Quick Advice Needed: Buying a Used Car...

Good morning everyone,

I have a situation that I could use some help with. This is the 2nd time I've been in this situation/role, and I want to be sure I am doing the right thing. One of my best bros from college and his wife (live in IA) are looking into buying a second car. They have searched craigslist for the cities and parts of Iowa to find a small, fuel friendly, long lasting vehicle. Recently they bought a used 07 corolla, and now are looking into a Honda Fit.

They found on the Twin Cities Craigslist a 2009 Honda Fit, 35k miles, automatic, red, base model with a few options (PL/PW, MP3, paddle shifters/sport mode, ETC.) asking 12k. and unfortunately my friend travels a lot for work, so who gets to go with his wife to check out the car and what not? This guy (that's not a complaint, I do enjoy it and appreciate the trust). We got there yesterday and the car is in pretty great shape. Then I found out it has a SALVAGED TITLE. After looking under the hood, I could see that it had been hit on the passenger side right around the wheel. The exterior repair work looks pretty good (new fender), and under the hood, I could see where the springs had hit, and left a few scuffs, nothing major, and after looking at the frame I could tell that there was a little work done on it. Everything is in working order, and the car ran fine for the test drive.

The current owner is the second owner of the car. It was a slightly suspicious/interesting story, about how the car title is held by her cousin (who she kept going back and forth on whether he is a friend or cousin), and that his shop (a small independent shop that I had never heard of) had done all of the repair work.

I helped a cousin get into a used Jetta in a similar situation a few months back, and while the frame also had damage, the price for the mileage/year couldn't be beat, and *knock on wood*, the car is still running great. So I am 1-0.

I am not a mechanic, nor do I claim to know huge amounts about what to look for on a used car inspection. I worked in a garage through out HS and parts of college, and learned odd bits here and there about what to look for.

So, where we are at now, is that the friends wife likes the car and would like to go forward. They were asking 12k, got it down to 11k, and are scheduled to do a last meet/finish the transaction very soon. Is there anything else I should be looking for? Does the situation seem off? She seems like a nice, trusting person, and I like to give the benefit of the doubt to people, while still avoiding getting played.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, sorry for the long-winded-ness.

Subie love,
Julian

 

I think I agree with idget here, I would keep looking. The resale issue is the biggest problem, it will always be worth less and, more importantly, difficult to move quickly. I bought my sti with a prior salvage on it's record in carfax, and I have been really happy with the car... But there is a market for an STI for 2/3 the price of all the others out there. You basically paint yourself in to only selling to buyers who are comfortable with the salvage title, which would exclude most of the general public. So, for a "normal" car like a fit, I would steer clear.

 

Thanks fellas, that was the push we needed... I was feeling similar hesitations... I think the search will continue. We already had some luck in finding another at Carlson Toyota in CR.

 

Ps when we requested carfax, previous shop work paper work, or even the name of the garage she couldn't give it to us... Yikes.

 

If your gut is telling you no...especially with cars...listen to it!

 

This...only double.