buying a used car

[danaeris]

Anyone have any idea how much money it would cost to buy a used car that is reliable, maybe even refurbished and under warranty, but not necessarily uber nice?

Ultimately, I would like to get myself a car that has A/C and is small so it is easy to park in the city.

I could go the police auction route, or so I hear, but then I'd have to take it as it was, and bring it into a shop to get checked up and revamped if I wanted to be sure it wasn't going to let me down.

I'm probably not doing this soon... possibly in January, possibly a little sooner.

Comments

[deyo.livejournal.com]

Expect around $4,000 for any warranty-covered vehicle, at the low end. I recommend Saturn dealerships, as they seem to have decent deals and really care about the customer's car-buying goals.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Huh. ok. I'd been hoping to pay at least half that... although I guess I can get a car loan and pay it off slowly if I get it through a dealership.

[auros]

I was actually going to comment that when I bought my used Saturn (from a Saturn dealership) there were quite a number of decent-looking cars in the 4-6k range that looked decent. (The one I settled on was closer to 10k, but it was a '99 with low milage.)

Join the cult of Saturn! (It's like if Apple made cars, instead of computers! 8-)

[lyricagent.livejournal.com]

http://www.kbb.com/ is your friend. It's the Kelly Blue Book website. You can put in the condition, year, and mileage of a car and see what the recommended price is.

It will help you from getting ripped off.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

KBB looks fabulously helpful if you have any idea what kind of car to get... looking at it, I'm realizing that I don't. And unfortunately, their decision making guide asks all the wrong questions. I don't know what the definition of a hatchback, sedan, or coupe are, although I think I might have an idea. What I want is A/C, automatic transmission, and SMALL. They don't have that as an option. :( I feel another post coming on.

[auros]

nytemuse's car is a hatchback -- the whole back opens up, making for easy loading of large pieces of cargo, usually not much room in the back seat. Usually two-door.

The Aurosmobile is a sedan. Basic car. Reasonable sized trunk, room for passengers. Generally four-door, but not always.

A coupe is basically a sports car -- little cargo space, little room in the back seat. Almost always two-door.

And of course a wagon is the largest/roomiest of all, four-door, with the back opening similar to a hatchback, but without the shrinkage of the back seat.

[divineseduction.livejournal.com]

My car, in Reno, was $6000.
Look into VW or Nissan. Good and reliable. Do you drive a stick? Tho', SF is not the place to learn. Really. In SF, I'd say expect to spend about $5K, give or take. Then consider the cost of registering it and all that junk (I don't remember how that prices, sorry).
You might want to search .. other places to buy a car. Cars are cheap up here. But... if you want to get warranty stuff, you'll have to hit a dealership, and expect to pay something like the $5K I just repeated myself about.
Whee.
I hush now.