…… Need recommendations for online auto shopping

[raven]

Well . . . crap . . . I got myself into a bit of a fix.

I need to sell a vehicle and I need to buy a vehicle.
My grandson has bought and sold 8 used cars this year. He is truly a gearhead and somehow makes some money at it.
Anyway he says the Facebook Market place is the place to do it.
Unfortunately, I got pissed off and permanently canceled my Facebook account a few months back.

So a couple days ago, I created a new account. I used a Gmail account that is only used for communication with my ex-wife for stuff related to emergencies with our shared children. It clearly has my name in the account. And it is gmail that I use on my phone.
So, the account is created. I have no posts. I joined a couple of groups for Jeeps. And the next day, the account was locked for violation of community standards.
I asked for a review and they asked my phone number and a picture - which i reluctantly gave up - and I am still banned.

So, no Facebook Marketplace.

Sob story, I know.
Anyway, What are the best buy/sell websites out there other than FB. Craigs list I know about.

 

[Cardinal]

Carmax
Carvana
For buying. You can use your old one as a trade-in.

 

[raven]

Carmax
Carvana
For buying. You can use your old one as a trade-in.

The car I am looking to sell more is owed than I can get on trade
so I am going to spend the money to fix it and sell it private party
and just drive it until it sells.

And I have looked at dealerships including Carmax and Carvana - too high.

I hope to buy something between trade in value and private party value - win/win for seller and buyer.

 

[Cardinal]

Can you use your kid's FB account to use Marketplace?

 

[tech]

Every carmax car that has been brought into the shop has been a disappointment for the owner. Buy local if you can...at least you can see what you're getting into.

 

[Peaches78]

My husband has been in the car business for over 20 years, and does NOT recommend Carmax or Carvana. They get a lot of cars from auction, they do minimal work on them, and their warranties are not very good.

Personally, we sell all of our vehicles private party. However....right now used cars are in VERY high demand. I would detail your vehicle, and contact every one of your local dealerships and see who will give you the most for it. Also, when buying we also prefer to purchase private party unless we can find a good deal at a dealership. You can generally get a better price, and you somewhat have a better feel for how the vehicle was taken care of by meeting the buyer and seeing how it was presented to you when you looked at it. Don't ever buy something that they won't bother to clean it up when they sell it. If they couldn't bother to do that, they probably didn't do maintenence on it either. Always ask for maintenence records and get a Carfax on a vehicle you are buying, from a dealership included. If you are buying at a dealership, it is best to shop at the end of the month, and always negotiate for the "price out the door". Have your financing in place before you shop if you aren't paying cash. You can then see if the dealerships finance department can beat the financing you have in place--but the cards are in your hand. Also, if you have a trade in, DO NOT negotiate that as part of the deal. They will try and get you to, but refuse to have it be part of the deal. Always have it be two completely seperate. Negotiate the price of the vehicle you are purchasing, THEN the price of the trade in. Remember--right now dealers WANT your vehicles. They are selling for thousands above sticker price. This isn't good if you are a buyer, but it is great as a seller.

 

[Sicario]

For SELLING (if it's a nice vehicle):
Carvana.com
Carmax.com

For BUYING:
AutoTrader.com
Edmunds.com
KBB.com

 

[phloydius]

I need to sell a vehicle and I need to buy a vehicle.
My grandson has bought and sold 8 used cars this year. He is truly a gearhead and somehow makes some money at it.
[...]
Craigs list I know about.

For selling, if grandson is local, consider offering him a commission to do it for you. Having bought and sold several used cars online over the last 10 years, experience counts for a tremendous amount towards the profit margin of buying/selling. And if you find one you like online, consider paying him a fee to go with you to look at it and advise you.

Craigslist is great, I've gotten some of my best deals there (buying much more than selling). However, 90% of what you'll deal with is scammers, 5% will try to take advantage of you, and 5% great folks. Buyer (or seller) beware.

 

[SurvivalRing]

I just bought a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan in October, using Cargurus. Shopped with Cargurus, Carvana, and a couple other similar websites, but found what I wanted with Cargurus.

