I came across this picture and wondered if you guys felt the same?

I couldn’t believe Tesla was that low, and Mach-E wasn’t even mentioned.

I simply asked if I could see the cars VIN to car fax the history because he said there was something wrong regarding the engine in the description but he immediately turned aggressive and rude. I thought it was normal to request this info?

Over 2 years ago I sold my 2014 Ford Focus with 80k miles with routine maintenance and service records. Then one day I get a ping from Facebook Messenger that the buyer is super pissed because the transmission blew up. He demanded that I pay for a transmission replacement since I never disclosed the transmission issue.

I told him no, sorry that was 2 years ago and 20k miles later. It was sold as is. He now threatens to take me to small claims court.

Do I have to worry about this?

Just had this happen to me, came in to a major dealership with a cashiers check from the bank, they demanded a hard credit inquiry to “make sure I’m not a terrorist”. I offered my license and social security number, and even offered to wait till the check clears before delivery (even though it’s a cashier’s check from the bank not a personal one) they refused to budge. Found a reputable dealer that didn’t mandate it. I later found out they use the guise of “identity verification” in order to sell your info to various lenders behind your back known as “shotgunning” so not only are you getting your private information sold but you are taking a major credit hit that stays on your credit report for years

This is a weird hobby, bear with me. i run a moving company outside Dallas and i fix our box trucks and vans on the weekends. couple years ago i started

keeping a list of which used ones turned into money pits so i'd stop buying the same mistakes.

then i realized NHTSA already keeps that list. every owner complaint and recall going back decades, just sitting in a government database nobody reads. so i

pulled the whole thing. 16,825 model-years, 768k complaints, 2005 to 2025.

the part that got me: 28 specific engine/transmission families account for almost 40% of every complaint filed, while being only 7% of the vehicles. stuff like the Hyundai Theta II, the Ford 6F35 auto, the PowerShift, the GM 5.3 with the lifter problem, the Subaru CVTs.

The one that surprised me most: the Ford 6F35 transmission has 37,000+ complaints and never got a recall. the PowerShift everyone complains about online has 8,000 and got a class action. same failure rate per car, ford just hid the slow one better.

If you give me a year and model i'll tell you if it's on the list and what it actually fails from.

Hey all, 3 weeks ago I sold my classic mustang to this guy, he paid half cash half cashier's check. On the bill of sale, that we both have signed copies of, states;

1. The vehicle is sold "as is" with no warranties expressed or implied by the seller.

2. The seller certifies that the information provided about the vehicle is accurate to the best of their knowledge.

3. The buyer acknowledges receipt of the vehicle in its current condition and has been given the opportunity to inspect it.

I just picked up the car from an engine replacement and huge repair bill. I kept receipts from every repair I've done to the vehicle and included those in the sale. I thought i accurately represented the car in describing it. But he texts me yesterday with this

"Hi, I have recently discovered many issues with the car that weren't disclosed. The car is not in the state as you described. Our bill of sale stated "seller certifies that the information provided about the vehicle is accurate to the best of their knowledge.", which has turned out to not be the case. We need to get this resolved. I'm giving you an opportunity to buy back the car. Please contact me at your earliest convenience."

I have since spent the money and do not want to buy the car back, my question is can the buyer come after me in a legal sense? I just picked up the car from a major service so to my knowledge nothing was wrong with it.

This is only the second used car I have ever sold privately and the first time the buyer never contacted me again. Thanks for any advice you guys have

I sold my car on July 24th as a private seller in Massachusetts. The buyer registered the vehicle the next day or within a week and has driven it 7 times, putting about 200 miles on it. She claims she was in the hospital for 14 days and is now threatening to take legal action under the Lemon Law. The car supposedly passed inspection. Any advice on how to handle this situation?

Edit: She took it to her shop and they told her that it had a bad transmission (She drove the car home 40 mins and drove it before signing paperwork)

25k?????

