I have been in the market for a new car, and I have found some good offers on Craigslist. Has anyone here ever used Craigslist to purchase a car? I am just worried that I will purchase it and it will fall apart shortly after. I am not sure what to look for the be honest.
No, but we sold my husband's car. There were quite a few issues with it, but it was still in working order and if someone wanted to put the money into it, they could have. We were VERY honest with everything we knew for this exact reason. We didn't want someone to claim that we didn't tell them about any issues. I would ask for everything in writing and if you can, have a mechanic look at the car first.
When buying a car from craigslist, you should be able to check the vehicle history if you get the VIN number. It is a worthwhile check. You should always have it checked out by an independent mechanic as well. I tend to believe the ads that say, the heat doesn't work, or there is a little rust as opposed to the ones that suggest a 10 years old car is in mint condition. As most sales are AS IS you wont be able to get your money back unless the seller printed an outright lie in the ad so you need to exercise caution. If the seller offers a warantee - get it in writing as nwitt said.
There's so much crappy stuff being sold on Craiglist that I would never consider buying anything from the site. Much as you could always demand to see what you're buying, there's no guarantee that what you get is what you buy. I've heard of ways auto-dealers can slightly alter the appearance of a car to make it appear newer than it is but once you start using it . . . IMO, if one needs to buy a second hand car it would be best to get it from a reputable car dealer.
