I need used car buying advice
 

If you are buying from a reputable dealership like richmond toyota, or jim pattison group , the Saleman says this used camery for example has been through inspection by our service department here and everything checks out ok mechanically and cosmetically, ==passed the 120 pts inspection.

Do you think I should trust them or should I still bring it to my own mechanic (thirdparty place like speed syndicate)....etc

I dont know if I should fully trust dealer.

Thanks in advance.

I would probably still get it checked out by my own mechanic

a established dealer has a reputation to hold. they will also provide you will carproof and lien check.

i bought used cars from dealers. i had instances where i found problems after i bought the car. the dealer fixed it.
i had instances where i found problems when i bought it from a remote dealer.. ( carter honda), and they told me to go to my local dealer ( campus honda) and they will pay the charges. it was true.

i think the only problem with establish dealers is the salesman you deal with. if they poorly assist you, then you may have bad experience with dealers.

I would fully trust a reputable dealer especially if there is a warranty involved. When I bought my wife her RAV4 from a tiny used car shop in New West I made sure to have my mechanic look over it. To my surprise it was in exceptional condition and not a speedometer rollback or something like that.

based on my experience, the 120 point inspections or whatever never really gets thoroughly tested. It's more like they developed the 120 point inspection, use it as advertisement, but actually only go through 70% of the checklist.

Just perform your due diligence, read up the common issues on that particular car's forum, there should be a specific forum for each model or brand of car out there

Do they though? A lot of known shitty dealers have been in business for ages.

I've had better experience with dealers than with private sellers.
Having said that, you should do your due diligence regardless. I.e. take it to a private mechanic.

Two anecdotal examples:
1. My friend bought a used S2000 from a local Honda dealer. It was advertised as "accident free". He didn't bother running carproof. After a private mechanic serviced it, it was obvious there was an major accident repair previously. Carproof then showed an out of province accident. He had to go to the dealer association to get some compensation.

2. I looked at an ISF. Everything looked OK (carproof etc). The first time I looked at the car, it was near dusk. When I was about to take it to a private mechanic, I noticed that they had put tape on the check engine light. The salesperson then disclosed that the auto adjusting headlights were broken.

Yes, the dealer has a reputation to hold up, but people are self-serving and just can't help themselves sometimes.

I would generally trust a reputable dealer. If there is something wrong, it's probably an anomaly...
however, paying <1% of the price of the car to be sure that it's defect free is never a bad idea.

nope.

i'm not going to name which jim pattison dealership i went to but i was looking at a certified pre-owned car on one of their lots. one of the first things i did was look into the wheelwell to check for tire tread depth and ball joints and i ended up seeing paint overspray where there should not be any, which to me was a clear indication that there was bodywork done to the car at some point. but one of the criteria for that car brand to be a certified pre-owned was no major accidents. when i pointed this out to sales, they showed me the carproof which said no accident claims, but i wanted nothing to do with it and walked away.

the following day i looked at the ad online for that car and saw that it was no longer listed as certified. meh.

I think when people think of carproof, it indicates that there are no accidents. But carproof just means that there has been no accidents claimed.

because a car is a big purchase for alot of people. you are right, the buyer should get a second and do his own due diligence.

i know alot of people have put their faiths on the dealer itself, and an establish dealer can roll out alot of cars in a given day. these check list are performed by people, and people makes mistakes.

Depends on the dealership. I bought a used Altima from Freeway Mazda about 10 years ago and they were straight up. Replaced anything that needed replacing and it was ready to go. I drove it for 5 years with no issues.

all true. maybe it was just a sloppy reconditioning job but i really wanted something that had never been resprayed, repaired, etc.. the fact that they pulled the certified status makes me believe that they found something after i had looked at it.

funny you should say that, when i saw this thread i thought of my friend's experience, also at a jim pattison dealership for a pre-owned car.

