question???

[erstone]

So I have been been doing my research and trying to find the car I want...but I keep bouncing back and forth on whether or not I should buy from a private owner or dealer? It seems like most of the cars I looked at through a private seller have defects that I would have to put money into. So what does everybody think about a certified car? For those of you whom just purchased a new/used car or for the people that remember when they bought their car, what do you think about a certified car as opposed to buying from a private owner? Are certified vehicles flawless? Thanks again for helping out...E

[ArizonaG35]

Hey erstone, Welcome to Nicoclub!

Remember that NO car is "flawless", even new cars. Remember that in Arizona, you don't have to pay sales tax if you buy a car from an individual as opposed to a dealer. That means you save 8% of your purchase price in taxes... that's a pretty substantial savings. However, you do get the peace of mind from a dealer warranty if you purchase from a dealer.

I'd keep looking around at cars.com to see what is for sale around the valley. I see a lot of G's around here, so I'm sure your options are expanded. You may want to talk to Mal Kenney at Infiniti of Scottsdale... they have phenominal service and are certain to get you a good deal. You have to weigh out the options that you want. I.E- saving taxes or peace of mind with a warranty.

Good luck and keep us posted... let us know if you have any further questions.

Dave

[joe603]

You will save money if you buy from a private seller. I would carfax the vin and maybe have a mechanic look at the car before committing.

[etschell]

i bought my g certified. its a good thing as both windows broke and were covered by my 12,000/1 year extended warranty. i also got the dealer to take out all the dings and replace the rotors.

so no regrets. the reason why i bought my g from the deal is because it was a lease vehicle with 37,000 miles and had all the service done at infiniti. also, i was able to get the dealer down from his 29,900 and 27,500 to 24,500 with a dealer fee included. i only stopped because i wanted the car, i feel i still got ripped for 500$.

[Slider4105]

Be careful with Carfax. My G/F's dad just bought her brother an '06 Honda Element. Carfaxed it and had a clear report, and the dealer said no accidents or anything. Then when he got it home and I took a close look I noticed some damage on the drivers door, fender, step rail, and front bumper. Contacted the dealer and he went oh yeah well it WAS in an accident but nothing major or mechanical, just a lot of body work. (Paint is peeling off front headlamp surround, hood and fender gaps WAY off, mismatched paint on drivers door, drivers side step rail is smashed in.)

Through our research, it turns out you can basically choose to submit info to Carfax if you want to or not. If I remember correctly the only way it for sure gets reported is if the police are notified. Plus, the Carfax warranty thing is a load of BS, they wont let us draw on it because "they didn't know it was in an accident" or something.

Anyways rant over I vote for known reputable dealers for peace of mind, even if you pay a wee bit more. (P.S. people in South Florida don't buy from Auto Bank Center in Miami )

[Sentientbydesign]

Be careful with Carfax. My G/F's dad just bought her brother an '06 Honda Element. Carfaxed it and had a clear report, and the dealer said no accidents or anything. Then when he got it home and I took a close look I noticed some damage on the drivers door, fender, step rail, and front bumper. Contacted the dealer and he went oh yeah well it WAS in an accident but nothing major or mechanical, just a lot of body work. (Paint is peeling off front headlamp surround, hood and fender gaps WAY off, mismatched paint on drivers door, drivers side step rail is smashed in.)

Through our research, it turns out you can basically choose to submit info to Carfax if you want to or not. If I remember correctly the only way it for sure gets reported is if the police are notified. Plus, the Carfax warranty thing is a load of BS, they wont let us draw on it because "they didn't know it was in an accident" or something.

Anyways rant over I vote for known reputable dealers for peace of mind, even if you pay a wee bit more. (P.S. people in South Florida don't buy from Auto Bank Center in Miami )

Wow, so your GF's Dad doesn't do a thorough inspection and now all private sales are toast?

That's pretty sad that they didn't check the car over. I looked under the hood. Checked the oil, the coolant, the tires, the brakes, the interior, trunk and went over the entire body.

To the OP: Considering the substantial savings, I'd go for the best condition private party and then get a good complete coverage warranty. My Credit union offered me one for $850 (3 yr 36k). Included everything except brakes, tires, windshield wiper blades...etc. Everything else was covered. I should have taken it, but I'm hoping I won't need it.

[rn79870]

Wow, so your GF's Dad doesn't do a thorough inspection and now all private sales are toast?

That's pretty sad that they didn't check the car over. I looked under the hood. Checked the oil, the coolant, the tires, the brakes, the interior, trunk and went over the entire body.

SbD, sometimes people have a need to vent like Slider did here. He is just giving his opinion and backing it up with his experience. No one needs to try and turn it around to be his fault. If you disagree, post your own opinion, or ignore the post. But pushing Slider into a corner for posting his opinion isn't really fair is it?

Thanks.

And Erstone...if all else fails, take any potential purchase to an Infiniti dealer and ask them to check it out. Then, buy an extended warranty... from the warranty people linked on the home page here.

[Sentientbydesign]

I didn't push him in to a corner. And I respect his opinion, but I disagree. And as such I posted my opinion. Should I add a disclaimer?