They offered a free carfax report, plenty of pics, and full tracking of all maintenance records, as well as delivery. I’m quite happy with the van, the purchase journey, and I know that the dealer purchased the van at auction. Full transparency at every stage of the transaction.

The van was high mileage, and had one owner who lived in Casper, Wyoming. Where I live, EVERYTHING is two hours and a hundred miles or more in every direction…so the mileage was a concern, but the van was immaculate upon delivery.

Regarding Carvana and Cargurus ::

Carvana accepts one out of twenty cars. Then, they do a multi point inspection. From their website…

• The car selection is massive: Buyers can choose between a multitude of makes and models all of the nation.
• Car quality and vehicle history: Many of the cars on Carvana’s site look nearly immaculate and each one comes with a history report from Carfax.
• Return policy: The seven-day return policy is a “no questions asked” affair
• The vehicles go through a 150-point inspection
• Purchase includes a free oil change
• 100-day warranty
• Nearly everything is done online

My son Kenny bought his 2016 Ford Escape on Carvana a couple of years ago, and he loves it.

The only con in my case is that because they do the above work, their prices are a bit higher overall.

Cargurus showed me a dozen or more vehicles in my price range, from all over the country, and offered delivery with that cost figured into the price

I’ve purchased many vehicles in the last 45 years, and all were face to face deals…only occasionally turning out to be lemons. My van is the first and only vehicle I’ve bought completely online, and the learning curve was fairly painless.

Hope this helps answer your questions

my new van…

 

[tech]

Well, from the Carvana vehicles brought into my shop I would avoid them. Bad engines, bad transmissions, suspension damage and misrepresented options....can't say about cargurus...never heard of them.

I would never buy a car unseen/undriven.

 

[AlfaMan]

If you're buying, PLEASE remember. If an accident isn't reported to Autochek or Carfax, then it WON"T BE ON THE CARFAX.

I inspect cars trucks vans etc daily for my job; I'm one of about 650 full line vehicle inspectors-certified to look at all makes brought in/built in North America.

Three out of every 10 cars I inspect that has a clean Carfax has unreported damage and repairs. Not just bumpers, but hoods, fenders, undercarriage etc. One out of those 3 showing unreported damage is actually a frame damaged vehicle. And this is every day of the week too.

Yes, frame damaged-like a cut and paste of a quarter panel, new trunk floor and stub rails, core supports bent like pretzels. Actually seen a few with the entire B pillar area and inner/outer rockers cut out, sectioned and replaced. Seen a bunch of Toyota Tacoma/Tundra/4 runners with structural rust in the frames-with plates welded over them and undercoated so you don't catch the repair (sorry cupcake, I don't miss frame damage).

Both Carvana and Carmax buy from auctions-generally rental car returns. More money is spent in recon on cosmetic issues than mechanical ones. Their cars are pretty but in the next month or two after purchase expect to buy new brakes or tires for it.

 

[AlfaMan]

Well, from the Carvana vehicles brought into my shop I would avoid them. Bad engines, bad transmissions, suspension damage and misrepresented options....can't say about cargurus...never heard of them.

I would never buy a car unseen/undriven.

CarGurus is like a junior varsity version of Carvana. Except the cars are rougher and recon is half assed at best.

 

[AlfaMan]

I just bought a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan in October, using Cargurus. Shopped with Cargurus, Carvana, and a couple other similar websites, but found what I wanted with Cargurus.

They offered a free carfax report, plenty of pics, and full tracking of all maintenance records, as well as delivery. I’m quite happy with the van, the purchase journey, and I know that the dealer purchased the van at auction. Full transparency at every stage of the transaction.

The van was high mileage, and had one owner who lived in Casper, Wyoming. Where I live, EVERYTHING is two hours and a hundred miles or more in every direction…so the mileage was a concern, but the van was immaculate upon delivery.

