[phiphika1453]

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He was probably saying not to pay KBB "retail", which is usually way too high.

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Exactly, at LEAST 2-3k under KBB retail.


I said I would give some hints about avoiding problems with used cars, so here they are:

-Run your fingers around the edges of door, hood and trunk seals; if it feels like a fine grit sand paper, DONT BUY IT! This is where a body shop has edged the car with tape in order to paint whatever panel was damaged and not sanded it. Now of course it might have been something minor, but why take the risk when you are about to invest a good chunk of money into a vehicle.

-Take a step back and look to see if the paint fades in and out in some spots. If so, it was probably painted and the body shop did a poor job of floating the paint.

-Look down the sides of the car to be sure there are no bows in the doors, trunk etc.

-Look at the spacing anywhere two panels meet. (EX hood and quarter panel) If the spacing is not consistent down the length of the joint then something has happened.

-Make sure all the accessories are there and work. Radio, CD, heat, air, windows, spare tire, jack, floor mats, the list goes on and on.

Also those "carfax" reports a dealer gives you are a total scam. They are reports from a company that will not report anything wrong. Spend the money yourself and actually run a CARFAX report if you want to. I would be able to spot anything that report would have on it so I wouldnt need it, but it is nice for someone that has very little knowledge of cars.


Also, someone mentioned telling the dealership you would pay exactly KBB. Assuming they did not pay too much for the car I am sure they had no problems selling it to you for that price, but what would you have thought if they would have said "really? ok lets sign the paper work." You would have been like hold on they didnt even fight me, I can pay even less. So, they put up a small little cupcake pretend fight to make you feel like you won the negotiation.

Thats another thing to remember, most salesmen will tell the customer anything they want to hear and let them fell like they won a negotiation.