THIS IS MY OPINION

Check your email

[Slider4105]

He did do a once over, relied on Carfax for the rest. He was buying from a "used car lot" and isn't much of a car guy. He didn't know to check for hood and fender gaps. He also couldn't tell the slight variation in clearcoat. He relied like a normal person on asking for a Carfax report and asking the salesman if it had any damage. I agree he should have looked harder but not everyone is a car nut and knows what to look for.

He bought the car based on the expressed warranties from Carfax and the dealer saying "has no damage, nor has been in an accident." He has that in writing, then when confronted the dealer goes...oh well yeah we lied. Mechanically the car is in good order and he had all that checked out by a Honda dealer, like I said its all just body damage.

Granted yes maybe he should have done a little bit more research, and he should have checked into it more. I was just using our experience to say hey don't JUST rely on Carfax.

Also it wasn't necessary to say any of that....we know we got a little d!ck over and it was because we relied on peoples word and all the advertisements from Carfax saying MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Also if you had read more carefully we bought it from a used car lot, and my gripe was again, don't just rely on a Carfax report, hence why I told you about our story and warning of not everything is reported to Carfax.

I just think for me, peace of mind knowing that if something breaks and you bought it from the dealer with their warranty then you can just go, "fix it." I think thats worth an extra few hundred to a grand. The OP wanted our opinions and I gave mine with my example.

[TJMaxx98]

Hi Erstone,

Both of our last 2 purchases have been from a Infiniti Dealer. Both cars were certified and under factory warranty (low miles). For my G, the dealer had just replaced the tires, brakes/rotors and tuned up the engine. They also provided the Carfax report.

I agree with you (now this is just me). Going out and buying a car from a private seller and then have to pay a few grand just to bring it up to factory specs...not for me.

Best thing to do in either case is get a carfax report, pay a mechanic to look everything over and shop around for the best deal. If you find a car with a private seller and they can show you receipts and it checks out with your mechanic. Then go for it....in most cases buying from a private seller will save you some money.

I've never traded my car into the dealer...I was the private seller every time and usually everything worked out ok. Had one guy give me a check written on a discovery card and it bounced....I had not hand over my 300zx yet (waiting on the check to clear)....he was over the next day with cash.

[Sentientbydesign]

He did do a once over, relied on Carfax for the rest. He was buying from a "used car lot" and isn't much of a car guy. He didn't know to check for hood and fender gaps. He also couldn't tell the slight variation in clearcoat. He relied like a normal person on asking for a Carfax report and asking the salesman if it had any damage. I agree he should have looked harder but not everyone is a car nut and knows what to look for.

He bought the car based on the expressed warranties from Carfax and the dealer saying "has no damage, nor has been in an accident." He has that in writing, then when confronted the dealer goes...oh well yeah we lied. Mechanically the car is in good order and he had all that checked out by a Honda dealer, like I said its all just body damage.

Granted yes maybe he should have done a little bit more research, and he should have checked into it more. I was just using our experience to say hey don't JUST rely on Carfax.

Also it wasn't necessary to say any of that....we know we got a little d!ck over and it was because we relied on peoples word and all the advertisements from Carfax saying MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Also if you had read more carefully we bought it from a used car lot, and my gripe was again, don't just rely on a Carfax report, hence why I told you about our story and warning of not everything is reported to Carfax.

I just think for me, peace of mind knowing that if something breaks and you bought it from the dealer with their warranty then you can just go, "fix it." I think thats worth an extra few hundred to a grand. The OP wanted our opinions and I gave mine with my example.

WOW. Sorry. Didn't realize I ruffled your feathers that much. Actually, I didn't think I ruffled them at all. My bad.

My experience is that buying from an Infiniti Dealer raises the price more around $2k-$4k.

As for the Element...If the dealer stated in writing that the car wasn't in an accident, then take the car back or get some legal representation and get your money back. Simple as that.

The CarFax warranty is only for complete losses (flood, salvage title) which I found out after the fact (because I didn't take the time to read). I'm not really concerned since the damage that was done to my car by the previous owner was minimal.

I sold my I30 to a guy and as far as CarFax was concerned, the car was fine. If you looked at it, you're realize that the passenger side door was hit as was the rear bumper and the windshield was cracked. I was straight forward with the guys.

Oh...And I thought all men were required to be car nuts

[all G'd up]

I was looking everywhere for my G, private sellers, infiniti dealers, used car dealers... I didn't even go to an Infiniti dealer b/c they wanted at least $4k more than I wanted to spend b/c it was certified. My bracket was any year coupe 6MT with under 40k miles for $22k or less. The closest to that from an Infiniti dealer was an 04 32k miles for $26,500. I looked at another 04 30k miles for $23,900 from a used dealer, but that had some scratches and wasn't good enough for me. It took me 7 weeks but I found an 04 21k miles for $22,500 and got him down to $21,500. completely flawless. The certification is nice to have but it wasn't worth $4k to me, especially since I would probably void the warranty since I'm not leaving it stock. If you find the right private owner that took care of the car, its definitely the cheaper way to go.

[Slider4105]

TJ

Hey no worries, still a sore subject. We are going through the legal channels to see what we can do. He had an 03 G sedan before, so I don't know what happened LOL

END TJ

I found when i was searching for my G I could get the dealers to come down to only 500-1000 more than the private parties around me, so for me buying it from the dealer was a no brainer.