I have been looking online at the Infiniti fx35. The jdpowers and consumer reports reliability ratings have highly influenced me. If I buy an Infiniti from an Infiniti dealership shouldnt it be checked out thoroughly. I am afraid of Carmax and the small stores that buy from auctions and cant really tell you about problems or accidents. Of course I am looking at low mileage and 2005 and up. My budget in total is $24,OOO.
Tough spot. I was there 6 months ago trying to buy a 2-3 year old Camry. Here in CA the only newer cars in the market for resale are either lease returns or have something wrong with them (abused, or accident, theft recovery etc.). I am sure there are a few legit sellers out there. Most owners of these models would not go through the hassle of selling the car on their own. The trade ins from the dealers, if in good condition, would get a car wash and put up for sale as CPO. Now all the 160 point check is usually bogus. The ones that are not in good shape end up in auctions and go to second hand dealers. All the reasonable priced one I found failed my own inspection. For the most part actually they had such major structural damage that I didn’t even test drive them; waste of time. Carmax in my experience was the worst place. Cars were overpriced and not much in the way of warranty and such. Maybe that is a local problem.
Having said that it is a buyers market. Make sure you negotiate hard and have the car checked by YOUR mechanic. Good starting point for a luxury car is an offer 15-20% bellow asking and be willing to walk out; leave your number if you really liked the car.
The certified pre-owned car goes through a series of checks specified and paid for by Infiniti if it is factory certified (don’t buy anything else). Here’s the program:
http://www.infinitiusa.com/pre-owned/overview.html
No other car on the lot will go through this inspection. This does not mean that another car isn’t as reliable as the CPO Infiniti, but if the certification works for you, pay for it.
You can also check for CPO inventory near you from the URL above.
Well, if this article is right, then I might be wrong on being able to get a good deal on a clean used car.
I still think it is a buyer’s market even for CPO cars.