17 ms·

Hacking the Used Car Purchase

289 points by dw5ight 15y ago

cjzhang 15y ago
But what about the time investment needed in finding an acceptable car on Craigslist compared to finding one from a dealer? If you're spending something like 100 bucks and 20 extra hours over three weeks checking out N more cars that don't pan out because {the guy lied about the condition of the car, the guy selling it is really sketchy, other random reasons}, then is it still worth it to save an extra 1-2k? What I'm trying to ask basically is "but what kind of opportunity costs are involved in these hacks, and when does it stop being viable"?
- raccoonone 15y ago
  Well, if you used our awesome car search engine (carsabi.com), you wouldn't be spending 20hrs =P In all seriousness though, if you spend 20hrs to save $2k, you're making $100/hr, which is better than most programmers make, even.
  - krschultz 15y ago
    And that's after tax money which is worth even more per hour.
  - solutionyogi 15y ago
    A great car search engine definitely helps but it's a very tiny part (may be 10%) of buying a used car (speaking as someone who bought a used car 8 months back). The most time consuming part of buying a used car is to check the car in person (and it's difficult to schedule appointment with an individual person), getting it inspected by a mechanic (If you don't get it inspected by your own mechanic, you are an idiot. I know I was an idiot once.), negotiating the price, paying the agreed price (it's a BIG pain if the car's loan hasn't been paid off). I recommend CarMax (http://www.carmax.com http://www.carmax.com) (no affiliation what so ever) for used cars because they actually take away all the pain points which I described above. [And if you are looking to buy a new car, I would definitely recommend carwoo.com. I helped my friend buy a new Infiniti EX at an unbelievable price.]
- justsomedood 15y ago
  There is also the advantage that trading in a car to the same dealership you buy from will deduct this from the sale price of the to-be-purchased car so sales tax can be reduced to zero depending on the trade-in.
  - rationalbeats 15y ago
    Exactly. I sold a car on Craiglist once, and I will never do it again. You open yourself up to some potentially dangerous (life threatening) situations. To me a "potential" loss of 2 grand that I would incur by trading my car in at a dealer is worth the time saved, and safety saved. Also all the paper work is done correctly. To me that is another potential "come back to bite you in the you know what" problem averted. I also live in the East Bay CA, and there have been a huge increase in violence and theft associated with selling cars on Craigslist. It is also not just cars, I have had a few bad experiences on both Craigslist and Ebay in the last 12 months and as a result I have not used either in months. To me, I am willing to pay a perceived premium from a retailer (like Amazon with free shipping and no hassle return policy) than deal with the BS I have had to deal with on Craiglsit and Ebay.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  > is it still worth it to save an extra 1-2k? You're not only saving an extra couple of grand, you're also avoiding settling for whatever the dealer has in his lot.
- bradleyland 15y ago
  I had the same exact reaction. I like cars. I like to a variety of drive cars, but I'm not wealthy enough to afford a car collection. Thus, I tend to change cars more than is "fiscally optimal" (every three years). I actually like leasing cars, because I get to negotiation the terms of the buy-back up front. This gives me A) peace of mind knowing exactly what I'll pay in depreciation, B) the opportunity to negotiate that amount up front and in clear terms (I understand the math involved in leasing), and C) a much, much shorter time investment in said negotiation. Consider the rest of this post to be an anecdotal piece titled, "Hacking the car buying process means getting your hands dirty." When I picked up a 2006 VW GTI, the dealer was offering 0% financing. I couldn't bring myself to pass up free money, so I bought the car with the intention of turning it around in three years, just like I normally would with a lease. My reasoning was that I'd be giving up the opportunity to negotiate the residual value up front in exchange for the free use of a few thousand dollars over three years. No brainer, right? Yeah, not exactly. I ran in to a couple of issues. Lease residuals are actually on the generous side Leasing residuals are normally pretty generous on the types of cars I like. My GTI was 57%. I negotiated a 63% residual on my current car. Looking at the math from my GTI, with an MSRP of $24,750, the lease residual would have been ~$14,100. When I sold the car at the 3-year mark, it took me three months, and I only got $12,000 for it. So, in exchange for the zero percent financing over three years, I gave up $2,000 on the residual, plus the time and effort involved in selling. I took many phone calls, and drove out to meet about 5 people before executing a sale. Had I leased the car and negotiated decent terms, I would have paid the same, maybe less. Selling a car over $10,000 is a pain in the ass Words you really don't want to hear when selling a car: "I've got $3,000 saved up. Can you take payments on the rest." Times I heard them during the sales process: 9 out of 10. Selling private means dealing with all kinds of people who really can't afford the car you're selling, but are bold enough to offer you anything. I have no envy for car salesmen. Their job is tough. You're constantly assaulted by people who really don't care if the deal is any good for you. I wouldn't say I was offended, but I did begrudge the time I wasted. I'm back to leasing now, and very happy with it. If you want a new car every few years, and are ok with the associated financial impact, it's worth your time to sit down and understand the math involved in leasing. You can probably do better (fiscally) than you think.
- bdunbar 15y ago
  I've bought 'a' car from Craigslist. Took us about eight hours, from 'first car' to 'I'll take it'. Looked at ten cars in person. In one day. Granted, we were motivated, needed a car that day (long story) but it doesn't have to take weeks, if you just need a car and your value of 'acceptable' is flexible. is it still worth it to save an extra 1-2k Yes. $2,000 dollars can buy a lot of hamburgers. YMMV.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
killion 15y ago
It's interesting to see how close the KBB value mirrors the Craigslist price. I'm guessing the only negotiation points are the condition of the car. Thanks for the helpful post, I'm about to sell my car.
- Dnguyen 15y ago
  Maybe it follows closely because people check their values on KBB and use KBB values to list?
HaloZero 15y ago
Were the datapoints all from one market (SF Bay Area)? Or across multiple regions in the US?
- dw5ight 15y ago
  Data was across the US. I tried looking for regional trends (price variation, etc), but at least at the state/major metropolitan area level price and availability distributions were surprisingly homogeneous. I'm hoping to deep dive later in more detail, but for saving money there didn't seem to be much on the regional front worth reporting. Thanks for reading!
vishaldpatel 15y ago
TL;DR version: Buy and sell used cars on craigslist instead of dealers cuz you'll get a better deal. Don't forget to carfax it and take it to a mechanic for inspection.
bryanlarsen 15y ago
1: Dealers cost ~$2800 more on average, but they may also provide $2800 of value to some people. For instance, many dealers add a 6 month warranty, clean up the car. More importantly, buying from an affiliated dealer can be seen as safer because too many complaints can cause the dealer to lose their affiliation. 2: I was the impression that the standard scam for trade-ins was to inflate the trade-in value. It makes a customer feel better if they get $500 more for their trade-in than if they get $500 off the price of the new car even though it works out the same. 3: Buying luxury later does not necessarily save money. Some brands depreciate more than others. Toyota & Honda depreciate the least, but BMW is pretty close.
- tptacek 15y ago
  You can't go to a car dealer and get an "inflated" price for your current car without buying a new car from them; they're getting their $500 one way or the other. It's a bad idea to sell cars to dealers. Their entire profession revolves around capturing the spread between car buyers and sellers. Also, a BMW 3-series depreciates ~$7,000 in the first 2 years; a Toyota Camry depreciates ~$3,500. Those numbers aren't pretty close.
  - TylerE 15y ago
    You say that like it's a necessarily bad thing. Remember the post recently about the guy who was doing exploiting exactly that spread on Craigslist?
    - dionidium 15y ago
      It's a "bad" thing if your desired outcome is to get the highest price for your car at the cost of some convenience.
  - bryanlarsen 15y ago
    From what I understand, a car dealer makes the bulk of its profit from its maintenance department. Most of the time they make very little profit from your used car, it's usually just resold to a wholesaler. The dealer is usually only interested in reselling relatively new cars of the same make. The biggest reason they take trade-ins is because it makes it easier to make a sale and it makes it easier to play with the numbers. So yes, you shouldn't sell to a dealer, but if you don't know why you can be conned when you're surprised by how much they actually offer for your trade-in. A BMW 3-series costs about twice as much new as a Camry, so that seems like equivalent depreciation to me.
encoderer 15y ago
Be a little careful with some of your analysis. For example, you mention a Mercedes e320. There is no such thing anymore. So the last year or a previous generation vehicle is certain to depreciate more steeply than the first year of a new generation.
- vaksel 15y ago
  E320 is just an E-Class The 320 just designates engine size. i.e. 3.2L V6 The new 350s, are still the E class, just with a 3.5 V6
  - encoderer 15y ago
    I'm a Mercedes owner (CLS) and enthusiast. First, even if the distinction was only the engine displacement, the bigger engine is certainly more attractive to buyers. But it's not. There was a redesign between those model years. Mercedes rarely updates engines mid-cycle. In this case, it was a dramatic redesign, an entirely new platform. The new E Class -- E350 or E550 -- is a very different car than the E320.
    - vaksel 15y ago
      ah yes, didn't catch what you were saying in the original post...then yes, the redesigns should be accounted...but since they are only looking at E320s, the redesign hit should affect all years.
      - encoderer 15y ago
        But it LOOKS like the right-most (highest) data-point must be the new car price? And it shows that steep drop off going to 2009. And in the case of the E-Class, 2009 was the last year of the old generation (W211 IIRC). So yes, if you graph E-Class prices right now, there will be a huge drop there. If the 2010 Data Point is something he's purporting to be a "2010 E320" then it must not be a US model. In the US MY2010 began the W212 E-Class. I applaud this guy for putting together so much data. I just wanted to raise this question because the way the data is presented confuses me a bit.
RobertKohr 15y ago
Excellent post. I think the most enlightening item was "Buy Luxury Later." I tested out the searches for cars that were suggested, and wow, there are some great deals on CL.
simonsarris 15y ago
I'm surprised they didn't mention "Have friends", which can often save far more money than any of the listed tips. It's worth remembering that you are not the only person that you know that buys cars. Often friends and relatives are considering buying a new car and want to get rid of their old one in an easy way. Make sure you let them know that if they are going to trade-in that you might be interested in their old car. My brother's first car was a Subaru with 250K miles that our friend's family was replacing. Instead of trading it in my brother offered $50 for it. They decided to give it to him instead. My first car was a Corolla that my uncle was going to trade in. I offered him the trade-in quoted price ($1500). Two years later I sold it for $3600 on Craigslist. I would have gladly sold it to a friend for $1500 though. There are plenty of people that like to buy cars from dealers and do not want the hassle of craigslist and are willing to trade in. If you're in the market for a car, make sure your friends and family know!
- patrickod 15y ago
  I wholeheartedly agree with this. Having connections and keeping your eye out for potential cars to buy can make a huge difference. The first car I bought, a 97 Opel Corsa, was going to be scrapped by a friends neighbor until I stepped in. It had been sitting without use for ~18 months. The parts needed were minimal. It cost me €150 and 6 bottles of wine. It still drives absolutely perfectly. The second car I bought was again going to be traded in/scrapped. $20 later and a can of 44K to clean out the engine it passed smog and has been running since. tl;dr it pays to keep an eye out for cars that people are looking to sell. Offer to take them off their hands for a reasonable price and you'll find they're very receptive.
  - vaksel 15y ago
    that's partly because in Europe your insurance is through the roof so people throw away perfectly fine cars since they don't want to pay $6K/yr for a civic
    - patrickod 15y ago
      Pretty much everything in Europe is more expensive when it comes to driving. Tax, fuel, insurance are all higher than the American equivalent. In Ireland insurance for young males is ludicrously expensive due to the heightened probability of a crash.
rickdale 15y ago
I purchased a used car last year. I would have to say part of buying a car is also the financing. If you can manage to get a good rate and put some cash down, thats a hack in and of itself. As for not trading your car in... I understand you might get more $ selling it on cars.com or craigslist, but the truth of the matter is you can be stuck with your old car forever and all you wanted to do is get rid of it and on with the old one. For some people thats worth the moneyit will cost them by trading it in. I had an experience with a honda civic. Lady said she loved the car. I was asking the lowest bluebook minus 500. It was in better condition than that, but we both found it fair. When she came to pick the car up, she saw I had dogs and panicked about her allergies and this and that. I reassured her I had the car detailed and the dog hadn't been near the car since. No deal. I was fed up and traded it in. Lost 1500, but I would have happily paid that to not deal with the lady.
- graywh 15y ago
  Bigger hack: pay cash.
  - larrys 15y ago
    Not true. Dealer makes money on the financing. If they are making money on that they can afford to sell you the car for less. Usually a good idea to walk into the dealership and let them believe you are going to finance the car and at the last minute change your mind.
    - vaksel 15y ago
      better yet, take the loan, then pay it off the next day.
    - graywh 15y ago
      I wasn't inferring that you could get a better price from a dealer by paying cash. I was referring to not financing the purchase of something that will depreciate.
      - 15y ago
xxpor 15y ago
There's an old adage in the car world: there's no such thing as a cheap luxury car. You might save on the initial purchase, but there's a lot more stuff to break, and when it does it's really expensive.
- camiller 15y ago
  Just to amplify this, common parts across several models and somehow be more expensive for the "luxury" version. Rear hatch gasket for an '96 Oldsmobile Silhouette mini-van was twice what the exact same part for the Chevy Lumina. Only difference in the two vans is a few more gadgets and more acoustic insulation in the Oldsmobile.
agentargo 15y ago
I bought a used luxury car recently and went through the exact same thought process as this. I went a little heavy on the analysis side of things and created a dataset of 15 years of KBB sales for 5 models I was looking at. I found that cars values tend to follow a half life. The half-life for a subaru wrx was the highest at somewhere around 6 years. Those suckers really hold their value. I ended up purchasing a 2004 BMW 330xi despite the value time series data not being the strongest between the models I was looking at. It's just a sweet ride for the price.
Duff 15y ago
I'm not sure that I agree with everything here. Buy a used Benz - Luxury cars are great, until they aren't. Someone who doesn't realize what luxury car parts often cost will cry when they get a bill for a $750 spark plug wire kit. Craiglist - Selling a car on Craiglist is great, except that people you'll subsequently dealing with are folks who buy cars on Craiglist. Have fun with that. To truly "hack" the used car purchase, you need to buy the cars that nobody wants. "Honda" and "Toyota" shouldn't be in your vocabulary. If you want a Honda, get the certified used one with a better warranty than the brand new one.
- tptacek 15y ago
  I didn't get the idea from this post that the author was recommending buying a luxury car, only that you should look for steeper discounts on used luxury cars. You're right, though: Euro import cars in particular cost significantly more to maintain; you can safely expect to spend 50% more per year on them (I say, ruefully).
  - Duff 15y ago
    I always like to pass on hard-learned lessons about cars. After I bought the $750 spark plug wire kit, I decided to save money by doing the job myself. It turned out that spacing between the plug wires and the climate control blower motor was critical -- I'd didn't pack the wire tightly enough, and my $750 wires broke the $950 + $400 labor blower motor. :( It was a great car though.
  - owenmarshall 15y ago
    If you're going to purchase an expensive import, be sure to look around for good independent mechanics. I drive a Saab, and several months ago it experienced a fairly common failure related to the cabin blower motors. The dealership wanted to replace with all new dealer parts from Sweden, and provided a ~$1400 estimate. My independent mechanic, who tells me he deals with this particular issue on a near weekly basis, told me that the part I needed was identical to a part found in earlier Cadillac Cateras. Just by using that part, he was able to fix my car for $680 -- over 50% savings. Maintenance by the dealer can often be significantly more expensive, and there's almost always a competent independent shop nearby that specializes in your car.
paulgerhardt 15y ago
I recently asked a seasoned friend about buying cars off Craigslist after being frustrated with all the SEO spam I found on Google. This was his response: Well, all states are slightly different with how they deal with car registration and ownership titles. The way it works in most places is that every car has a piece of paper that goes with it called the title. The title has all of the current owner's info on it, as well as the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and when you're selling a car, there's an area on the back you fill with the new owner's info, car mileage, and seller's signature. This area on the back counts as a "bill of sale". It used to have to be a separate document that was kinda written up in legalese; "I, ______, sell this 1997 toyota corolla (VIN #SDFSLJDKLSJGD52345234) to ______ on this day, may 18th, 2008 for 42 dollars. Signed, Seller: ______ buyer: ______" But in Colorado they've integrated this into the bill of sale, so you don't need to do this anymore here. The most basic way to determine if a car is stolen is if the seller has the title that matches the VIN stamped onto the car. If you have a signed title/BOS and the car it belongs to, its kinda like a endorsed check, anyone who wants to own the car just now needs to write their info in on the title and take it to the DMV. If they don't have a title, don't buy the car. It might not necessarily be stolen, but it might be, and its a HUGE pain in the ass to get a 'replacement' title made for a car, especially if you don't own it. In California, titles may be called pink slips, which I'm sure you've heard of if you've seen any of the 3 Fast 3 Theerious series. I believe they function the same as CO titles, from what I'm reading. Here's a list of everything you need to transfer the car to your name after you have the car and title in hand: http://dmv.ca.gov/vr/vr_info.htm#BM2522 http://dmv.ca.gov/vr/vr_info.htm#BM2522 Sounds like you need the endorsed title, probably with your info on it, and a smog certification (which you'll either get this from the seller (in CO the seller is legally required to have the emissions tested before selling vehicles, but this RARELY happens), or have to find an emissions testing place and go there yourself with the car). With these, you can go to a DMV and get the title put in your name, and they'll give you plates. View this video: http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/vr/vrvideos/title_transfer/title_transfer.htm http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/vr/vrvideos/title_transfer/title_tran... - Shows you where to sign and everything. This is very important; if the seller fucks up his/her name on the title when signing it or something like that, it MAY void the title, and you have to get all this other shit signed and come back to the DMV and wait in line forever again and again. Bring a checkbook to the DMV, sometimes they don't accept credit cards. I think that about covers the legal parts of buying a car/registration. As far as buying a car from CL in particular, you'll probably end up bringing cash, but leave it in your locked car til you decide you want to purchase said vehicle and see the title. Ask them if they have a smog certification or any of the previous records, if it can't pass emissions, you can't get it registered, which is coincidentally a great time for a car to be sold. Granted, most cars ought to pass emissions fine until like 200Kk miles. If the engine visibly smokes, you're probably fucked. Ideally, the car won't have been run before you see it, so it'll have a cold engine, this is the best time to see how the engine behaves; does it smoke? does it start up easily? Other major things to consider are leaks of any kind - BRING A FLASHLIGHT. An engine with no leaks is best, but a leaky engine isn't always bad; leaks coming from the top of the engine/where the headers are are bad, might be a head gasket blown. Leaks from around the oil pan area are common, and all that means is that you'll have oil stains on your driveway and have to remember to top off the oil every now and again. Check the oil level of the engine to make sure the owner isn't a jackass. Transmission leaks are the same, not too dangerous if you keep the oil level good, but generally, most people are too lazy to keep up with this shit so it gets broken. Just buy a car with no leaks. Drive the car, make sure it tracks straight down the road; if it doesn't, it might mean that it was crashed and the frame is bent, or maybe the alignment is off because they curbed one of the wheels bad. If you're feeling paranoid that its been wrecked or something, you can call ahead to get the VIN # and get a Carfax report on the car, which shows its whole history of reported accidents. Anything large enough to warrant not buying the car will be on this report, minor fender benders may not be. Make sure the transmission shifts into ALL gears, I got screwed on this once, transmisson had 6 gears, but I didn't take it to a highway or even try to put it in 6th while testing it out, and low and behold, the 6th gear is out. Listen to the engine for any abnormally loud "click" type noises - every engine's valves click a bit, but they shouldn't be too distractingly loud. Make sure all the lights/signals work. People who are too lazy to replace a blinker bulb might be too lazy to change the oil on time... I can't think of much else, and I've been typing for like 30 mins... The only piece of advice my dad gave me before buying my first motorcycle was, "if it looks good, and sounds good, buy it." Basically, look out for any red flags, but by and large, most people are legit, most cars aren't lemons, and any serious issues with the car should be pretty obvious.
md1515 15y ago
I said this the first time this site was posted. It is brilliant and helpful. It is actually the first helpful site I have found here on HN for my personal life.
hndl 15y ago
I bought a 2007 Honda Civic that had done 24K miles when I bought it (2009). I put down ~$10K for it. I did almost everything they mention here.
georgieporgie 15y ago
Selling a vehicle on Craigslist has been among the greatest annoyances in my life. I will never make that mistake again. Instead, I sell vehicles on eBay. The eBay method has a few hassles (answering questions, coordinating pickup, eBay percentage), but it is still sooo much better than dealing with CL flakes. That said, I buy all of my vehicles on Craigslist. I wait for the exact vehicle I want, show up with a cashier's check for the asking price minus ~25%, and bring the rest in cash for negotiation. Sellers are always relieved when they find out I came prepared, and they're happy to negotiate on price to be done with the process.
ssharp 15y ago
You are using the sticker price for the basis of comparison, which is unrealistic. The appropriate comparison is final sale price. Regarding trading in a car, I'm not sure if most people in the HN audience really think that they are getting a good deal on trade-ins. Also, trade-ins can be negotiated. You aren't going to get the market price, but you give up some money for the easy liquidity. It's going to take some extra work for you to get the market price. Also, when you buy a used car from a dealer, you should look up the "Black Book" price, which is generally the price the car would go for at auction. This gives you information on the dealer's bottom line. The Black Book price is going to be a lot lower than Blue Book, meaning that it's well under the market price, and really well under the dealer's sticker price. But using this number, you know the dealer's position, and can adjust yours to drive value for both parties. I don't think it's totally inconceivable to get a used car from the dealer for close to what you'd get it from a private party, as long as you're willing to negotiate and the dealer is willing to negotiate.
LouToot 15y ago
As someone who has been buying cars for himself for 20 years or so, and never new, I would agree with the article in part, but with some important provisos: 1. While Craigslist is a valuable resource, make sure you follow Hack #4 and #5 - there are a lot of sleazy individuals who will pass salvage title or otherwise garbage vehicles. I would add one other note to that recommendation - search via the 'by owner' listings vs the 'by dealer' ones. That cuts down some (but not all) of the buy here/pay here trash-lot stuff. Searching for larger dealer vehicles can be done via something like autotempest (which also conducts Craigslist searches too) 2. While buying via Craigslist is generally easy and definitely recommended in many situations, selling can sometimes be a complete PITA. Dumping the car at CarMax can work as well in that case. You take a bit of a hit on the sale price, but its generally less in my experience than trading it in. 3. Sometimes there is a damn good reason why Luxury cars have taken an appreciation hit. Make sure you factor in scheduled and unscheduled maintenance with your purchase plans. Some luxury brands (Lexus, some Infiniti, Acura) are easier to maintain than others, but they inconveniently don't seem to depreciate quite as much. One thing I would add here too is - If you don't care about your image too much, look into 'old people's' cars. Things like the Cadillac DTS, Lincoln, Mercury Grand Marquis, etc... Because they are so unfashionable, the depreciation hit on them is HUGE, and you can really get decent, comfortable transportation for cheap. The gas mileage might not be as good as a Toyota, but $5k in savings can buy a lot of gas... 4. Carfax is important, but its not foolproof, and its no substitute for a good mechanic's inspection. What I look for is a gap-free history with no dramatic changes in mileage, and no record of fleet ownership. Why no fleet ownership? Have you ever abused a rental car, or known somebody who has? I would never buy an ex-rental, and would have a hard time looking at other ex-fleet sale cars - the incentive for responsible ownership is very often not there, even if scheduled maintenance may have been more rigorously followed. 5. In some cities there are 'Lemon Buster' services that can travel to the dealer/owner and inspect the car on-site. YMMV of course, but I have found them to be pretty useful and inexpensive. They also give you a nice inspection report that can be used as negotiation leverage. Additional points to make: Financing - unless you are a very savvy negotiator, I would NOT recommend dealer financing over bank/Credit Union financing (especially CU.) Financing/Dealer Fees are a huge source of income for dealers, and they typically have some real hard-asses stationed at the financing desk. Much easier to just pay with cash from the CU or your pocket. Paying ahead, by saving money for your next car instead of making payments for the current one is a very savvy move if you can get away with it. Used car prices are highly localized. Where I live (Austin TX,) I have found that 2-5 yr old used cars are typically about $1k more expensive than cars in larger Texas cities like Houston and Dallas. Make sure your internet searching takes this sort of variance into account. If you save $1-2k on the price, a $150 one-way plane ticket is pretty cheap. For those in the rust belt, I would not even bother with buying used vehicles past a certain age locally - why take the chance on hidden rust issues? Rule of thumb for used car purchases - there are always more cars! Don't EVER think that the car you are looking at is a special flower and that you will never find one that's the same. ALWAYS reserve the option to walk away. I personally walk-away from most cars I look at. Don't like the lot/seller? Walk away. Not getting a good feeling from the car? Walk away. There are always other options. Finally, I recommend the book 'Don't Get Taken Every Time' by Remar Sutton. Tons of good info on how to avoid some obvious pitfalls for both used and new car purchasing.
ssharp 15y ago
I wonder what effect the "cash for clunkers" program had on cars below the rebate incentive for that. It had to have a substantial effect on market for older cars.
- maxerickson 15y ago
  The effect was probably moderated by the 18 mpg cutoff for fuel efficiency. My midsize 1997 sedan does about 24 mpg, so it wasn't eligible, and at this point it is way down at the bottom of the used car market, not something that most buyers would spend much time looking at.
ageyfman 15y ago
why is everything that involves thinking is now called "hacking"? Buy from Craigslist is really a hack? Seriously? Carfax report is a hack? That's pretty lazy. Car arbitrage is a hack - checking a car's title is minimal effort.
- Estragon 15y ago
  The real "hack" here is slyly congratulating readers on their cleverness so they keep coming back for more.
- SonicSoul 15y ago
  i had the same reaction.. after reading the title i was expecting some inventive tricks at automating search, or maybe even negotiation tactics.. instead i got "don't trade your car in" .. turns out the dealer is only taking my used car at a discount to turn a profit? thanks! /sarcasm
larrydag 15y ago
I'm curious how you approach #5 Find an OCD Mechanic to a Craigslist seller. How do you ask? Is it considered common courtesy to say "Hey, lets drive it to my mechanic?"
- mcknz 15y ago
  If I really want to sell my car, and I know it's in good shape, I would be more than happy to arrange an inspection. If the seller wants to avoid an inspection, it's probably because 1) the vehicle is in enough demand (or cheap enough) that it's not worth the hassle, or 2) something's wrong with the vehicle.
- run4yourlives 15y ago
  "Everything looks good, but I can't in good conscience buy this until a get a mechanic that I know to give it a once over. Can we arrange that?" Don't buy anything from anyone that balks at this, regardless of reason.
- hsshah 15y ago
  Yes indeed. I got both my cars checked. The courteous thing to do is take it to a reputable mechanic (I took them to dealership service) coz if I am the seller; I would not like to take my car to a shady place even though I don't mind it being inspected.
- mchanson 15y ago
  Both times I've done this I just left my locked car at their place while I took their car to get checked out. It was no big deal. Set up an appointment with them and an appointment with the mechanic so everyone is ready to go!
tmh88j 15y ago
As a gearhead, nearly everything on that list is ingrained in my DNA, EXCEPT buy luxury(and performance) later. My reasoning is that technology is improving so rapidly that every new model of most cars have made gains that are ridiculously high compared to the previous generation. Cars are my passion and the one thing that gives me joy no matter what mood I'm in, so I'm willing to fork out the extra money for the newer, better performing models. I found both of my cars on craigslist and one of them was a steal. It was listed for about $5k less than the market with some incredible upgrades AND it was through a dealership, so I just figured they were clueless. I went and checked it out, brought it to an Audi dealer for a PPI and everything checked out. I also added on a 3 year drivetrain warranty and I still ended up saving around $3.5k compared to what similar cars were going for.
- vaksel 15y ago
  it actually makes sense...take Audi for example. You'll pay $40K for an A4 2.0T Quattro(once you get a few basic options) Or you can go used, and buy a 2009 with 36K miles for $25K...a car that looks identical to the 2012 model. Pretty much identical car for $15K less. Or you can buy one generation older(2005-2008) with 60K miles for $15K...a car that's still modern, and has pretty much identical features. Both of these options will still be pretty much brand new, and you'll get to save a ton of money. i.e. for the cost of an entry level Civic, you get a $40K car.
  - nsxwolf 15y ago
    I would love to do exactly this, because I love the A4. But the maintenance cost fears stop me. I was really hoping it was one of those "Macs cost more" type myths, but the more I read the more it appears to be true.
    - vaksel 15y ago
      to be honest, I was in your boat. I always bought Hondas/Acuras since I was afraid of maintenance issues. So for the last car I decided to take a gamble and buy an Audi. An A4 quattro for winter driving. Figure, worst case scenario, I'll just drive the other car. Maintenance isn't too bad, I mean yes, a lot of things need a few extra steps compared to other cars...but there are plenty of forums with step by step DIY instructions on how to do everything. Basically a good rule of thumb is that a Toyota/Honda will cost you $500/yr to keep running. And an Audi will cost you $1,000/yr. Reliability wise, the mechanical bits are pretty reliable. They had a major issue with the coilpacks, but they did a recall on those, and the new ones are supposed to be bulletproof. The electrical bits on the other hand have their fair share of gremlins...but those are an annoyance, not anything serious + Audi has an onboard computer that catches these things...so you'll know when your turn signal burns out.
cottonseed 15y ago
I take Hack #1 with a grain of salt. The more important thing is to know what the car is worth and what you're willing to pay. You might be able to find a deal on craigslist, but you can also negotiate with dealers, and they often inflate the sticker price. I bought a used car recently. One dealer was overcharging and rejected my offer so I walked. I ended up negotiating hard and got a better deal elsewhere. Also, do your homework. From the timestamp on the google cache of an online isting, I knew how long the car had been on the lot. This turned out to be a useful bit information during the negotiation.
phamilton 15y ago
I wrote a cool script to pull a lot of data down off of KBB. I've got a post on my blog about it: http://www.undiscoveredfeatures.com/2011/09/kelly-blue-book.html http://www.undiscoveredfeatures.com/2011/09/kelly-blue-book.... What I found interesting was comparing the rate of depreciation per mile vs time.
- phil 15y ago
  Looks like you've discovered that KBB applies a linear mileage cost. Does that reflect reality? I doubt it -- at least, not after you reach a certain mileage. I'm curious if you grabbed data to extend that chart out to, let's say, 200k miles. There should be a sigmoid somewhere out there.
dadro 15y ago
Overall this is a helpful list. One of the biggest challenges with used cars is they are impossible to treat as a commodity. I spent several years working for a company that financed high-end classic and exotic autos. I learned a ton. One of the biggest tips is you really need to profile the owner if you want to get car that was well maintained. I like luxury cars (BMW's, Lexus, etc) and over time came up with a system for purchasing used ones. Search CL and local want-ads in affluent suburbs. Eventually you will find 1 owner cars with low miles owned by people with the means to take proper care of them. Ask for the maintenance records, look at the condition of the interior and also look for clues on how the person takes care of other things like their personal appearance AND their home. It will tell you everything. I've gotten some killer deals on pristine cars following this method. Currently on the hunt for a late 70's air cooled 911 :)
tedchs 15y ago
I just learned about AutoGlance, which is a "Hipmunk for car buying": for example, http://autoglance.com/search/#Mercedes-Benz,eclass,50,29492 http://autoglance.com/search/#Mercedes-Benz,eclass,50,29492
donky_cong 15y ago
Thats not really hacks, thats common sense. Want a hack ? "Wash your car before you try to sell it"
mountaineer 15y ago
More like common sense car buying, not really "hacking". As others have mentioned, don't rely on Carfax. I sold a car that had to be almost a quarter re-built (and disclosed this to the buyer), and this was not on the Carfax report. But, it's still worth doing.
gcb 15y ago
pretty obvious advices. really. but good to see the data points. ...now make a post on how to find a decent mechanic, and then i will droll over
guynamedloren 15y ago
Better Hack #5: Be your own mechanic. Cars really aren't that complicated - especially for smart hacker folk like us. I did maintenance on my parents vehicles when I was 12 years old (brakes + oil changes) and have been working on my own vehicles since I could drive. In the past 7 years, I have only spent money on alignments and tire mounting/balancing, to the tune of $300 probably. The kicker is that I'm no more mechanically inclined than anybody else. I learn every time I pick up a wrench, with a bit of help from the good ol' internet. The experience is unbelievably fun and rewarding :)
- c_moscardi 15y ago
  This is so true. I was really surprised not to find more posts like these, because working on your own car is very fun, gets you away from the computer for a bit, and definitely embodies the DIY mentality most of us on this site have. That said, if you're in the market and inexperienced [or maybe even experienced], take a prospective car to a professional mechanic. Don't buy a junk car and expect to be able to fix everything yourself, unless you want a fun side project which will require a ton of man-hours [and more money than you'd expect] to complete. But on the overall, doing your own maintenance and fixing smaller problems you encounter [timing belt issues? no biggie!] is very very enjoyable.
yason 15y ago
Ah, car purchases: the land of endless advice. So let me share my method, requested by nobody: 1) I limit my purchases roughly around to one month's net salary. This keeps me aligned with the idea that I invest in the kind of transportation I enjoy rather than something that's newer and shinier than my neighbours'. My cars are never just boring transportation vehicles: the style and feel of the car is of most importance. However, I'm perfectly happy to drive cars that is ten years old. 2) I intend to keep a car for 5-7 years. I get to pay for routine maintenance and any worn parts for so many times for the $10,000-$20,000 that I could've put into a newer car (and still pay for maintenance and replace parts, just little less of it). I'm not afraid of big rehauls if the car is otherwise sound. There's one exception to the longevity rule two years ago: I changed makes. 3) When I'm changing, I don't particularly shop for cars. I'm rather in the constant "nah, I don't need a new car right now" mode and gradually spend some time browsing used car sites on the internet. When I get interested in one I get this feeling inside. I check a few facts, go check it out, and most of the time just buy it if my hunch keeps going. I think I've never test-driven more than one car, the one I bought. Some I've discarded without a test drive. Contrary to what you might think, I've always had good, reliable cars. And I certainly don't drive the boring Toyota/Honda kind. 4) Facts include such as the ownership records and tax/MOT records, and average mileage. For example, the previous owner of my current car kept it for a steady seven years with full maintenance == good. He kept it as an investment to his transportation needs instead of a cost sink that only gets half the minimum maintenance. Also, if there are several cars of that model that have clocked hundreds of thousands kilometres, I know the engine is capable of doing it without problems. 5) I buy my cars around at 200,000km. If the car is in proper order at that point I know it's not a lemon and has been maintained. Most regularly worn parts have been changed once, maybe twice by the time. The worst cars are those that are being sold around 100,000km or slightly below: you can probably make 100,000km without ever changing oils, not to mention anything else. If so, the car is bust and it won't make it to +200tkm. Anyone who spends the effort to make the car into those figures has had it for some useful purpose. 6) I'm fully aware that I might bump into a bad car eventually. This is where 1) comes into play. The amount of money I spend is over the lifetime of the vehicle instead of up front, so that I can afford to hit an occasional bad one. None encountered so far. I still haven't spent as much in cars in total and in my whole lifetime than my dad just spent on his latest new car. I've been driving and owning for about 15 years now.
wanderr 15y ago
Here's my hack, that may not be acceptable to everyone: pay cash for your car, settle for whatever you can afford, pay yourself car payments. Buy something ugly. I stared with an $800 POS and made it last for 3 years...I paid myself a modest $250/month "car payment" during that time, so I ended up with $9k in cash. Finally got tired of driving that thing and it just wouldn't die, so I kept an eye out for used cars in my new price range. It took a while because I was just searching off and on, but eventually I found an especially ugly Scion xB (bright yellow edition) that had been on the market for a few months with no interest, so they were already asking significantly less than KBB value, since I was paying cash I got them to take even less for it (after having my mechanic look at it of course). Of course if you mind having a goofy looking car, this strategy might not save quite as much money.
amalag 15y ago
No mention of auctions. Among my friends it is common to buy at an auction. Only registered car dealers are allowed. I guess I am lucky to be able to go through some. They ask a flat fee of $500 and they will buy the car you want at the auction. I am not an expert at it, so I was wary and I actually bought a new car at what I thought was a good price. Next time I will have to go for the auction, especially since the 'hackers' here don't even mention it.

