How to buy a used car now

[Anonymous]

I haven’t bought a car since the pre-internet days. I know everything is overpriced right now but I need to help an elderly family member buy a car. Since you no longer walk in and haggle with the sales person who “talks to their manager” until you pay $500 over invoice, how do you do this? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Budget? Type of car?

Some cars are easier to get than others right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Budget? Type of car?

Some cars are easier to get than others right now.

Thank you. A Honda Civic or Toyota Rav4- or something similar. No budget but don’t want to overpay. Something gently used is ok. It doesn’t need to be loaded. I’m willing to go out of state to get it. I just can’t bring myself to accept luxury car prices for modest cars and that’s the way it’s been for awhile. Is that changing?

[Anonymous]

I just bought a used car for myself. Just do your research. Know how dealers compare for the same car/trim/mileage. Test drive all the cars you are looking at and then focus your research on the car you want.

I went to to a local dealer who had the car I wanted in the color I wanted and said "I came here because it was closest to my house and this is the car I want. The dealer 45m away us selling this same for for $1500 less, can you match it?" They did. I was willing to drive the 45m to buy it, but preferred my local dealer. Yes, there was a lot of back and forth, but I was willing to pack up and drive.

Yes, you can probably find something cheaper out of state, but also have to factor in inspections, etc once you get it home.

[Anonymous]

The most recent car I bought I found by searching Cars.com over a few months until a car showed up that hit all my requirements. They have good filtering options including by location, price, mileage, etc. and I found it easy enough to use. I am constitutionally incapable of haggling, though, so knew I'd be paying whatever price they showed online and was ok with that. I emailed the dealer when I found the one I liked and went and picked it up the next day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget? Type of car?

Some cars are easier to get than others right now.

Thank you. A Honda Civic or Toyota Rav4- or something similar. No budget but don’t want to overpay. Something gently used is ok. It doesn’t need to be loaded. I’m willing to go out of state to get it. I just can’t bring myself to accept luxury car prices for modest cars and that’s the way it’s been for awhile. Is that changing?

A gently used Honda or Toyota will never be cheap. Especially Civics. That's not going to change.

[Anonymous]

Go slightly out of the area:
https://www.youngertoyota.com/searchused.aspx?Make=Toyota

They have used RAV4's. Interest rates on auto loans are pretty high right now, like 7%+, so that's one factor depressing used car prices (finally!)

[Anonymous]

Honda Civics & Toyota RAV4s command premium prices at this time.

[Anonymous]

High Deprecation is your friend in the used car market.

Cars that really retain values like Jeep Wranglers or Camrys or Accords are overpriced in the used car market of late model.