was missing a grill accessory that the salesman guaranteed he would get the piece for. bought the car and the salesman re-negg'd. rookie mistake not having it in writing but took the guy's word for it. left my friend pretty PJSalt

then again as mentioned i'd say it was more of that individual salesman.

there is a reason why we call dealership stealership
they will do anything to steal your money

i think it has all to do with which dealership you go to. i've looked at many cars at brian jessel pre-owned. i've bought one, while a friend bought another. these guys wont fuck around to make a sale.
brian jessel being one of the biggest names in the lower mainland, they disclosed everything i needed to know about the car.
they wont sell you a lemon, because that ruins their reputation

Yeah, don't trust them 100%. Last time I dealt with Lougheed Acura, they told me the car had been inspected etc. The funny thing was, the salesperson called the mechanic while we were negotiating and told him to inspect and fill out the inspection sheet.

Gotta find the right salesman to deal with, otherwise they lick your ass and balls to lure you in. Once you pay the deposit/close the deal, they treat you like they've never seen you before.

ps. Fuck Lougheed Acura.

Personally, I always though those 100-whatever point inspection is bull, especially if it's a car that's not the dealership's brand(i.e. A Hyundai at a Honda dealership). The best I have seen is RX-8s being sold at non-Mazda dealerships. They claim the car is good, yet they don't know shit all about the rotary.

Sometimes, private owners can work out as well. Some of the careful owners keep all of their maintenance records. My beater Corolla actually had ALL of the maintenance records from 1999 when it was first purchased. The car had a broken door cylinder and burns a bit of oil, both of which the previous owner(a nice old lady) explained. Damn good car for that price.

Very true. There are certain small damages you can sweep under the rug. My RX-8 has some hidden damages under the rear bumper the body shop found out after I scraped my bumper. It wasn't anything major, so I assumed the previous owner backed into a wall or pillar. Things like this can totally happen.

The dealers (non-kingsway style) tend to take care of you if you are reasonable with your request.

My pre-owned Camry had a non working auto dimming rear mirror which took me about a week after trading the car home to notice, even though the CPO worksheet says it was ok. Dealer paid for a new part and labor, no problems.

A year later, I noticed some surface rust developing on the bottom of 1 door. There was no record of previous damage to the door, no damage caused by me that would have resulted in rust forming. Of course I was concerned since the car wasn't even 5 years old and low mileage so I brought it back again, they offered to get a shop deal on the repair and don't the cost with me 50/50.

The main thing that got me nervous about the car was the manager who I was working with for these issues remembered the car a year after the fact, and it wasn't even him that sold me that car. In the end the dealer ended up buying the car back from me for a fair amount, no problems with the process at all, and even kicked back a few bucks towards my new car lease

From what I've seen, even the own-brand dealerships don't know jack shit about their own vehicles. The mechanics almost never have any special training, they're just normal mechanics under a dealer name.

So I hired a third party inspector and found some small issues like a dirty fluid, and surface bubble that may indicate rust developing around a corner of the side skirt. My dealership refuse to take any action and told me to take the deal or leave it.....

by the way , this is a big/ major named dealer....I haven't taken the delivery of car yet and they are pretty much firm on the price and no more negotiation with the finding. Pretty frustrating.

......

Just move on and continue with your car search, simple as that

Walk away

walk away because of the condition? or their attitude.
The other parts of the car is above average, mechanically good.
Price is on the high end of the range, but not by alot.


Can you let me know if i am calling off the deal due to the potential rust or ?.

The price is on the high end and they're unwilling to negotiate despite findings by a 3rd party which indicate they missed some things during their inspection. I assume they're also unwilling to address those issues prior to the sale.

Unless it's a super-rare car that you have to have (you mentioned a Toyota Camry as an example in the OP, which is definitely not super rare), I'd walk away and find a better deal.

Edit: Saw your other thread, first gen IS300. Okay, so those are getting harder to find with age but not impossible. Ultimately your decision.

Its semi rare, an 03 IS300 with 110,000km. Most ones I find are modded to shit and beatup badly