this year, our second year with this car and the only problem we had with it was needing to replace the wires, plugs and a belt. Not too bad for a used 98 Saturn SL!