Buying a used car. Advice please

[LosAngelesRams]

Ive had a funny encounter with certified pre-owned cars when I was looking for a car about a year ago.

When I was looking for a car I found this Civic that was in my budget all though there were no pictures on the site. So my girl and I went down there and to our surprise the car was a piece of shit LOL

The paint was faded all over the car, the seats were ripped and the glove box was broken so it just hung open there. The car was a 2011 too! I looked at the guy and told him "wtf is this shit, this is a joke right?" and he replied "no sir this is a certified pre owned car" I looked at the documents, laughed at him and left. I didn’t even want to know how the engine was. After being amazed with how bad shape it was and seeing the documents showing it was a certifed car, I did a little research and found there is a loop hole dealers can use that will make the car "pre-owned certified" even if it s a piece of crap falling apart.

My advice is deal with a reputable dealer if you plan on going this route because the certified pre-owned cars normally cost more than buying one privately. Also try to bring a mechanic you trust if you can to check out the car before you start signing papers.

Good luck bro, hope you guys find a great car. Just dont give up there are TONS of cars out there, don’t settle for less :mrgreen:

 

[LosAngelesRams]

Thor, very good point. I just did a search and found this really good graphical app by the New York Times that shows where everything is made, and it looks like most of the Sienna and Odysseys are made and assy'd in the good ole USofA. Go figure.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/19/automobiles/20090619-auto-plants-4.html?_r=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009 ... .html?_r=0</a>

I was going to post that as well. Lotta jobs would be lost if they left the Country.

All true but is the gov't bailing THEM out?
AND are the majority of the components made here?I ain't sayin the need to leave, I'd just rather they slept in the basement instead of the Master Bedroom.

I've had American cars, and I've had non-American cars. I can honestly say that American cars aren't made like they used to be made. New American cars are basically shyte. In the 60's and 70's, those cars were the best thing ever made in the history of the world. And I'm as Patriotic as anyone you'll ever meet, but I find no solace in supporting companies that needed to be bailed out because their greed BY FAR exceeded their desire to make a quality product.

check this out, Dude. My mom just bought a Jeep rubicon not to long ago (6 months?), her dream car she always wanted as a kid(a Jeep). she had it for about 2-3 months the headers started warping it would barely reach 65 mph and had a hard time going over a damn hill. good luck going 4x4 with it lol. she took it back to them and they knew about the problem the whole time and said "just ride it till it breaks down and well fix it for you" long story short she ended up returning it but having to pay for the miles she was over within the time limit she had it and HAD to get another chrystler made car. when she was looking at the other cars to pick from she seen the 300C and was like hmm this looks nice, the guy stops her and says "look i feel really bad for you, dont buy this car you will be bringing it back like the jeep" she ended up getting a challenger and calling it a day.

 

[-X-]

Thor, very good point. I just did a search and found this really good graphical app by the New York Times that shows where everything is made, and it looks like most of the Sienna and Odysseys are made and assy'd in the good ole USofA. Go figure.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/19/automobiles/20090619-auto-plants-4.html?_r=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009 ... .html?_r=0</a>

I was going to post that as well. Lotta jobs would be lost if they left the Country.

All true but is the gov't bailing THEM out?
AND are the majority of the components made here?I ain't sayin the need to leave, I'd just rather they slept in the basement instead of the Master Bedroom.

I've had American cars, and I've had non-American cars. I can honestly say that American cars aren't made like they used to be made. New American cars are basically shyte. In the 60's and 70's, those cars were the best thing ever made in the history of the world. And I'm as Patriotic as anyone you'll ever meet, but I find no solace in supporting companies that needed to be bailed out because their greed BY FAR exceeded their desire to make a quality product.

check this out, Dude. My mom just bought a Jeep rubicon not to long ago (6 months?), her dream car she always wanted as a kid(a Jeep). she had it for about 2-3 months the headers started warping it would barely reach 65 mph and had a hard time going over a damn hill. good luck going 4x4 with it lol. she took it back to them and they knew about the problem the whole time and said "just ride it till it breaks down and well fix it for you" long story short she ended up returning it but having to pay for the miles she was over within the time limit she had it and HAD to get another chrysler made car. when she was looking at the other cars to pick from she seen the 300C and was like hmm this looks nice, the guy stops her and says "look i feel really bad for you, dont buy this car you will be bringing it back like the jeep" she ended up getting a challenger and calling it a day.

Wow. That blows. :bummed: