Buying a Used Car - A Hypothetical Question

[AFA1CY]

Say you were in the market for a used car and found an individual with the one you wanted. The car is in very good shape and priced within current market value. You do a little research and find out via CarFax (or other resource) that it has been involved in an accident. The report does not give any detail about the severity of the damage or other details. The owner admits that is was in a minor accident and the rear bumper has been repaired/repainted for scratches. You can not tell visually that the bumper has been damaged.

The question is would you buy it and/or would that change what you would offer?

 

[jclark]

Say you were in the market for a used car and found an individual with the one you wanted. The car is in very good shape and priced within current market value. You do a little research and find out via CarFax (or other resource) that it has been involved in an accident. The report does not give any detail about the severity of the damage or other details. The owner admits that is was in a minor accident and the rear bumper has been repaired/repainted for scratches. You can not tell visually that the bumper has been damaged.

The question is would you buy it and/or would that change what you would offer?

Take it to a body shop and have it looked over. You can always tell if a vehicle ever took a hard shot.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Take it to a body shop and have it looked over. You can always tell if a vehicle ever took a hard shot.

That... and if we are talking about a $1,000 car, would it really matter? On a significantly higher priced vehicle, sure it would matter to me and I would want a professional to give it the once-over for me.

 

[SavageEagle]

What kind of car and what's the asking price/value? Hypothetically.

 

[JustGone]

Did it retain a clean title or did it aquire a salvage title? Clean title yes I would buy it so long as any damage or repairs are not immediately noticable and that it drives straight and true. If it drives well and repairs are done decently I'm game and would pay close to asking (always have to negotiate a bit so you feel like you got a deal ). Salvage cert and I'm low ballin.

 

[AFA1CY]

What kind of car and what's the asking price/value? Hypothetically.

2006 Mailbu, KBB - $7200

Did it retain a clean title or did it aquire a salvage title? Clean title yes I would buy it so long as any damage or repairs are not immediately noticable and that it drives straight and true. If it drives well and repairs are done decently I'm game and would pay close to asking (always have to negotiate a bit so you feel like you got a deal ). Salvage cert and I'm low ballin.

Clean title, minor damage to rear bumper. (Remember CarFax only reports that a crash report was taken, not the extent of damage)

Hypothetically

 

[XDinmyXJ]

Do research on the particular Model you are wanting. This includes hitting message boards. When I decided on a Cherokee this is what I did. I got on there and got the basic(that i didn't know about them). Like what years to look for for the least amount of problems, The trim packages and what they offer, reliability, Cost of parts, TSB's and recalls, damage you should look out for, and in my case Aftermarket support! Of course I already knew the Cherokee was a great vehicle that remained basically unchanged for the 17 years it was manufactured. The 4.0/AW4/NP231 combo is Awesome and as long as you stay away from the D35 rear axle you'll be fine! Also, try to use the search feature on the message boards. It avoids the stupid SEARCH, SEARCH, SEARCH posts and if you can't find it explain that you have already used their search feature to no avail!

 

[SavageEagle]

2006 Mailbu, KBB - $7200



Clean title, minor damage to rear bumper. (Remember CarFax only reports that a crash report was taken, not the extent of damage)

Hypothetically

I would ask for an extra 1200 off the price. Otherwise I'd look elsewhere. Usually when a car is hit somewhere there is more damage than just cosmetics. Things like sway bar bushings and suspension parts get weakened and require replacement sooner than normal. The shockwave could have reverberated to the front of the vehicle knocking things off spec causing other problems. You just really don't know until things start going wrong. It's not something a mechanic can find until it happens.