There is a car dealer ad in my area that is unbelievable. They say nobody walks because their stock includes cars from bankruptcies and repossessions. Can you believe that? I know where I’m not going when I buy my next car.
Doesn’t that statement hold true for all area’s ?
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I would give them a shot, before we decided to buy my daughter a replacement car and fix her old one for $1200 due to timing chain guide failure, I found a dealer who bought those cars, checked them out and fixed everything wrong. Was looking at an 07 focus manual trans, 80k miles new wheel bearing, new brakes brakes , 6 month guarantee for $5700. Had 30 years at the same location. But do not take a loan unless it is comparable to a credit union.
It would seem to me that buying a car that came through bankruptcy or repossession would mean you were getting a car that almost certainly had no maintenance.
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@oldtimer-11 there are no guarantees, only possibly non accessible maintenance records and an independent mechanic inspection. Just because a car got repoed does not mean they neglected maintenance.
There are multiple dealers around here who say the same thing.
What do they mean by “nobody walks”? Car salesman parlance?
They mean they will make you such a good deal that you won’t walk away and when you leave you will be driving. Man, I thought everyone knew that.
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Repossessed vehicles go to the dealer auction, dealers buy vehicles at the auction each week. Some of the vehicles on the dealers lot may have been repossessed in the past so they may claim to have great deals on repossessed vehicles without identifying the specific vehicles, is this unethical?
I wouldn’t have a problem buying a repossessed car; but I sure wouldn’t want to be the guy riding around in a tow truck repossessing them. That seems like a very bad & dangerous job. People are very attached to their cars.
Let me ask you this: How much income would you need in order to take that job?
I’m thinking at least $2 million per year.
Did you see the movie ‘Repo Man’? Modern cars are programmed to quit when their notes go unpaid. Modern repo man
Did you hear what happened to Linda Blair when she didn’t pay her exorcist? Her soul was repossessed.
lol … you know I’ve always wanted to see that Repo film but never got around to it. It’s a cult classic. Maybe I’ll check it out on dvd this weekend.
Not exactly. Cars bought by people with shaky credit from shady loan companies can have a device installed to cut off the car when you fail to pay you payment. You make your payment, your car will now start. These folks credit history shows they are a bit lax in making their payments. The alternative is these same folks can’t get a car and so can’t get to work. Automation just took another job - the Repo Man.
I have no problems with a dealer advertising repos and bankruptcy cars. The risk is pretty much the same to the buyer - unknown maintenance history.
In certain parts of NY & NJ, it means that they break your knee caps. And, by the look of some of the car salesmen–with their shiny suits and broken noses–I think that they would be capable of causing physical injury to people who don’t agree to buy a car from them.
The owners of the Datsun dealership in Jersey City–circa 1965-1980–were among that group of Mafiosos, and they had a way of…convincing…you that it would not be in your best interests to return again with a warranty-related claim.
I guess that means car prices are non-negotiable?
I’m not really sure because when I spot salespeople of that type, I depart before even speaking with them.
Not really. Somebody still has to go out and tow the thing back to the dealership. But it’s taken a lot of the guesswork out. People used to do all sorts of crazy stuff to try to hide the car when they knew it was up for repossession. Now that usually doesn’t work because of the GPS tracking.
Actually what often happens now is that the repo company has a scout who drives around in an ordinary car with license plate scanners on it. There’s a database of cars that have been tagged as repos, and when the plate scanner pings on one, the scout calls in the repo truck.
If you see a non-cop car with things on the trunk like this:
that’s probably what you’re looking at.
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What bothers me is that the dealership touts these cars as if they are prize finds. Maybe I am misinterpreting their ad. Maybe they were sued for not telling the buyer that a car was a repo or bankruptcy. Or not. Who knows? I’m sure that dealers sell cars like this frequently, but the ad makes it seem like a great find.
I interpret it to mean that it hasn’t been abandoned or traded in or salvaged - that it’s more likely to be in good mechanical shape, that the previous owner would have kept it if s/he could have. I don’t say that I believe that, but that I think that’s what they want you to think.
Could it be that the dealer brags about that and announces that nobody walks because the cars are priced well below normal market values?
If that’s true then I could see a little logic. If not then it’s too much puffing.
CSA