Hammer Time: My First (Auction) Car
10 years, 6 months, and 1 lifetime ago, I bought my first car at auction. It was a base 1986 Honda Civic hatchback. One owner. 166k miles and power nothing. Not even close. It did have A/C and a radio (thank God!). But it was little more than basic A to B, which was fine because I was in school at the time. I bought it for $525 at a public auction, which came to $630 including taxes and auction fees. It was a beautiful buy at a point in my life when I literally needed to save every nickel in my pocket. So what did I end up doing?
I sold it on eBay of course . . . to another student . . . from the same school. Incredible! I pocketed about $950 which took care of gas and groceries until graduation. But I’ve always thought to myself, “What would have happened if I had kept it and sold my then 5 year old Camry?” An extra $9000 in my pocket. Minimal ownership cost for perhaps the next 10 years? I’ve crunched the numbers and my annual costs would have run right around $1000 per annum for the next 10 years. Ahhh . . . the simple life. I can’t say that I miss it.
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craigslist is your best bet nowadays, just make sure they've got a carfax in hand
1) See if you get any response first. Call them. Leave the appropriate Ebay feedback. Contact them until you're finally able to have a substantive conversation about your issue. Offer them the opportunity to fix the tranny at a shop of your own choosing given your recent find. 2) Hire a lawyer. Explain to them your situation. Let them handle it from there.
Hell of a deal's are always hell of a deals.
I think issues like NN's are why people don't like buying used. Of my 3 vehicles, I've bought 2 new, 1 used. The used was 70% off kbb because my friend told me "I don't have any problems with it, but it's an older car and I don't want to lose our friendship if something happens. the 70% you save should pay for any problems." It had no major problems and hasn't had any in the past 3 years I've owned it. I'd be surprised if I couldn't sell it for the same $ I bought it for.