Where to buy a used car? Carmax, car dealer, used lot, ...

[Anonymous]

Looking to buy a used 2015 Mazda 3 or similar. Would you buy from a Mazda dealer? Or carmax? Can you negotiate the price? Would you take the car to mechanic to check it out? We have only bought used once and just assumed it was ok because it was a newer Toyota.

[Anonymous]

Car Max often buys from the rental car agencies so you could buy directly from them. Or, just check the vehicle history. Yes, I would take it to a mechanic.

[Anonymous]

We have had luck with rental companies - Enterprise specifically

[Anonymous]

i've purchased certified used cars from dealers. with no problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i've purchased certified used cars from dealers. with no problems.

Us, too. Use cars.com and autotrader.com to look for a specific model and year.

[Anonymous]

You are not going to save much money buying used versus getting a great deal on a new one if you factor in depreciation.

[Anonymous]

Order is this:

1. Car dealer who sells Mazdas
2. Other new car dealer
3. Carmax
4. Used car dealer

As you go down the list, the chance of problems goes up, but the price goes down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Order is this:

1. Car dealer who sells Mazdas
2. Other new car dealer
3. Carmax
4. Used car dealer

As you go down the list, the chance of problems goes up, but the price goes down.

NP. I’ve been looking for a high end, late model car. Your list is right on based on my research. CarMax has significantly lower prices than the dealers I’ve compared them to. I was close to buying a specific car from them but found it had been in an accident when I pulled the Carfax report.
Still looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Order is this:

1. Car dealer who sells Mazdas
2. Other new car dealer
3. Carmax
4. Used car dealer

As you go down the list, the chance of problems goes up, but the price goes down.

NP. I’ve been looking for a high end, late model car. Your list is right on based on my research. CarMax has significantly lower prices than the dealers I’ve compared them to. I was close to buying a specific car from them but found it had been in an accident when I pulled the Carfax report.
Still looking.

The reason it's like this is that a new car dealer doesn't want to put their reputation at risk over a bad used car. They're quick to send a questionable trade-in off to the auction instead of keeping it on the lot. Also if they want to sell it as Certified, it needs to pass a long list of requiremetns, and I thikn that includes accident-free.

User car dealers get nearly all their supply from the auctions, and care little about reputation. Usually their business is selling to people with poor credit so the buyer cares more about payment terms than anything else.

[Anonymous]

Buy from an individual and not a used car dealer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy from an individual and not a used car dealer.

+1
You will probably save 2-3k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy from an individual and not a used car dealer.

That's the cheapest, and the riskiest. The seller has no reputation to protect.

If you know cars or have someone who can really check it out, it can work out though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have had luck with rental companies - Enterprise specifically

I bought a used car from Hertz and it's been great. It was a 2016 purchased in 2017 for about 2000 less than other used car places. So far, it's been a great car.