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AnAngryAmerican

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1 hour ago, champ11 said:

Well guys, my car broke down and can't be fixed. The mechanic is saying I'm gonna get like 100 bucks from any scrap place :(

 

Guess I have to buy a car if anyone has any tips. 

I'm in a similar boat. My 2006 BMW X5, which has been an amazing vehicle, the favorite one I've ever owned, needs close to $8,000 worth of repairs. About six months ago everything on it just went to hell. There are places online where you can search for vehicle salvage and they'll list your car for pickup. I got an offer of $5000 for mine, which is about 10x what a dealership would give me for a trade in. 

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@champ11 where do you live?  I know you said you don't live in COL anymore.  Are there more than 1 dealership for the car you'd like to get?

I've bought a car 4x in my life, and learned from my disasters as a teen/young college student:

1.  If you are buying new - it helps a lot if there's more than 1 dealership for the car you want.

2.  Don't give out info that says you are in a hurry to get the car.   The moment you do that, you are sunk.     Be willing to walk off the lot.

3.  Don't get upset, angry, etc.   Again, the more you look emotionally invested in buying the car, the more the salesman will think they can outwait you.

4.  If it's new, find a way to get info on the wholesale cost of the car.    Sadly, as I don't live in the US, I don't know the resources, here, we have associations that actually get the book price and a quote that a dealership has agreed to give association members - so we use that as the basis (I say "I know it's a pain to drive to the big city and get that deal, so I'm happy to go $X above that price to save me the trouble").   NO IDEA what resources exist where you live.

5.  If it's used, then make sure you can get some type of info on the actual history of the car (carfax?).  

6.  Like #4, knowing the mileage of the car, and the type, there are resources to know the estimated value of the car.   Again, for US, can't help you, but there's got to be some out there.


Hope that helps you out....my experience buying the last 2 cars was WAY better than my first 2 lol.

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