[TigerHeli]

Thank you all for your replies. I don't personally know any "trusted" mechanics, however when selecting a car, I google the area/neighborhood it's located in for auto mechanics in that area and their rates, and reviews.http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/...earbyArea=8&query=toyota camry&searchNearby=1

Be VERY careful with this. It might not be as bad with a private party sale, but for the small used car lots - the local mechanics tend to know the dealer lots, if not do maintenance for them, so they often have more interest in helping the local dealer sell a car than giving you an honest evaluation of it.

the wagon has a lot of great new parts but whenever I see that I wonder why a lot of work got put into a car and now they're getting rid of it...

I got here to late to see the actual ad, but you never know on this. My dad many times would put 4 new tires on a car he thought he would keep, than find something he liked on a car lot a week later and trade it in.

The seller might have been planning to keep the car and then they decided they liked some feature in a new car or needed something larger and had to trade it.

Or they kept it up and one day the visor fell off or the alternator failed and they replaced it but decided enough was enough and they were sick or nickel and diming things and needed to move on and sell it.

Or the transmission or head gasket failed and they put a can of leak-fix in it and need to sell it fast ...

Really hard to say ...

 

[TigerHeli]

How about mechanics located near big car lots (ie automile) where there are many brands within walking distance of each other?

Depends where you are buying the car from. It's something I personally feel I got burned on.

I bought a 1997 Civic from a small independent car lot (my first and last northern car). The lot didn't want me to take it to a mechanic, but there was a local mechanic nearby and he said it needed shocks, but just had some surface rust and would be fine. The fuel line rusted through and cost $500 to fix with a $100 junkyard line kit, along with CV axles, tires, and misc other fixes and we ended up selling the car 6 months later b/c we still weren't convinced it was safe to drive.

I realized later that the mechanic I took it to, likely knew the dealer I bought from - might have checked out the car for him initially.

As far as the general answer to your question - typically for me, the small car lots or private sellers are not located near the automiles. The seller might have a problem with my wanting to drive the car 25 miles each way to have a large mechanic check it out.

Now - if I am buying from the AutoMile - the local mechanic isn't as bad a choice as the AutoMile major dealers usually have their own mechanics to check the cars over - although I agree, they are probably as or more likely to be corrupt than the private sellers unless they are offering some type of warranty on the used car.

 

[TigerHeli]

The private sellers can be shady as well. There are scammers to worry about, but there are also the people that will find out the head gasket is leaking and put some stop-leak in the radiator and change the oil and tell you it runs great and doesn't have any problems and will be a great car for you ...

 

[TigerHeli]

White one looks good to me as well, assuming info is accurate.

As far as Carfax - I wouldn't pay the $50. If it is from a dealer, I would probably get him to run it and fold it into the price of the car. From a private party, that is hard to do.

And I would look for negative info on the Carfax - i.e. if the Carfax shows accidents, odometer errors, etc. - look at those as issues with the car to negotiate the price down or be aware of. If the Carfax is clean - that isn't a negative against the car, but don't assume that the car is fine b/c of that.

 

[TigerHeli]

As you said - Carfax is useful to verify or confirm what you already think about the car.

In your case, the carfax was clean, even though the car had been in two minor accidents.

Then again, from what you described, I doubt the accidents damage the car's reliability - but if they were on the Carfax and somebody saw "Minor accident Reported" twice, they might pass up what would have been a good car.

Another thing you can do it google the VIN number.

Not trying to scare the OP, but I've seen cars that looked immaculate in photos and you google the Vin number and you see where the car was sold at a salvage auction and the entire front end was damaged.

(Typically if you see something like a 2012 Fiesta with 40K miles for $2500 - if it seems too good to be true ...)

 

[TigerHeli]

As mentioned earlier - car probably has a bad head gasket, maybe worse, and seller says it will pass smog, but doesn't say that he smogged it.

I think the seller just wants it to be someone else's problem - although the scrap value is probably $200, so at $500 the buyer would not have a lot of money tied up in it.

 

[TigerHeli]

Head deck resurfacing along with a water pump would make me think it had a water pump fail, over heated, and blew the head gasket, warping something along the way that required machining work to get right. This job needs to be PERFECTLY or it will never be right with little chance of getting it right. I'd want thorough documentation on the repair job including who did it, and then have a third party verify everything with a leak down test and coolant system pressure test. From one picture I'd inspect the right rear arch carefully for rust; it looks a bit dented and can't tell if the black spots are just primer/scratches or rust.

The OP's decision was to look elsewhere ...

It is $500 now. If you got it smogged and went into it knowing that the car might need another head gasket job or engine replacement, it might not be a bad car.

Evaluataions like Cipher93's are much more informative than a blanket "look elsewhere" posting.