289 points by dw5ight 15y ago

But what about the time investment needed in finding an acceptable car on Craigslist compared to finding one from a dealer? If you're spending something like 100 bucks and 20 extra hours over three weeks checking out N more cars that don't pan out because {the guy lied about the condition of the car, the guy selling it is really sketchy, other random reasons}, then is it still worth it to save an extra 1-2k? What I'm trying to ask basically is "but what kind of opportunity costs are involved in these hacks, and when does it stop being viable"?

raccoonone 15y ago
Well, if you used our awesome car search engine (carsabi.com), you wouldn't be spending 20hrs =P In all seriousness though, if you spend 20hrs to save $2k, you're making $100/hr, which is better than most programmers make, even.
- krschultz 15y ago
  And that's after tax money which is worth even more per hour.
- solutionyogi 15y ago
  A great car search engine definitely helps but it's a very tiny part (may be 10%) of buying a used car (speaking as someone who bought a used car 8 months back). The most time consuming part of buying a used car is to check the car in person (and it's difficult to schedule appointment with an individual person), getting it inspected by a mechanic (If you don't get it inspected by your own mechanic, you are an idiot. I know I was an idiot once.), negotiating the price, paying the agreed price (it's a BIG pain if the car's loan hasn't been paid off). I recommend CarMax (http://www.carmax.com http://www.carmax.com) (no affiliation what so ever) for used cars because they actually take away all the pain points which I described above. [And if you are looking to buy a new car, I would definitely recommend carwoo.com. I helped my friend buy a new Infiniti EX at an unbelievable price.]
justsomedood 15y ago
There is also the advantage that trading in a car to the same dealership you buy from will deduct this from the sale price of the to-be-purchased car so sales tax can be reduced to zero depending on the trade-in.
- rationalbeats 15y ago
  Exactly. I sold a car on Craiglist once, and I will never do it again. You open yourself up to some potentially dangerous (life threatening) situations. To me a "potential" loss of 2 grand that I would incur by trading my car in at a dealer is worth the time saved, and safety saved. Also all the paper work is done correctly. To me that is another potential "come back to bite you in the you know what" problem averted. I also live in the East Bay CA, and there have been a huge increase in violence and theft associated with selling cars on Craigslist. It is also not just cars, I have had a few bad experiences on both Craigslist and Ebay in the last 12 months and as a result I have not used either in months. To me, I am willing to pay a perceived premium from a retailer (like Amazon with free shipping and no hassle return policy) than deal with the BS I have had to deal with on Craiglsit and Ebay.
pavel_lishin 15y ago
> is it still worth it to save an extra 1-2k? You're not only saving an extra couple of grand, you're also avoiding settling for whatever the dealer has in his lot.
bradleyland 15y ago
I had the same exact reaction. I like cars. I like to a variety of drive cars, but I'm not wealthy enough to afford a car collection. Thus, I tend to change cars more than is "fiscally optimal" (every three years). I actually like leasing cars, because I get to negotiation the terms of the buy-back up front. This gives me A) peace of mind knowing exactly what I'll pay in depreciation, B) the opportunity to negotiate that amount up front and in clear terms (I understand the math involved in leasing), and C) a much, much shorter time investment in said negotiation. Consider the rest of this post to be an anecdotal piece titled, "Hacking the car buying process means getting your hands dirty." When I picked up a 2006 VW GTI, the dealer was offering 0% financing. I couldn't bring myself to pass up free money, so I bought the car with the intention of turning it around in three years, just like I normally would with a lease. My reasoning was that I'd be giving up the opportunity to negotiate the residual value up front in exchange for the free use of a few thousand dollars over three years. No brainer, right? Yeah, not exactly. I ran in to a couple of issues. Lease residuals are actually on the generous side Leasing residuals are normally pretty generous on the types of cars I like. My GTI was 57%. I negotiated a 63% residual on my current car. Looking at the math from my GTI, with an MSRP of $24,750, the lease residual would have been ~$14,100. When I sold the car at the 3-year mark, it took me three months, and I only got $12,000 for it. So, in exchange for the zero percent financing over three years, I gave up $2,000 on the residual, plus the time and effort involved in selling. I took many phone calls, and drove out to meet about 5 people before executing a sale. Had I leased the car and negotiated decent terms, I would have paid the same, maybe less. Selling a car over $10,000 is a pain in the ass Words you really don't want to hear when selling a car: "I've got $3,000 saved up. Can you take payments on the rest." Times I heard them during the sales process: 9 out of 10. Selling private means dealing with all kinds of people who really can't afford the car you're selling, but are bold enough to offer you anything. I have no envy for car salesmen. Their job is tough. You're constantly assaulted by people who really don't care if the deal is any good for you. I wouldn't say I was offended, but I did begrudge the time I wasted. I'm back to leasing now, and very happy with it. If you want a new car every few years, and are ok with the associated financial impact, it's worth your time to sit down and understand the math involved in leasing. You can probably do better (fiscally) than you think.
bdunbar 15y ago
I've bought 'a' car from Craigslist. Took us about eight hours, from 'first car' to 'I'll take it'. Looked at ten cars in person. In one day. Granted, we were motivated, needed a car that day (long story) but it doesn't have to take weeks, if you just need a car and your value of 'acceptable' is flexible. is it still worth it to save an extra 1-2k Yes. $2,000 dollars can buy a lot of hamburgers. YMMV.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

killion 15y ago

It's interesting to see how close the KBB value mirrors the Craigslist price. I'm guessing the only negotiation points are the condition of the car. Thanks for the helpful post, I'm about to sell my car.

Dnguyen 15y ago
Maybe it follows closely because people check their values on KBB and use KBB values to list?

HaloZero 15y ago

Were the datapoints all from one market (SF Bay Area)? Or across multiple regions in the US?

dw5ight 15y ago
Data was across the US. I tried looking for regional trends (price variation, etc), but at least at the state/major metropolitan area level price and availability distributions were surprisingly homogeneous. I'm hoping to deep dive later in more detail, but for saving money there didn't seem to be much on the regional front worth reporting. Thanks for reading!

vishaldpatel 15y ago

TL;DR version: Buy and sell used cars on craigslist instead of dealers cuz you'll get a better deal. Don't forget to carfax it and take it to a mechanic for inspection.

bryanlarsen 15y ago

1: Dealers cost ~$2800 more on average, but they may also provide $2800 of value to some people. For instance, many dealers add a 6 month warranty, clean up the car. More importantly, buying from an affiliated dealer can be seen as safer because too many complaints can cause the dealer to lose their affiliation. 2: I was the impression that the standard scam for trade-ins was to inflate the trade-in value. It makes a customer feel better if they get $500 more for their trade-in than if they get $500 off the price of the new car even though it works out the same. 3: Buying luxury later does not necessarily save money. Some brands depreciate more than others. Toyota & Honda depreciate the least, but BMW is pretty close.

tptacek 15y ago
You can't go to a car dealer and get an "inflated" price for your current car without buying a new car from them; they're getting their $500 one way or the other. It's a bad idea to sell cars to dealers. Their entire profession revolves around capturing the spread between car buyers and sellers. Also, a BMW 3-series depreciates ~$7,000 in the first 2 years; a Toyota Camry depreciates ~$3,500. Those numbers aren't pretty close.
- TylerE 15y ago
  You say that like it's a necessarily bad thing. Remember the post recently about the guy who was doing exploiting exactly that spread on Craigslist?
  - dionidium 15y ago
    It's a "bad" thing if your desired outcome is to get the highest price for your car at the cost of some convenience.
- bryanlarsen 15y ago
  From what I understand, a car dealer makes the bulk of its profit from its maintenance department. Most of the time they make very little profit from your used car, it's usually just resold to a wholesaler. The dealer is usually only interested in reselling relatively new cars of the same make. The biggest reason they take trade-ins is because it makes it easier to make a sale and it makes it easier to play with the numbers. So yes, you shouldn't sell to a dealer, but if you don't know why you can be conned when you're surprised by how much they actually offer for your trade-in. A BMW 3-series costs about twice as much new as a Camry, so that seems like equivalent depreciation to me.

encoderer 15y ago

Be a little careful with some of your analysis. For example, you mention a Mercedes e320. There is no such thing anymore. So the last year or a previous generation vehicle is certain to depreciate more steeply than the first year of a new generation.

vaksel 15y ago
E320 is just an E-Class The 320 just designates engine size. i.e. 3.2L V6 The new 350s, are still the E class, just with a 3.5 V6
- encoderer 15y ago
  I'm a Mercedes owner (CLS) and enthusiast. First, even if the distinction was only the engine displacement, the bigger engine is certainly more attractive to buyers. But it's not. There was a redesign between those model years. Mercedes rarely updates engines mid-cycle. In this case, it was a dramatic redesign, an entirely new platform. The new E Class -- E350 or E550 -- is a very different car than the E320.
  - vaksel 15y ago
    ah yes, didn't catch what you were saying in the original post...then yes, the redesigns should be accounted...but since they are only looking at E320s, the redesign hit should affect all years.
    - encoderer 15y ago
      But it LOOKS like the right-most (highest) data-point must be the new car price? And it shows that steep drop off going to 2009. And in the case of the E-Class, 2009 was the last year of the old generation (W211 IIRC). So yes, if you graph E-Class prices right now, there will be a huge drop there. If the 2010 Data Point is something he's purporting to be a "2010 E320" then it must not be a US model. In the US MY2010 began the W212 E-Class. I applaud this guy for putting together so much data. I just wanted to raise this question because the way the data is presented confuses me a bit.

