I had about 22 hail dents on my one year old car. Hood, roof, trunk, etc. the paintless guys fixed it up like new. Insurance paid but I think the bill was about $1000. I also had a larger dent on the fender of my Acura. Looked like a basketball hit it as close as I could determine from where we had been. I don’t recall if the paintless guy charged $250 or 150 but but couldn’t tell on the highly polished black finish. I paid that myself.
Do you have car auctions near you? I worked with someone that always bought his cars at auctions. There is a weekly auction near me that has a lot of vehicles every week. That’s where he bought his cars. They give you time before the auction starts to inspect the vehicles and hear them run, but you can’t drive them. He was not a car guy, but still managed to get decent cars for a lot less than buying from dealers or private sellers. They are, of course, as is sales.
Don’t be silly. I have bought numerous vehicles on Craigslist. I have never used Facebook Marketplace because I don’t use Facebook, and you cannot contact a seller without being a member. Craigslist is very popular here (southern AZ).
While scams abound everywhere, the three most common scams which people attempt on Craigslist are
- Title is in someone else’s name, often done by unlicensed dealers/car flippers (aka curbstoners). People will offer all kinds of excuses why the title is in someone else’s name, and the answer should always be the same: goodbye.
- Lying about the physical and/or mechanical condition of the vehicle for sale. You defeat this scam by bringing an OBDII scan tool, confirming that all the monitors are set, checking inside the oil fill cap, checking inside the radiator, checking for fluid leaks/evidence of past collision damage/evidence of past flood damage. Anything fishy, don’t buy.
- Seller has a physical title which shows no liens, however there are electronically recorded liens against the vehicle. This can include government debt such as tax liens, unpaid parking tickets, criminal fines/restitution, child support arrearages, etc. It can also include online title loans. Every time I looked to buy a vehicle on Craigslist, I came across at least one vehicle which I wanted, but upon doing a lien search, I found hidden liens, and noped out. And this is how you defeat this scam: the state of Arizona has a website where you enter the VIN, pay a small fee (less than $5 the last time I checked), and it will tell you if there are any hidden liens recorded against the vehicle. If yes, don’t buy.
By exercising common sense, one can buy a great vehicle at a fair price on websites such as Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc.
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I stand by what I said.
I would never shop for something as important as my transportation, in one of those filthy sewers.
Interesting. Good info. I wonder if the local DMV office could do a pre-purchase lien check also? Nothing is simple these days it seems.
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I was thinking the same thing…
Bought the mazda aug 15 for 4k OTD and got him to fix the mirror and throw in a detail (yeah I don’t care about some dings). Been driving it ever since. I put about 1,200 miles on it.
Runs great.
@VOLVO-V70 If you’re not in the next thread titled “exploded engine” two weeks from now busting my balls I’ll be disappointed in you.
Thanks guys.
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