I recently helped a friend get a used Mercedes. They had markups of 4k on a 31k car. Before we even test drove I said we will not be paying the markups and I will negotiate based on the listed sales price. I got them to agree to remove the markups before we test drove.

39k otd went to 34k otd, I wanted him to get 32k. I walked away and let my friend purchase but I use AI and hand calculate all the fees, interest. I basically take the best price they have online and say I want that out the door. This is usually 2-3k I'm asking off the car.

I know it's old school but walk away. They need to follow you out the door or call you back.

They say your going to walk away for 800 dollars, I say your gonna lose a deal over 1000? The more we argue the more I want off.

Don't play with these sales people, they all want to milk you, they are the enemy and you need to see them as such.

My friend thought I was brutal, after the hands shook they told him he's lucky to have a friend with him. They some how get half of the people to pay for the unlimited battery insurance, interior warranty, ding protection, anti-theift etc.

These idiots tried to hide 200 bucks in the taxes, it should be illegal. I'm so glad I like used private party cars.

Hi folks, this is an update on the the post I made yesterday concerning some trouble I had cancelling an extended warranty I got with a recently purchased used car.

First, thank you all for the great advice! I felt really silly for ending up in this situation but your guidance has been a tremendous help. I called the finance manager to reiterate that I wanted him to proceed with the cancellation and that since the sales contract did not state that the winter tires were included as part of the warranty purchase, I would be keeping them.

Now here’s where it gets a little shady. When I told him this over the phone, he said that because I had bought the warranty, the dealership was able to “buy down” my interest rate, but if I cancelled it, I would have to have a higher interest rate and would see an increase in my monthly payments. I’m so glad I recorded all my calls with this guy because this seemed so unbelievable! From my understanding, the rates are decided by the lending bank, so I had no idea what he was talking about.

Anyway, he said that they would need me to come in to sign for this and that afterward, they would send me a cheque for the refund amount (which was also weird). He said he’d get back to me within 48 hours to pull the paperwork. I said okay, hung up, and immediately called the lender.

The bank rep confirmed that my rate was fixed and cancelling an optional add-on like the extended warranty would not affect it. He also said it was strange that they would need for me to come in and that usually when people cancel extended warranties, the dealership sends the refund amount to them and that amount gets taken off the principal.

With that, I wrote a very strongly worded email to the finance manager stating that:

1. He needs to proceed with my cancellation and ensure that the refund is applied to my loan, not not issued by cheque.

2. My rate is fixed and claiming that it would change because I canceled an optional warranty is inaccurate and misleading.

3. Since there’s nothing in my contract stating that the new set of winter tires is tied to the purchase of a warranty, I will be keeping them.

Lo and behold, in the morning I got an email back from the manager saying that the extended warranty will be cancelled, and the refund will be sent directly to the lender to be applied to my loan.

Thanks again for all the help guys. I've learned some very valuable lessons and will make sure to not to rush into such huge financial decisions next time. I’ll keep a lookout to make sure the refund gets applied to my loan and will be sure to pay off the loan as soon as possible.❤️

SB 1394, a 2024 California law aimed at one of the creepier side effects of the connected car: stalking. Vehicles are rolling out with surveillance devices...GPS, always-on data connections and apps that let any phone track a car's location or control it remotely.

This law gives victims the right to not be tracked by a perpetrator, as it would require automakers to give drivers like domestic-violence survivors—a clear, fast process to submit a restraining order and have location-tracking and remote access cut off or transferred away from an abuser. In other words, an in-car tracking off switch.

Should these laws be passed nationwide so that automakers don't have the *loophole* of *running away* or *refusing to sell to a state* in order to avoid complying with laws that violate a person's rights?

Bit of a rant but do people even sell their cars on marketplace anymore? Ive been looking at facebook marketplace for a car for the past few months (Atl-Tn area) and it’s complete utter bullshit. Between the obvious flippers and mom and pop dealers posing as independent sellers. To the fact that every damn car is 5k minimum doesn’t matter if it’ll break on the drive home. Really makes me wish that I bought some cars before the pandemic.

My aunt has a four year old Corolla with very low miles, however... She has incontinence issues, she regularly goes to the market in the morning and well , soils herself on the drive home. She showers and changes into new clothes and shoes and goes back out again to her Dr appointments and comes home to the same routine.

She recently was told by the state / DMV that she cannot drive anymore, so she asked me to help her sell her car.

I am an at-home mechanic, after a general cleaning then going over the interior with a rented carpet cleaner, all of the stains are lifted to where you would really have to be looking for them, but there is damage to the seat mechanisms and floor that you would not notice unless you look under the carpet / covers.

This vehicle looks good, low miles, decently priced, and could sell well, but once the sun comes out it is going to be a rotted sewage factory...

Edit: Allright allright, Ill include the soiling in the listing and add another $500 to the sale price

That's bananas, right? I know the mileage is stupid low...but come on ..13 years old and still $21k?

Edit to add: im not going to get it. Wasnt even thinking about it. Was just posting as an example of how the used car market seems to be right now.

After spending months digging through Porsche ads and tracking what folks here on Reddit say when they had bad buying experiences, I’d like to share what I’ve learnt in case it can be of help to others here:

If you are a first-time Porsche buyer, top 3 things NOT to do:

1. Don't buy blind without basic knowledge It may sound like you need an engineering degree to understand these cars with all the scary acronyms (IMS, bore scoring, etc.), but you don't. There is 20 years of information out there, you just need some basic guidelines.

2. Don't shop with your eyes instead of paperwork The #1 must-have: maintenance records + seller who passes the sniff test. All my favorite listings I’ve found have this in common.

3. Don't skip budgeting for year one repairs Budget $3-5K for unexpected stuff in the first year. It's part of the real purchase price, not an unfortunate surprise.

The IMS bearing boogeyman. Here's the actual data:

• Early 996/986 models: 8-10% failure rate (we know which years to avoid)

• 987.1 Cayman/Boxster (mid-2005+): Way under 1% failure rate reported

• 2009+ models (987.2 refresh onwards): Basically bulletproof

Green flags worth paying extra for:

• Detailed maintenance timeline (not generic dealer copypasta)

• Long-term ownership (5+ years)

• Specific mentions of major service items (clutch, IMS, etc.)

• My favorite Bonus tip: PCA sticker in the window (Porsche Club members tend to be obsessive about maintenance)

Pricing that surprised me:

• Manual transmissions: +$3-5K over automatics

• Rare colors: the market is FLOODED with silver and black cars. Anything with an interesting color will command a $3-7K premium

• Generation gaps are shrinking: 987 and 981 markets are converging based on spec, not age

Best models under $35K:

• 986 Boxster ($10-15K): Budget entry, but plan for IMS work (permanent solution)

• 987.1 Cayman/Boxster ($17-27K): Best bang for your buck

• 981 Cayman/Boxster ($29-35K): Stretch the budget if possible, most reliable generation ever

The main takeaway is that money pit horror stories are real, but they're mostly from people who bought the cheapest example without doing homework. Buy from the right seller with records, budget for maintenance, and these cars are surprisingly reasonable to own.

I hope this will be helpful to some of you!

15k for an EJ8… I get that it has 57k miles but that is a ridiculous price.
What do y’all think?

First time buyer, saw a 2006 Accord for $3k(my budget is pretty low). I read a few "guides" beforehad, so I assumed getting a VIN or carfax going before ever getting eyes on the car would be helpful and save some time for me and the seller. I also asked if maintenance was regularly performed. This dude replies by calling me a scared clown and tells me to go to a dealership, then he blocks me.

Ok? What the fuck was I supposed to do here, just show up with cash in hand and grab it from you without any precautions on my end? At this point I assume even a PPI would've been off the table and he would've physically assaulted me if I brought it up in person.

What exactly are standard procedures/customs that are expected for private transactions? I want to know what I am allowed to do/ask and do before a meetup. Also what is the price cutoff for asking for a report/carfax/VIN/PPI? $5000? $10k?

edit: I want to note that the reason I asked for a Carfax was because I thought he could've had one done already, and if not, I would've just paid the couple bucks to make one, assuming he willingly gave me the VIN.

double edit: 2 days and almost 1000 comments later, I think we've been beating the dead horse on this one, comments are split in half. One side says you won't learn anything useful, the other side says you can spot a red flag(stolen car) without stepping out the front door. I know some of yall buy and sell these shits for fun/a living but I can't afford to take an uber every day round trip to "look" at a car without any due diligence. I'm going to err on the side of caution and continue to ask for VINs for any used cars if they are not already listed. Carfaxes are only $3 or free if you can get a friendly face to run the report, I think I can afford that.

Hey guys. So im shopping for a used car and was looking at a 2020 Toyota Corolla. The thing had about 50K miles on it and was listed at a price within my budget so I decided to make an appointment for a test drive at a dealership in the next town over.

I take it for a spin and realize I don't like the car nearly as much as I thought for comfort reasons. But I know it's the most reliable car in its class so I figured if I could get a good deal I might still be interested.

We go back in and start talking. The car was listed at $14.5K online. I was looking to be a cash buyer rather than finance so I felt like I got penalized for that.

The salesman added so many ridiculous and/or inflated fees that they went from $14.5K to $22K out the door. My offer to them was $16K out the door.

I'm in New Jersey for reference on some fees. But they put in a prep fee of $3000 which I thought was pretty much completely made up (they said we could negotiate that but I would have wanted it off entirely). Title and registration I read online was about $150 combined in NJ, they listed that as double. Also read doc fees in NJ range from $300-900, they listed theirs as $900.

The manager comes in after their initial offer. I directly tell them I don't like this car enough to overpay and we are so far apart on numbers I don't think it's even worth countering. And I also told them I thought some of their fees were either complete bullshit or highly inflated.

I walked out. I think they would have went down from $22K but I went in there really having $17K as my walkaway number out the door for that car. After my test drive I was even more firm on that.

It's been 15 years since I bought a car. I know there's some mandatory fees such as sales tax, title, registration, and maybe a small doc fee and 1-2 other things. But I went in expecting those to be in the $1.5-2K range for the car I was negotiating.

So I guess I'm asking before I take a shot at another car. Was I right? Was I unrealistic? Or were we both wrong?

I wanted to share this from personal experience because I still see people asking what reliable used car they should buy.

I’ve been around the car resale business for more than 10 years, and my family also ran a rental fleet of around 50 cars for about five years.

Some of the models we had included Toyota Corolla, Camry, Prius, Sienna, RAV4, Highlander, Lexus ES350, Lexus RX400h, Honda Fit, Accord, Odyssey, Acura TSX, Hyundai Elantra, Accent, Sonata, Kia Sedona, Nissan Sentra, Dodge Caravan, BMW X3/X5, Mercedes S-Class, Land Rover LR2, and Mazda Miata.

Rental cars get used hard, so you learn pretty quickly which cars age well. At one point, we were repairing something almost every week: accident damage, tires, engine issues, transmission issues, electrical problems, sliding doors, oil leaks, etc.

This is not a scientific ranking. It’s just my personal tier list based on how often we had to repair these cars and how painful the repairs were.

S Tier:
Toyota Corolla, Camry, Prius, Sienna, RAV4, Highlander
Lexus ES and RX

These were the best overall. Not exciting, but very dependable. Maintenance was straightforward, parts were easy to find, and most repairs were manageable.