RobertKohr 15y ago

Excellent post. I think the most enlightening item was "Buy Luxury Later." I tested out the searches for cars that were suggested, and wow, there are some great deals on CL.

simonsarris 15y ago

I'm surprised they didn't mention "Have friends", which can often save far more money than any of the listed tips. It's worth remembering that you are not the only person that you know that buys cars. Often friends and relatives are considering buying a new car and want to get rid of their old one in an easy way. Make sure you let them know that if they are going to trade-in that you might be interested in their old car. My brother's first car was a Subaru with 250K miles that our friend's family was replacing. Instead of trading it in my brother offered $50 for it. They decided to give it to him instead. My first car was a Corolla that my uncle was going to trade in. I offered him the trade-in quoted price ($1500). Two years later I sold it for $3600 on Craigslist. I would have gladly sold it to a friend for $1500 though. There are plenty of people that like to buy cars from dealers and do not want the hassle of craigslist and are willing to trade in. If you're in the market for a car, make sure your friends and family know!

patrickod 15y ago
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Having connections and keeping your eye out for potential cars to buy can make a huge difference. The first car I bought, a 97 Opel Corsa, was going to be scrapped by a friends neighbor until I stepped in. It had been sitting without use for ~18 months. The parts needed were minimal. It cost me €150 and 6 bottles of wine. It still drives absolutely perfectly. The second car I bought was again going to be traded in/scrapped. $20 later and a can of 44K to clean out the engine it passed smog and has been running since. tl;dr it pays to keep an eye out for cars that people are looking to sell. Offer to take them off their hands for a reasonable price and you'll find they're very receptive.
- vaksel 15y ago
  that's partly because in Europe your insurance is through the roof so people throw away perfectly fine cars since they don't want to pay $6K/yr for a civic
  - patrickod 15y ago
    Pretty much everything in Europe is more expensive when it comes to driving. Tax, fuel, insurance are all higher than the American equivalent. In Ireland insurance for young males is ludicrously expensive due to the heightened probability of a crash.

rickdale 15y ago

I purchased a used car last year. I would have to say part of buying a car is also the financing. If you can manage to get a good rate and put some cash down, thats a hack in and of itself. As for not trading your car in... I understand you might get more $ selling it on cars.com or craigslist, but the truth of the matter is you can be stuck with your old car forever and all you wanted to do is get rid of it and on with the old one. For some people thats worth the moneyit will cost them by trading it in. I had an experience with a honda civic. Lady said she loved the car. I was asking the lowest bluebook minus 500. It was in better condition than that, but we both found it fair. When she came to pick the car up, she saw I had dogs and panicked about her allergies and this and that. I reassured her I had the car detailed and the dog hadn't been near the car since. No deal. I was fed up and traded it in. Lost 1500, but I would have happily paid that to not deal with the lady.

graywh 15y ago
Bigger hack: pay cash.
- larrys 15y ago
  Not true. Dealer makes money on the financing. If they are making money on that they can afford to sell you the car for less. Usually a good idea to walk into the dealership and let them believe you are going to finance the car and at the last minute change your mind.
  - vaksel 15y ago
    better yet, take the loan, then pay it off the next day.
  - graywh 15y ago
    I wasn't inferring that you could get a better price from a dealer by paying cash. I was referring to not financing the purchase of something that will depreciate.
    - 15y ago

xxpor 15y ago

There's an old adage in the car world: there's no such thing as a cheap luxury car. You might save on the initial purchase, but there's a lot more stuff to break, and when it does it's really expensive.

camiller 15y ago
Just to amplify this, common parts across several models and somehow be more expensive for the "luxury" version. Rear hatch gasket for an '96 Oldsmobile Silhouette mini-van was twice what the exact same part for the Chevy Lumina. Only difference in the two vans is a few more gadgets and more acoustic insulation in the Oldsmobile.

agentargo 15y ago

I bought a used luxury car recently and went through the exact same thought process as this. I went a little heavy on the analysis side of things and created a dataset of 15 years of KBB sales for 5 models I was looking at. I found that cars values tend to follow a half life. The half-life for a subaru wrx was the highest at somewhere around 6 years. Those suckers really hold their value. I ended up purchasing a 2004 BMW 330xi despite the value time series data not being the strongest between the models I was looking at. It's just a sweet ride for the price.

Duff 15y ago

I'm not sure that I agree with everything here. Buy a used Benz - Luxury cars are great, until they aren't. Someone who doesn't realize what luxury car parts often cost will cry when they get a bill for a $750 spark plug wire kit. Craiglist - Selling a car on Craiglist is great, except that people you'll subsequently dealing with are folks who buy cars on Craiglist. Have fun with that. To truly "hack" the used car purchase, you need to buy the cars that nobody wants. "Honda" and "Toyota" shouldn't be in your vocabulary. If you want a Honda, get the certified used one with a better warranty than the brand new one.

tptacek 15y ago
I didn't get the idea from this post that the author was recommending buying a luxury car, only that you should look for steeper discounts on used luxury cars. You're right, though: Euro import cars in particular cost significantly more to maintain; you can safely expect to spend 50% more per year on them (I say, ruefully).
- Duff 15y ago
  I always like to pass on hard-learned lessons about cars. After I bought the $750 spark plug wire kit, I decided to save money by doing the job myself. It turned out that spacing between the plug wires and the climate control blower motor was critical -- I'd didn't pack the wire tightly enough, and my $750 wires broke the $950 + $400 labor blower motor. :( It was a great car though.
- owenmarshall 15y ago
  If you're going to purchase an expensive import, be sure to look around for good independent mechanics. I drive a Saab, and several months ago it experienced a fairly common failure related to the cabin blower motors. The dealership wanted to replace with all new dealer parts from Sweden, and provided a ~$1400 estimate. My independent mechanic, who tells me he deals with this particular issue on a near weekly basis, told me that the part I needed was identical to a part found in earlier Cadillac Cateras. Just by using that part, he was able to fix my car for $680 -- over 50% savings. Maintenance by the dealer can often be significantly more expensive, and there's almost always a competent independent shop nearby that specializes in your car.

paulgerhardt 15y ago

I recently asked a seasoned friend about buying cars off Craigslist after being frustrated with all the SEO spam I found on Google. This was his response: Well, all states are slightly different with how they deal with car registration and ownership titles. The way it works in most places is that every car has a piece of paper that goes with it called the title. The title has all of the current owner's info on it, as well as the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and when you're selling a car, there's an area on the back you fill with the new owner's info, car mileage, and seller's signature. This area on the back counts as a "bill of sale". It used to have to be a separate document that was kinda written up in legalese; "I, ______, sell this 1997 toyota corolla (VIN #SDFSLJDKLSJGD52345234) to ______ on this day, may 18th, 2008 for 42 dollars. Signed, Seller: ______ buyer: ______" But in Colorado they've integrated this into the bill of sale, so you don't need to do this anymore here. The most basic way to determine if a car is stolen is if the seller has the title that matches the VIN stamped onto the car. If you have a signed title/BOS and the car it belongs to, its kinda like a endorsed check, anyone who wants to own the car just now needs to write their info in on the title and take it to the DMV. If they don't have a title, don't buy the car. It might not necessarily be stolen, but it might be, and its a HUGE pain in the ass to get a 'replacement' title made for a car, especially if you don't own it. In California, titles may be called pink slips, which I'm sure you've heard of if you've seen any of the 3 Fast 3 Theerious series. I believe they function the same as CO titles, from what I'm reading. Here's a list of everything you need to transfer the car to your name after you have the car and title in hand: http://dmv.ca.gov/vr/vr_info.htm#BM2522 http://dmv.ca.gov/vr/vr_info.htm#BM2522 Sounds like you need the endorsed title, probably with your info on it, and a smog certification (which you'll either get this from the seller (in CO the seller is legally required to have the emissions tested before selling vehicles, but this RARELY happens), or have to find an emissions testing place and go there yourself with the car). With these, you can go to a DMV and get the title put in your name, and they'll give you plates. View this video: http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/vr/vrvideos/title_transfer/title_transfer.htm http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/vr/vrvideos/title_transfer/title_tran... - Shows you where to sign and everything. This is very important; if the seller fucks up his/her name on the title when signing it or something like that, it MAY void the title, and you have to get all this other shit signed and come back to the DMV and wait in line forever again and again. Bring a checkbook to the DMV, sometimes they don't accept credit cards. I think that about covers the legal parts of buying a car/registration. As far as buying a car from CL in particular, you'll probably end up bringing cash, but leave it in your locked car til you decide you want to purchase said vehicle and see the title. Ask them if they have a smog certification or any of the previous records, if it can't pass emissions, you can't get it registered, which is coincidentally a great time for a car to be sold. Granted, most cars ought to pass emissions fine until like 200Kk miles. If the engine visibly smokes, you're probably fucked. Ideally, the car won't have been run before you see it, so it'll have a cold engine, this is the best time to see how the engine behaves; does it smoke? does it start up easily? Other major things to consider are leaks of any kind - BRING A FLASHLIGHT. An engine with no leaks is best, but a leaky engine isn't always bad; leaks coming from the top of the engine/where the headers are are bad, might be a head gasket blown. Leaks from around the oil pan area are common, and all that means is that you'll have oil stains on your driveway and have to remember to top off the oil every now and again. Check the oil level of the engine to make sure the owner isn't a jackass. Transmission leaks are the same, not too dangerous if you keep the oil level good, but generally, most people are too lazy to keep up with this shit so it gets broken. Just buy a car with no leaks. Drive the car, make sure it tracks straight down the road; if it doesn't, it might mean that it was crashed and the frame is bent, or maybe the alignment is off because they curbed one of the wheels bad. If you're feeling paranoid that its been wrecked or something, you can call ahead to get the VIN # and get a Carfax report on the car, which shows its whole history of reported accidents. Anything large enough to warrant not buying the car will be on this report, minor fender benders may not be. Make sure the transmission shifts into ALL gears, I got screwed on this once, transmisson had 6 gears, but I didn't take it to a highway or even try to put it in 6th while testing it out, and low and behold, the 6th gear is out. Listen to the engine for any abnormally loud "click" type noises - every engine's valves click a bit, but they shouldn't be too distractingly loud. Make sure all the lights/signals work. People who are too lazy to replace a blinker bulb might be too lazy to change the oil on time... I can't think of much else, and I've been typing for like 30 mins... The only piece of advice my dad gave me before buying my first motorcycle was, "if it looks good, and sounds good, buy it." Basically, look out for any red flags, but by and large, most people are legit, most cars aren't lemons, and any serious issues with the car should be pretty obvious.

