1Fast99Si

Now thats a good one.

CRX7

Don't buy used from the dealer. You need to meet the person who owned the car and took care of it. Most people who simply trade in a car and don't care much what they get from the dealer, probably didn't put much care and attention into the car in the first place. Person to Person used can be a pain with the loan process, but is worth it in the end.

As for this Dealer certified non-sense, you can take any car to the dealer and have them run the same checks, and you can run your own car-fax online.

meriggi

Bought my last two vehicles "used" with 10K miles and a year old. [My S and the wife's 4Runner.] Saved nearly $10,000 on each one, enough to buy a boat for the lake!
No regrets here, I prefer to let someone else take the hit!

Chazmo

From a value point of view, I think meriggi's approach is hard to contest. Most cars lose a huge percentage of their original worth in the first couple of years. Add to that that any teething problems have probably already been addressed by the prev. owner.

Of course, you can't tell if the car's been abused. Carfax does sound like a good way to at least find out if there's been any major "event" with the car.

A new car purchase, to me, is something of a luxury. You hope the car will be more trouble-free than an equivalent used car, or perhaps you want something special like an S2000 which is (or at least used to be) hard to even find on the used market.

eyescream