fr0ng

So I am buying a Z tomorrow. The owner lives a couple hours away and took it to a local Nissan dealership to have them look over the car to see if there were any problems with it. It came back clean and I spoke with the service technician and he told me the car was in great condition.

I had a bad experience with a private buyer the other week, who told me the car he wanted to sell me was in perfect condition, but in fact, had been crashed twice. I found this out after paying $200 to a dealership to look over. So now, I'm kind of skeptical and was wondering if it would be reasonable to think that the owner of this new car I'm about to buy just told the service tech to write a good report and tell me the car was fine (assuming they were friends or something).

Is this something that could be done, or is the report trustworthy?

HDPDZO6

If you are concerned about the quality of the vehicle, then pay for an inspection yourself.

Sean

+1

MrSteak

Carfax... bring your own mechanic... OR maybe write up a sales agreement that allows you to bring it to your own mechanic before you pay. (Heh, I don't know... good luck.)

HDPDZO6

Be advised that Carfax misses alot sometimes.

TurboTrey

Have the car checked out by someone yourself. Also I'd order a Carfax on it.

fr0ng

Carfax came out clean, I inspected the car myself and it looked great, the Nissan paperwork said it was in great condition and the service advisor I spoker with said it was in great condition. Am I being paranoid or is the car good?

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

I think your in good shape. Very doubtful a mechanic at a dealership would lie. Now, if you were buying from the dealer I might be worried.

bailey bill

Ohh...never!

bill

soleil

iTrader: (43)

my advice would be keep saving and buy a new car...the 07's r really nice..too bad i bought an 06. i bought a used 240 back in the day and had nothing but problems...i will never buy used again

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

"Ohh...never! '

Bill, note next sentence. Point being I don't think a mechanic would lie for a 3rd party. No benefit for him to do so.

d_le

Bring a small magnet and run it over the entire body to to check for any bonded body work. Just a easy way to check for major damage.

bailey bill

If you'tre a good customer at your local dealerhip...

and the tech is an employee of the dealership...

and/or your on friendly terms with the techs...

they will tell and out-of-town buyer/stranger that they will never see again anything the seller wants them to.

Is that ALWAYS true? Nope

Is it SOMETIMES true. Yup

So like Dirty Harry used to say..."Do ya feel lucky...?"

bill

Mid117

iTrader: (11)

If the tech at the dealership claims that it's clean, no accidents, and down the road you find it's been wrecked, the dealership is liable for it. Just make sure you get it in writing for your records.

NGZ

iTrader: (1)

When I buy used cars, I don't care about the car as much as I care about the owner. My assumption is that if the owner is a good owner, it follows that they take care of their cars and their car is in as good a shape as it can be.

I feel that buying used cars is kinda like playing poker. You're not really playing your hands, you're playing the person across from you.

I was looking to buy a car for a beater recently. I called up the seller and asked him if he had done his 60K maintenance. He said "What? The car runs strong! It doesn't need repairs". He was the kind of guy that thought that if the car runs, it never has to be brought in for servicing. He isn't the kind of guy I would want to buy a car from. No matter how well you check the car you're about to buy, you will very likely discover something you missed, after driving it for a few months.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

So noted Bill!

davidv

iTrader: (2)

How do you like the new ride?