Regarding Carvana and Cargurus ::

Carvana accepts one out of twenty cars. Then, they do a multi point inspection. From their website…

• The car selection is massive: Buyers can choose between a multitude of makes and models all of the nation.
• Car quality and vehicle history: Many of the cars on Carvana’s site look nearly immaculate and each one comes with a history report from Carfax.
• Return policy: The seven-day return policy is a “no questions asked” affair
• The vehicles go through a 150-point inspection
• Purchase includes a free oil change
• 100-day warranty
• Nearly everything is done online

My son Kenny bought his 2016 Ford Escape on Carvana a couple of years ago, and he loves it.

The only con in my case is that because they do the above work, their prices are a bit higher overall.

Cargurus showed me a dozen or more vehicles in my price range, from all over the country, and offered delivery with that cost figured into the price

I’ve purchased many vehicles in the last 45 years, and all were face to face deals…only occasionally turning out to be lemons. My van is the first and only vehicle I’ve bought completely online, and the learning curve was fairly painless.

Hope this helps answer your questions

my new van…

View attachment 310757

Nice van Survivalring! One suggestion-put one of those air deflectors on the hood. FCA vans of that vintage have an issue with delamination of the hood. After a while the front edges of the hood start bubbling up like it's rust. But it isn't. I've seen many of these vans with that issue at 30-35K miles. Jeep Grand cherokees, Compasses, Dodge Durangoes, Rams; they all do it.
Otherwise a pretty solid van-it's one from the end of the last generation so all the bugs are worked out.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

Buy from someone who can sell you a used car extended warranty. I bought my car from a dealer's used car division (not the make that that dealer sells, it was someone else's trade in). It was 4 years old with less than 12,000 miles and looked mint. Past all inspections too, theirs and my own mechanic. In 6 months I've had over $5000 in repairs (all covered by the warranty). I would not have been a happy camper if those repairs came out of my pocket. PS- The mechanic at the dealership that sells my make of car, where I brought it to be repaired, told me some of the problems were from the car (obviously) sitting for too long. If I lived near you AlfaMan I'd love for you to look it over for me

HD

 

[AlfaMan]

Buy from someone who can sell you a used car extended warranty. I bought my car from a dealer's used car division (not the make that that dealer sells, it was someone else's trade in). It was 4 years old with less than 12,000 miles and looked mint. Past all inspections too, theirs and my own mechanic. In 6 months I've had over $5000 in repairs (all covered by the warranty). I would not have been a happy camper if those repairs came out of my pocket. PS- The mechanic at the dealership that sells my make of car, where I brought it to be repaired, told me some of the problems were from the car (obviously) sitting for too long. If I lived near you AlfaMan I'd love for you to look it over for me

HD

And I'd be happy and honored to look it over for you.

I can literally tear a car apart in 30 minutes. Part of what I do is look close for damage and repairs. And if one panel has been repaired (say, a fender) then you start looking at the parts around that refinished fender. Like the A pillar, the adjacent door, the apron inside the engine compartment, the bumper reinforcement and stub rails. If you find damage on one part, invariably you will find either unrepaired damage or repaired damage on one of those other pieces.

That's part of the love I have for my job.Get to play with all KINDS of cars all day long; part of it is the "Sherlock Holmes " aspect which I absolutely love. You find repairs, ok, what else is this "cream puff" hiding? You dig a bit deeper, aha here's more damage. Keep looking, aha! there's the structural damage that got hidden rather than repaired. It is so much FUN to do that. And good for the customer as well.

I've told innumerable people the car they're looking at is frame damaged and they'd be better off finding another vehicle. When you do that for 200k Bentley Bentaygas (Bentley SUV) and antique Porsche 930's (found a "no damage history" car that had the A pillar, inner rockers, left front aprons cut and pasted (damaged parts cut out and replaced). That car was for sale for 100K.Potential buyer wanted to give me a 100 buck tip-we can't and won't take tips, but I'd enjoy a test drive in the one you do buy ......and Friday, I looked at a 1961 Mercedes 220 SE Coupe (an automatic, no less. Scarce as hen's teeth) with rust all over the body and frame covered with shiny (And thick! paint went from 10.5 mils to 32 mils. Read-LOTS of bondo filler!) new black paint. Car was being sold for 65K-saved the buyer from being stuck with a rust bucket. Talk about job satisfaction!