I got a one owner car. It wound up at the dealer. Low miles, pristine, stock. The dealer said the original owner was unable to drive anymore. When I picked it up I discovered medical paperwork in the secret compartment. The poor guy had some serious cardiac issues and I suspect he died from it. 30K miles and was (is) in terrific shape. I might add that the car I got was on the dealer's lot for almost 9 months; they kept trying to auction it on eBay but it never met the reserve. I had been a long time lurker. I finally called them and inquired over the phone. It turned out the reserve was WAY over book. I told them to get real and if they did I was interested. We came to an agreeable price but it would be 2 weeks before I could fly to Phoenix and drive it home. I had in writting that the car must be as advertised or the deal would be off. The car was paid for before I ever saw it in person for the first time! I have to admit the dealer in this case was very open, up front, and straight shooting.

I am no lover of many dealers and I have encountered a few that are looking for any to make money off of you no matter what. The only time I have ever had my S at the dealer for work was for an alignment as they had a pretty good machine and they had a special going. I got to watch. I might add I let them replace a battery when they matched the Costco price!

 

My experience with dealers has been mostly fine. You just gotta know how to deal professionally.

If you ONLY know how to make street deals, then you're probably gonna have a shitty time at a reputable dealer.

Its not like people who sell their cars privately aren't shady. They cover their car's flaws too.

Ironically, people saying "I hate dealers" don't even shop at dealers because in their heads, they've decided they dont trust dealers under any circumstances.

You're buying a used car. So regardless of who you buy from...you still need to look with your eyes, not your ass, and make sure you're getting what you're good with.

 

I don't know how broad of an area you are searching, but when I was shopping for one of these cars five years ago, I considered cars within a few hours drive of Portland (essentially a 200 mile radius). This covered Seattle along with a number of smaller cities and towns here in the Pacific Northwest. Back then there were no shortage of these cars for sale within the driving radius I established (I ended up purchasing from an individual 3 hours away, but was open to dealer sales as well). While I still see a good number of these cars for sale within this same area in 2021, there aren't nearly as many examples for sale as there used to be. Were I shopping for one of these cars today, I'd likely consider searching the entire west coast to find what I was looking for, or maybe even a broader area if needed.

 

Yeah I've been searching nationwide. The only problem is I cant go see every car I'm interested in, there's only a handful in my 200 mile radius