Yet another Used Car question

October 26, 2007 12:13 PM

I’ve found a nice used 2004 Honda Accord EX that I’m interested in which is about 30 miles away in another town. The dealership is only asking $14,995 and both KBB and NADA both list the worth over $18,000. I did a carfax report for the car and it shows a one owner history with no accidents or anything. I also contacted the local Honda dealership (not the selling dealer) and asked them to pull warranty work done to this car via VIN. The only thing that was done was an Automatic transmission that was recalled and replaced under warranty. What am I missing? Why are they selling this car for what seems to me, much less than the worth of it? I have always assumed that car dealerships are there to screw you however they can. Any help would be appreciated
posted by tradeer33 to travel & transportation (16 comments total)

Be sure you have an independent mechanic who you trust do a full inspection of the car. Seriously.
posted by The World Famous at 12:16 PM on October 26, 2007

Are you sure you have all the specifics correct? I just looked up a 2-door, 4-cyl Honda Accord EX on Nada and found a retail of $15,700.
posted by JJ86 at 12:17 PM on October 26, 2007

That price was for 70k miles. If I plugged in 100k miles and w/out AC then it drops another $1500 in price.
posted by JJ86 at 12:20 PM on October 26, 2007

Could have to do with your area of the the country? (I.e., certain cars are cheaper in certain areas)

But the independent mechanic check is always a good idea.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:23 PM on October 26, 2007

Was the car previously owned near the gulf coast?
posted by LakesideOrion at 12:26 PM on October 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sorry, didn't mention that it's a 4 door. and has almost 60000 miles, so, the specifics are correct.
The car drives fine, no problems that I saw.
I do have an independent mechanic I trust so that will be my next step.
And no, it wasn't anywhere near the coast. Any other ideas?
posted by tradeer33 at 12:32 PM on October 26, 2007

KBB and NADA are just not as helpful as we wish they were.

Rather than relying on those books, you should be relying on the actual prices that people have paid in your area for a comparable car recently. One way to find that information is to check completed sales on Ebay Motors to see what the actual sale prices have been for cars like that one. It may be that the dealer uniformly prices its used cars below blue book because they know that the sale price will be in that lower range and that advertising it initially in the lower range brings in more potential buyers.
posted by The World Famous at 12:39 PM on October 26, 2007

eBay Motors is a good suggestion for price comparisons, but I've also found Craigslist to be incredibly helpful. In my experience, KBB and NADA tend to go a little high, particularly in a bad (for sellers) used car market.
posted by j-dawg at 12:44 PM on October 26, 2007

That makes sense Famous. Ill check that.
posted by tradeer33 at 12:44 PM on October 26, 2007

The NADA and Kelly prices are almost always too high.
Go to edmunds.com and appraise the value of the car.
posted by allelopath at 12:47 PM on October 26, 2007

It's near the end of October. The salesman may be trying to get a bonus or meet a commission target, or the dealer may be trying to clear inventory. (The end of the month is generally a good time to go car shopping for this reason.)

I have always assumed that car dealerships are there to screw you however they can.

In the case of someone looking for a specific car, they may be interested in lowering the price, but will try to recoup profits in the financing. Do you already have a car loan?
posted by dhartung at 12:56 PM on October 26, 2007

It's about the right age to be a lease return. Maybe the dealership suddenly has a bunch of nearly-identical used cars on the lot and needs to get rid of them.

When we bought our current car, the dealer had an ad for the model we were looking for at about $2500 less than what others were asking. Turns out they had four of them that fit the same description (for a not-too-popular model) and were trying to attract more buyers (and for three of the cars they tried to say "that's not the one that was advertised at that price)
posted by winston at 1:00 PM on October 26, 2007

I second Edmunds TMV. If you can beat Private Party, Clean condition you are probably getting a fair deal.
posted by any major dude at 1:01 PM on October 26, 2007

Have you seen the car first-hand? It could be really dirty, scratched up or have an otherwise shoddy interior. None of those things would show up on carfax reports or whatnot.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:17 PM on October 26, 2007

A quick note: CarFax isn't infallable; whether a big accident will show up on the report depends on the region and other factors, some never get reported such that CarFax can get hold of it.

So seconding independent mechanic to see if it looks like it has been (badly) repaired, and some basics like compression testing are probably warranted as well to be safe. After alll, if you're getting the car at a good price, why not spend a bit more for the peace of mind?
posted by davejay at 2:23 PM on October 26, 2007

I was used-car shopping last month. Whenever I saw a great deal online, the car in question had disappeared by the time I went to the dealership. (Would I like to look at another one that's $2000 more? No, I would not.)

The car may not in fact exist.
posted by Jeanne at 5:14 PM on October 26, 2007