md1515 15y ago

I said this the first time this site was posted. It is brilliant and helpful. It is actually the first helpful site I have found here on HN for my personal life.

hndl 15y ago

I bought a 2007 Honda Civic that had done 24K miles when I bought it (2009). I put down ~$10K for it. I did almost everything they mention here.

georgieporgie 15y ago

Selling a vehicle on Craigslist has been among the greatest annoyances in my life. I will never make that mistake again. Instead, I sell vehicles on eBay. The eBay method has a few hassles (answering questions, coordinating pickup, eBay percentage), but it is still sooo much better than dealing with CL flakes. That said, I buy all of my vehicles on Craigslist. I wait for the exact vehicle I want, show up with a cashier's check for the asking price minus ~25%, and bring the rest in cash for negotiation. Sellers are always relieved when they find out I came prepared, and they're happy to negotiate on price to be done with the process.

ssharp 15y ago

You are using the sticker price for the basis of comparison, which is unrealistic. The appropriate comparison is final sale price. Regarding trading in a car, I'm not sure if most people in the HN audience really think that they are getting a good deal on trade-ins. Also, trade-ins can be negotiated. You aren't going to get the market price, but you give up some money for the easy liquidity. It's going to take some extra work for you to get the market price. Also, when you buy a used car from a dealer, you should look up the "Black Book" price, which is generally the price the car would go for at auction. This gives you information on the dealer's bottom line. The Black Book price is going to be a lot lower than Blue Book, meaning that it's well under the market price, and really well under the dealer's sticker price. But using this number, you know the dealer's position, and can adjust yours to drive value for both parties. I don't think it's totally inconceivable to get a used car from the dealer for close to what you'd get it from a private party, as long as you're willing to negotiate and the dealer is willing to negotiate.

LouToot 15y ago

As someone who has been buying cars for himself for 20 years or so, and never new, I would agree with the article in part, but with some important provisos: 1. While Craigslist is a valuable resource, make sure you follow Hack #4 and #5 - there are a lot of sleazy individuals who will pass salvage title or otherwise garbage vehicles. I would add one other note to that recommendation - search via the 'by owner' listings vs the 'by dealer' ones. That cuts down some (but not all) of the buy here/pay here trash-lot stuff. Searching for larger dealer vehicles can be done via something like autotempest (which also conducts Craigslist searches too) 2. While buying via Craigslist is generally easy and definitely recommended in many situations, selling can sometimes be a complete PITA. Dumping the car at CarMax can work as well in that case. You take a bit of a hit on the sale price, but its generally less in my experience than trading it in. 3. Sometimes there is a damn good reason why Luxury cars have taken an appreciation hit. Make sure you factor in scheduled and unscheduled maintenance with your purchase plans. Some luxury brands (Lexus, some Infiniti, Acura) are easier to maintain than others, but they inconveniently don't seem to depreciate quite as much. One thing I would add here too is - If you don't care about your image too much, look into 'old people's' cars. Things like the Cadillac DTS, Lincoln, Mercury Grand Marquis, etc... Because they are so unfashionable, the depreciation hit on them is HUGE, and you can really get decent, comfortable transportation for cheap. The gas mileage might not be as good as a Toyota, but $5k in savings can buy a lot of gas... 4. Carfax is important, but its not foolproof, and its no substitute for a good mechanic's inspection. What I look for is a gap-free history with no dramatic changes in mileage, and no record of fleet ownership. Why no fleet ownership? Have you ever abused a rental car, or known somebody who has? I would never buy an ex-rental, and would have a hard time looking at other ex-fleet sale cars - the incentive for responsible ownership is very often not there, even if scheduled maintenance may have been more rigorously followed. 5. In some cities there are 'Lemon Buster' services that can travel to the dealer/owner and inspect the car on-site. YMMV of course, but I have found them to be pretty useful and inexpensive. They also give you a nice inspection report that can be used as negotiation leverage. Additional points to make: Financing - unless you are a very savvy negotiator, I would NOT recommend dealer financing over bank/Credit Union financing (especially CU.) Financing/Dealer Fees are a huge source of income for dealers, and they typically have some real hard-asses stationed at the financing desk. Much easier to just pay with cash from the CU or your pocket. Paying ahead, by saving money for your next car instead of making payments for the current one is a very savvy move if you can get away with it. Used car prices are highly localized. Where I live (Austin TX,) I have found that 2-5 yr old used cars are typically about $1k more expensive than cars in larger Texas cities like Houston and Dallas. Make sure your internet searching takes this sort of variance into account. If you save $1-2k on the price, a $150 one-way plane ticket is pretty cheap. For those in the rust belt, I would not even bother with buying used vehicles past a certain age locally - why take the chance on hidden rust issues? Rule of thumb for used car purchases - there are always more cars! Don't EVER think that the car you are looking at is a special flower and that you will never find one that's the same. ALWAYS reserve the option to walk away. I personally walk-away from most cars I look at. Don't like the lot/seller? Walk away. Not getting a good feeling from the car? Walk away. There are always other options. Finally, I recommend the book 'Don't Get Taken Every Time' by Remar Sutton. Tons of good info on how to avoid some obvious pitfalls for both used and new car purchasing.

ssharp 15y ago

I wonder what effect the "cash for clunkers" program had on cars below the rebate incentive for that. It had to have a substantial effect on market for older cars.

maxerickson 15y ago
The effect was probably moderated by the 18 mpg cutoff for fuel efficiency. My midsize 1997 sedan does about 24 mpg, so it wasn't eligible, and at this point it is way down at the bottom of the used car market, not something that most buyers would spend much time looking at.

ageyfman 15y ago

why is everything that involves thinking is now called "hacking"? Buy from Craigslist is really a hack? Seriously? Carfax report is a hack? That's pretty lazy. Car arbitrage is a hack - checking a car's title is minimal effort.

Estragon 15y ago
The real "hack" here is slyly congratulating readers on their cleverness so they keep coming back for more.
SonicSoul 15y ago
i had the same reaction.. after reading the title i was expecting some inventive tricks at automating search, or maybe even negotiation tactics.. instead i got "don't trade your car in" .. turns out the dealer is only taking my used car at a discount to turn a profit? thanks! /sarcasm

larrydag 15y ago

I'm curious how you approach #5 Find an OCD Mechanic to a Craigslist seller. How do you ask? Is it considered common courtesy to say "Hey, lets drive it to my mechanic?"

mcknz 15y ago
If I really want to sell my car, and I know it's in good shape, I would be more than happy to arrange an inspection. If the seller wants to avoid an inspection, it's probably because 1) the vehicle is in enough demand (or cheap enough) that it's not worth the hassle, or 2) something's wrong with the vehicle.
run4yourlives 15y ago
"Everything looks good, but I can't in good conscience buy this until a get a mechanic that I know to give it a once over. Can we arrange that?" Don't buy anything from anyone that balks at this, regardless of reason.
hsshah 15y ago
Yes indeed. I got both my cars checked. The courteous thing to do is take it to a reputable mechanic (I took them to dealership service) coz if I am the seller; I would not like to take my car to a shady place even though I don't mind it being inspected.
mchanson 15y ago
Both times I've done this I just left my locked car at their place while I took their car to get checked out. It was no big deal. Set up an appointment with them and an appointment with the mechanic so everyone is ready to go!

