Craigslist

[Molly]

Has anyone ever purchased a car from Craigslist; or know anyone who has?

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Has anyone ever purchased a car from Craigslist; or know anyone who has?

I've bought two boats and found a car on craigslist that I bought, but it was from a dealership...so a little different.

Also, I lived with french guys who barely spoke english for a year and I found them on craigslist. Let's see....what else. I bought two couches. Hmmmmm.....seems like I'm forgetting something.

Edited to say: OH. My best purchase ever. Some old bad ass cirwin vega speakers that sound awesome when sitting out on the deck. New I think it was hundreds of dollars. Found some older used ones for $20. Best. Ever.

[IMADreamer]

It's like buying any used car. If you know what to look for in terms of potential past wrecks, signs of abuse, or lack of regular maintenance you can find some nice cars there. On the other hand if you don't know what to look for you can get major league screwed.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Yeah, what Dreamer said. What are your concerns molly. Craigslist is basically just the new classified ads you got in the paper. Sure, some people use it as a vehicle to scam same as before. Others use it as a legit way to advertise what they are selling. I wouldn't be any more/less afraid of buying a car on craigslist than a car in the sunday classifieds or a car with a for sale sign on the side of the road. Just got to check it out to know if it is a good/fair deal or not.

[Molly]

I've mostly been checking out older Hondas and Toyotas. Some seem like pretty good deals. I guess it's worth a shot. I'll take someone with me though.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I've mostly been checking out older Hondas and Toyotas. Some seem like pretty good deals.

If you think it is a good deal, but don't know what you're looking for, you can pay a dealership/mechanic to inspect it for you. I did that once with a truck I was thinking about buying. Something seemed wrong, but I couldn't figure it out. SO, I took it to a dealership and gave them $20 iirc, maybe $50, and the guy immediately told me what was wrong and how much it would cost to fix it. Like $500. So, I took it back to the seller, told him what I did and offered like $750 less and he said no. I offered $600 less and he still said no. Said he would fix it himself. Before that happened, I bought a different truck. I was out $20 or so, but it was a good idea and well worth the money, obviously.

[Radbird]

As GRB has clearly established, you are checking out boring cars.

[tlombard]

I've mostly been checking out older Hondas and Toyotas. Some seem like pretty good deals.

If you think it is a good deal, but don't know what you're looking for, you can pay a dealership/mechanic to inspect it for you. I did that once with a truck I was thinking about buying. Something seemed wrong, but I couldn't figure it out. SO, I took it to a dealership and gave them $20 iirc, maybe $50, and the guy immediately told me what was wrong and how much it would cost to fix it. Like $500. So, I took it back to the seller, told him what I did and offered like $750 less and he said no. I offered $600 less and he still said no. Said he would fix it himself. Before that happened, I bought a different truck. I was out $20 or so, but it was a good idea and well worth the money, obviously.

The other summer I wanted to buy a boat off of Craigslist where the guy said it just needed a new gimbal bearing. OK fine. I offered to put down a deposit on the condition that I be allowed to have it checked out (at my expense by a boat mechanic just two miles from his house) to make sure that was actually the problem and if that was all it needed then I would be pay his asking price with no questions asked. Never heard back from him after that. I definitely wasn't taking that guy's word on it though because I'm pretty sure at the time I had seen that boat listed multiple times and really, when buying a boat from anyone it pays to be extremely cautious since boats are just holes in the water that you throw money into. They are so much fun though.

I have had good luck with other purchases on Craigslist but none of them were cars. I sold a motorcycle (which I found on CL now that I think about it) and a drum kit both in less than 24 hours. That was kind of awesome. My dad is a mechanic and there are always cars coming through his shop that people would rather sell than fix so I get those. It is a lot cheaper to fix a car when you don't pay labor!

Completely off topic now -
The nicest car I've ever owned was the 1986 Z28 that I drove for 10 years. Bought it in 1998 for $6k with 11,020 miles on it. Even that was pure luck because my dad is a mechanic. The owner had been having all of the oil changes and inspections done at the shop my dad worked at over the years and when he decided to sell it, he mentioned it to the mechanics there and it was pretty much done. My dad knew I had been looking at buying a new car so he called me and told me that we were going to go look at a car the next morning. He didn't even give me a choice. After we test drove it the guy asked if I was interested and before I could say anything my dad told him that I'd take it. I asked him after we left what was up with that and my dad said that if I hadn't bought it then he would have. My mom was rather happy that I decided I wanted it. When I got my Rodeo a few years ago I gave the Camaro to my dad because I thought he wanted to restore it (had some wear and tear after I put (200,000 on it) and then one day last summer a guy walked into the shop and asked if the car was for sale. My dad said it wasn't but $2500 could pry it away from him and that it had electrical issues and a couple other things that needed to be fixed... and my baby was gone the next day when the guy showed up with cash. He wanted to go get the cash and buy it the same day but that would have left my dad stranded 30 miles from home so he had to make arrangements for a ride home the next day. You think with a day's notice he could have at least let me know so I could say goodbye!

[Molly]

As GRB has clearly established, you are checking out boring cars.

I am checking out what is in my price range; and if b-i-t-c-h-e-s would stop hitting & totaling my cars I would buy something not so boring

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I found a diamond ring whilst running the other day. Put an ad on craigslist and asked that if someone thought it was theirs, they send a description. A lady emailed me this morning with the exact description. Told her I'd send her a pic tonight and if it was hers we could meet up. Pretty awesome feeling. She was super excited when I talked to her.