 

[TigerHeli]

It's the truth isn't? :smile: OP has/had doubts about the car better to trust his/her gut and.....

For the OP, yes, it is!

In fairness, in this thread I dinged you for posting a blanket statement that only applied to the OP (that car might be a good value for SOMEONE) and in other threads (2004 Echo comment when OP asked about a 2015 Prius), I dinged you for posting a valid statement for some members that probably didn't apply to the OP.

Sometimes you just can't win ...

 

[TigerHeli]

What do you guys think of this one?

Gray primer spot on the hood - maybe just bird poo, though.

Seats look like they are gray, but rest of interior looks blue - seats may have been replaced.

Wouldn't bother me though.

but one thing that does bother me is the fact that the user covers up the license plate. I know a lot of people do this, I was never really sure why since privacy laws prevent license plates from being traced to the owner's residence or anything like that.

Wouldn't worry me at all - privacy laws can be circumvented if you have a friend on the police force or the DMV - and sometimes the tag stays with the owner and shows the county of residence ...

 

[TigerHeli]

Tag stays with the owner would be a reason I would try to hide it ...

(For example - not saying this is likely, but these days you never know ...

Seller sells the Camry and the battery dies a week later. Would have died if he hadn't sold it as well, but the new owner thinks he sold him a bad car and has a name and a picture of the license plate and looks up his house number - unlikely, but ...)

 

[TigerHeli]

Power steering could be expensive and that much rust on the roof would scare me.

 

[TigerHeli]

Shifting might be a sensor but I'm not positive on that.

To me, it is a good sign that he uses a steering wheel lock on a 28-year-old car with over 166K miles.

Either he really thinks a lot of the car (which is a good thing), or he lives in a really bad part of town (which is a bad thing ...)

 

[TigerHeli]

Solenoid is somewhat worse than a sensor - I think you have to pull a panel to get to them, but I don't think you have to mess with the fluid side of the tranny.

 

[TigerHeli]

I still have my eye on this one as well. Other than obvious wear (yellow stuff?) on the rear bumper, and a dent in the driver door - it seems alright. One thing that bothers me is that the headlights appear to be slightly "sunken inwards" at the front of the car. I'll be contacting a seller at the end of this week to schedule a meeting, so I'll need to have a choice by then. Budget is still $1500.

Rear bumper is just scuffed - could be made presentable with plasti-dip. Hood looks like it is either primer or silver and the rest of the car is white. LR window looks like it says "Sold" in grease paint on it. Makes me wonder if someone bought it and it trying to unload it for some reason.

Could be a good car, though ...

 

[TigerHeli]

True - but I usually would clean SOLD off the window so people don't think I found something wrong with it and want to ditch it fast.

 

[TigerHeli]

It can be awfully hard to tell from just pictures. I have had cars that I thought had major dents and dings and it was just a reflection on the photograph and cars that I thought looked flawless on photographs that I would be embarassed to own (dents and dings when seen in person).

 

[TigerHeli]

The right headlight is also mis-aligned. Looks like a junkyard buy with a primered hood and nose panel installed.

-Charlie

Looking more carefully - Right headlight does not align with grille. Left headlight does not align with front lip of hood, gouge on right front fender forward, possible scrape on left front fender above wheel arch.

This one probably had some front end and possible frame damage - might be acceptable and might drive great for an $1100 car - but there are a lot of red flags ...

 

[TigerHeli]

I steer clear of any priced below $1000, as I feel those would be offset but high mechanical bills within a very short time of me buying the car.

If you can do your own work, there is a trade-off here, though. If your budget is $1500 and the new car is only $900, that gives you $600 in parts to put into the new car if it needs it.

But you have to factor in your time and inconvenience.

Also - on 25-year-old cars, I'm not sure $500 in the sale price means that much difference. i.e. the $1500 car could also need major work (any 25-yo car could) and the seller may just as easily be thinking "Anything that runs is worth $1500" as "This is a fantastic car, but nobody is going to pay more than $750 for a 1989 Camry."

The one in Stanton has been in my bookmarks, I'm considering it but Carfax shows the car has been in a rear-end accident in the past.

There is less potential damage from a rear-end accident than a front end accident and probably most cars this old will be in some accident in the past - regardless of what Carfax says. Again - Carfax is a negative, not a positive. A blemished Carfax gives you an idea of things to investigate and check into. A clean one doesn't mean a good car - just a possibly good car.

 

[TigerHeli]

Yes - well-written, but "she" has 216,000 miles and is shifting differently - not a good sign. (And the purple bird would have to go, but ...)

 

[TigerHeli]

Not bad - scuffs on the front and back bumper - not many interior photos.