tmh88j 15y ago

As a gearhead, nearly everything on that list is ingrained in my DNA, EXCEPT buy luxury(and performance) later. My reasoning is that technology is improving so rapidly that every new model of most cars have made gains that are ridiculously high compared to the previous generation. Cars are my passion and the one thing that gives me joy no matter what mood I'm in, so I'm willing to fork out the extra money for the newer, better performing models. I found both of my cars on craigslist and one of them was a steal. It was listed for about $5k less than the market with some incredible upgrades AND it was through a dealership, so I just figured they were clueless. I went and checked it out, brought it to an Audi dealer for a PPI and everything checked out. I also added on a 3 year drivetrain warranty and I still ended up saving around $3.5k compared to what similar cars were going for.

vaksel 15y ago
it actually makes sense...take Audi for example. You'll pay $40K for an A4 2.0T Quattro(once you get a few basic options) Or you can go used, and buy a 2009 with 36K miles for $25K...a car that looks identical to the 2012 model. Pretty much identical car for $15K less. Or you can buy one generation older(2005-2008) with 60K miles for $15K...a car that's still modern, and has pretty much identical features. Both of these options will still be pretty much brand new, and you'll get to save a ton of money. i.e. for the cost of an entry level Civic, you get a $40K car.
- nsxwolf 15y ago
  I would love to do exactly this, because I love the A4. But the maintenance cost fears stop me. I was really hoping it was one of those "Macs cost more" type myths, but the more I read the more it appears to be true.
  - vaksel 15y ago
    to be honest, I was in your boat. I always bought Hondas/Acuras since I was afraid of maintenance issues. So for the last car I decided to take a gamble and buy an Audi. An A4 quattro for winter driving. Figure, worst case scenario, I'll just drive the other car. Maintenance isn't too bad, I mean yes, a lot of things need a few extra steps compared to other cars...but there are plenty of forums with step by step DIY instructions on how to do everything. Basically a good rule of thumb is that a Toyota/Honda will cost you $500/yr to keep running. And an Audi will cost you $1,000/yr. Reliability wise, the mechanical bits are pretty reliable. They had a major issue with the coilpacks, but they did a recall on those, and the new ones are supposed to be bulletproof. The electrical bits on the other hand have their fair share of gremlins...but those are an annoyance, not anything serious + Audi has an onboard computer that catches these things...so you'll know when your turn signal burns out.

cottonseed 15y ago

I take Hack #1 with a grain of salt. The more important thing is to know what the car is worth and what you're willing to pay. You might be able to find a deal on craigslist, but you can also negotiate with dealers, and they often inflate the sticker price. I bought a used car recently. One dealer was overcharging and rejected my offer so I walked. I ended up negotiating hard and got a better deal elsewhere. Also, do your homework. From the timestamp on the google cache of an online isting, I knew how long the car had been on the lot. This turned out to be a useful bit information during the negotiation.

phamilton 15y ago

I wrote a cool script to pull a lot of data down off of KBB. I've got a post on my blog about it: http://www.undiscoveredfeatures.com/2011/09/kelly-blue-book.html http://www.undiscoveredfeatures.com/2011/09/kelly-blue-book.... What I found interesting was comparing the rate of depreciation per mile vs time.

phil 15y ago
Looks like you've discovered that KBB applies a linear mileage cost. Does that reflect reality? I doubt it -- at least, not after you reach a certain mileage. I'm curious if you grabbed data to extend that chart out to, let's say, 200k miles. There should be a sigmoid somewhere out there.

dadro 15y ago

Overall this is a helpful list. One of the biggest challenges with used cars is they are impossible to treat as a commodity. I spent several years working for a company that financed high-end classic and exotic autos. I learned a ton. One of the biggest tips is you really need to profile the owner if you want to get car that was well maintained. I like luxury cars (BMW's, Lexus, etc) and over time came up with a system for purchasing used ones. Search CL and local want-ads in affluent suburbs. Eventually you will find 1 owner cars with low miles owned by people with the means to take proper care of them. Ask for the maintenance records, look at the condition of the interior and also look for clues on how the person takes care of other things like their personal appearance AND their home. It will tell you everything. I've gotten some killer deals on pristine cars following this method. Currently on the hunt for a late 70's air cooled 911 :)

tedchs 15y ago

I just learned about AutoGlance, which is a "Hipmunk for car buying": for example, http://autoglance.com/search/#Mercedes-Benz,eclass,50,29492 http://autoglance.com/search/#Mercedes-Benz,eclass,50,29492

donky_cong 15y ago

Thats not really hacks, thats common sense. Want a hack ? "Wash your car before you try to sell it"

mountaineer 15y ago

More like common sense car buying, not really "hacking". As others have mentioned, don't rely on Carfax. I sold a car that had to be almost a quarter re-built (and disclosed this to the buyer), and this was not on the Carfax report. But, it's still worth doing.

gcb 15y ago

pretty obvious advices. really. but good to see the data points. ...now make a post on how to find a decent mechanic, and then i will droll over

guynamedloren 15y ago

Better Hack #5: Be your own mechanic. Cars really aren't that complicated - especially for smart hacker folk like us. I did maintenance on my parents vehicles when I was 12 years old (brakes + oil changes) and have been working on my own vehicles since I could drive. In the past 7 years, I have only spent money on alignments and tire mounting/balancing, to the tune of $300 probably. The kicker is that I'm no more mechanically inclined than anybody else. I learn every time I pick up a wrench, with a bit of help from the good ol' internet. The experience is unbelievably fun and rewarding :)

c_moscardi 15y ago
This is so true. I was really surprised not to find more posts like these, because working on your own car is very fun, gets you away from the computer for a bit, and definitely embodies the DIY mentality most of us on this site have. That said, if you're in the market and inexperienced [or maybe even experienced], take a prospective car to a professional mechanic. Don't buy a junk car and expect to be able to fix everything yourself, unless you want a fun side project which will require a ton of man-hours [and more money than you'd expect] to complete. But on the overall, doing your own maintenance and fixing smaller problems you encounter [timing belt issues? no biggie!] is very very enjoyable.

yason 15y ago

Ah, car purchases: the land of endless advice. So let me share my method, requested by nobody: 1) I limit my purchases roughly around to one month's net salary. This keeps me aligned with the idea that I invest in the kind of transportation I enjoy rather than something that's newer and shinier than my neighbours'. My cars are never just boring transportation vehicles: the style and feel of the car is of most importance. However, I'm perfectly happy to drive cars that is ten years old. 2) I intend to keep a car for 5-7 years. I get to pay for routine maintenance and any worn parts for so many times for the $10,000-$20,000 that I could've put into a newer car (and still pay for maintenance and replace parts, just little less of it). I'm not afraid of big rehauls if the car is otherwise sound. There's one exception to the longevity rule two years ago: I changed makes. 3) When I'm changing, I don't particularly shop for cars. I'm rather in the constant "nah, I don't need a new car right now" mode and gradually spend some time browsing used car sites on the internet. When I get interested in one I get this feeling inside. I check a few facts, go check it out, and most of the time just buy it if my hunch keeps going. I think I've never test-driven more than one car, the one I bought. Some I've discarded without a test drive. Contrary to what you might think, I've always had good, reliable cars. And I certainly don't drive the boring Toyota/Honda kind. 4) Facts include such as the ownership records and tax/MOT records, and average mileage. For example, the previous owner of my current car kept it for a steady seven years with full maintenance == good. He kept it as an investment to his transportation needs instead of a cost sink that only gets half the minimum maintenance. Also, if there are several cars of that model that have clocked hundreds of thousands kilometres, I know the engine is capable of doing it without problems. 5) I buy my cars around at 200,000km. If the car is in proper order at that point I know it's not a lemon and has been maintained. Most regularly worn parts have been changed once, maybe twice by the time. The worst cars are those that are being sold around 100,000km or slightly below: you can probably make 100,000km without ever changing oils, not to mention anything else. If so, the car is bust and it won't make it to +200tkm. Anyone who spends the effort to make the car into those figures has had it for some useful purpose. 6) I'm fully aware that I might bump into a bad car eventually. This is where 1) comes into play. The amount of money I spend is over the lifetime of the vehicle instead of up front, so that I can afford to hit an occasional bad one. None encountered so far. I still haven't spent as much in cars in total and in my whole lifetime than my dad just spent on his latest new car. I've been driving and owning for about 15 years now.

wanderr 15y ago

Here's my hack, that may not be acceptable to everyone: pay cash for your car, settle for whatever you can afford, pay yourself car payments. Buy something ugly. I stared with an $800 POS and made it last for 3 years...I paid myself a modest $250/month "car payment" during that time, so I ended up with $9k in cash. Finally got tired of driving that thing and it just wouldn't die, so I kept an eye out for used cars in my new price range. It took a while because I was just searching off and on, but eventually I found an especially ugly Scion xB (bright yellow edition) that had been on the market for a few months with no interest, so they were already asking significantly less than KBB value, since I was paying cash I got them to take even less for it (after having my mechanic look at it of course). Of course if you mind having a goofy looking car, this strategy might not save quite as much money.

amalag 15y ago

No mention of auctions. Among my friends it is common to buy at an auction. Only registered car dealers are allowed. I guess I am lucky to be able to go through some. They ask a flat fee of $500 and they will buy the car you want at the auction. I am not an expert at it, so I was wary and I actually bought a new car at what I thought was a good price. Next time I will have to go for the auction, especially since the 'hackers' here don't even mention it.