Sunday, January 8, 2012

Used car I'm about to buy has been sitting at dealership for 70 days?

I'm about to by an 2002 Infinity QX4 with 111,000 miles for $7500





First of all, is 111,000 too many miles for an infinity QX4? How long do they last? I need it to go close to 200,000.





Secondly, they dealership says they have had it for 70 days. Said they've dropped the price $1000, but no one has taken it yet.





Is that a sign?? Its just under the KBB value. They also said they can get me a clean car fax on it.





And also I looked at it yesterday and the guy said theres also 3 other people looking at it???? All of a sudden, after 70 days?? This doesn't add up to me.





My first car by the way.|||It's been sitting for 70 days because it's a gas-guzzling beast that requires premium fuel. It's only rated at 13 city, 17 hwy MPG.



Average mileage is 15k per year so 111k is well below average. Condition matters more than anything at 10 years old.



$7,500 is well below book value ($11k is typical dealer retail) so that begs a question, "What's wrong?"



"They also said they can get me a clean car fax on it." It takes seconds to pull up a CarFax, so why didn't they have one to show you right away? Most likely it's dirty and they will do everything in their power to "forget" to provide it before you've paid your money and left the lot at which time it will be too late.



"Better hurry as %26lt;pick a number%26gt; other folks are interested!" is typical dealer hype to pressure you into making a snap decision. So what if someone else buys it? There are millions of decent used vehicles for sale nationwide. Never fall in love with a car -- it will never love you back.



IMHO, they are hiding something at that price and not having a CarFax at the ready. I'd walk.|||I looked at it yesterday and the guy said theres also 3 other people looking at it.





That's the 2nd oldest lie in car sales, right behind 'only driven by an old lady to church on Sundays'. The sales person is trying to create a sense of urgency on your part to make you jump on the sale.|||decent car, but too many miles if you ask me. Find yourself a car with lower miles, maybe even something with warranty (certified pre-owned, if you can't afford new). Cars over 100k miles tend to cost a lot to repair once big things start to break... besides, you never know who drove it and how they took care of the car in the past 100k miles... so it may or may not last you 200k miles.|||well the first thing lesson in life is never believe what the seller is saying.





Second, it's easier to buy than the sell.


Third, have someone with you for a second opinion.|||Buy based on facts, not emotion! Emotional purchases usually bring regret. The car has been in inventory 70 days, in the car business a car is considered "fresh" inventory until it hits 90 days in inventory, so this is not a concern. Want to know what the car is really worth in your market? It is as easy as calling a few local dealerships and tell them you have that exact car to sell, honestly describe it to them and get a bid amount! The most important thing you can do before buying this or any other car is to pay a qualified mechanic to perform a thorough inspection on the car. Get a car fax, this will tell you how many other owners the car has had and any major damage that has occurred. Good luck|||It's hard to judge a used vehicle by miles. For a vehicle that has been meticulously maintained, 111 wouldn't be too bad. But if it's been beat up and the dealership just spray painted the frame and gave it to the detail guys to buff out the scratches then 111,000 can be a lot. In my opinion 70 days is quite a while for a dealer to hold on to a vehicle but they are probably just yanking your chain with the 3 other people looking at it. Trying to make you hurry your decision and just buy the car. Take someone who you trust to go look at the car with you, someone that has some experience with used cars and preferably mechanical knowledge to check it over.





My local dealer told me that they don't go off of KBB anymore because Autotrader bought them out and it really skewed the data. They use NADA or Blackbook so take that into consideration also. Maybe cross reference the data from KBB and NADA. Popular mechanics has a used car checklist on their website thats a huge help to new people getting into the used car buying market. Look that up, take it with you and ask a lot of questions! Best of luck!

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