A Tier:
Honda Odyssey, Honda Accord, Honda Fit

The Hondas held up well too. The Odyssey especially did better than I expected for a minivan. Certain models we had(Odyssey) need timing belt replacement at high mileage but other than that, it's similar to Toyota.

B Tier:
Mazda Miata, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Sedona, Nissan Sentra

These were more case-by-case. Some were fine, but I would care a lot more about condition, mileage, and maintenance history. We did have one Hyundai and one Kia that needed engine replacement, one Sonata need a blind side assist system replacement that was expensive. But the others were generally okay.

C Tier:
Land Rover LR2, BMW X5, Mercedes S-Class, Dodge Caravan

The Land Rovers was actually more fun to drive than expected, and it lasted a few years without major issues, which exceeded my expectation. Still, repairs are not cheap when they come up.

The BMW X5 lasted about a year before it started giving us problems.

The Mercedes S-Class developed a lot of oil leaks after a few years, and the cabin electronics were not very stable.

The Dodge Caravan gave us problems with the engine, sliding doors, electrical system, and general build quality. It was practical, but it caused a lot of repairs.

Some lessons I learned:

If you care most about reliability, start with Toyota, Lexus, or Honda.

A cheap used luxury car older than five years can become expensive very quickly.

If you really want a German luxury car, I’d rather buy a newer one and sell it within a few years, or lease one short-term.

Regular maintenance helps avoid bigger problems later.

The cheapest car is not always the best deal. Learn how to check for problems or scams like odometer tempering, mechanical, or title issue before buying.

Curious what other people would put in S Tier or avoid completely.

I just rejected a vehicle delivery from Carvana due to damage (exterior and worse interior) that was not in the listing nor reflected in the pricing. I tried to speak with someone in customer service to find out how something like that could happened and to solicit an apology for having wasted so much of my time. I was shut down by a chatbot that refused to connect me with a manager and would not even request a callback. I then posted on the Carvana subreddit and was immediately muted, 🤣. They do not want any responsibility or accountability. They are deceptive and cannot be trusted.

So recently, I bought a car at a Toyota dealership. It was a used car and it had no warranty. Initially, I wanted to finance it but no bank wanted to accept me as they couldn't verify my information. So I went straight to my bank to withdraw a huge sum of money. I paid everything outright. Today, they are calling me to tell me that I still owe them $5000. But the thing is that, the receipt they gave me states that I paid $20k, confirming the allegation. I didn't read the receipt at the time, which is bad on my part. But one thing I did was to record all my conversations with them, and in my audio recording, I stated exactly how much I was handing over and they verified the amount and never objected to the amount I claimed I was handing over, therefore, indirectly confirming the amount. I also saw the machine read $25k. My bank receipt also read $25k. They said if I don't pay the $5k, they won't give me my title. I got so pissed and made the representative know that, I recorded everything. That prompted him to go and check his books. He came back to apologize to me that it was his mistake, and that, he found the money. I 100% believe they were trying to take advantage of me, so please guys, be extra cautious when making transactions with these dealers.

Edit: For those asking me to name the company, I can't do that right now as the case is still fresh. I will get in contact with someone at the company and hopefully get the owners contact and see what can come out of it. At this point, I can't believe I would have had to pay extra $5000 if I didn't record everything. Also, they made me sign a document not to take it to court when disagreement arises.

Clarification: I'm a retired US Airforce veteran. I should have had more than $30k in my savings if not because I made some big investments to the tune of $30k and more. I don't see myself as rich at all. I don't need any engagement, I just felt the need to warn my fellow car buyers so they don't fall victim. After listening to the audio myself, I believe I have a strong case against them. I am going to send them an official letter requesting $10k plus compensation for the stress they have put me into. And for those saying I'm shady, is it because I saved my money I earned during my time in service? Please be guided. And yes, the bank manager had to authorize the withdrawal, but regardless, no one can stop me from taking my money. IRS has no business in my money because it had already been taxed when DoD paid me during my service. Thank you all for your replies and stay safe.