[chassis]

As mentioned in other posts, I am in the market for a new-to-me vehicle.

How did you source your most recent preowned vehicle? I want to hear from people who have transacted (paid money for) a used vehicle. For example, surfing BaT for entertainment purposes, and not paying money for a BaT-listed vehicle, doesn't count. U.S.-centric question.

I found both of my current vehicles on cargurus, followed by text messaging to agree on a price and deal conditions, then a physical meeting to inspect the vehicle, pay and sign docs.

Sites that seem high quality in my view:

cargurus
autotrader
brand-centric country-wide dealer sites (e.g. MBUSA.com, and others)
brand-centric enthusiast site classifieds (mbworld, etc.)
craigslist
local dealer websites

What other sites are out there with reasonable quality listings?

I don't do "the book". Thanks for any input.

[allinon72]

I've been using CarGurus for the last several years. Found and purchased 2 cars out of state that way.

[dreamingat30fps]

Last used car I bought was the Cayenne. Started out looking at Macans. Started with the usual Autotrader etc. Then decided I wanted a CPO so started looking at the inventory of the local Porsche dealers directly on their website. Then went in and drove a few of the trims. Came back another day to try some trims that were not available first time and saw the Cayenne on the lot. Drove it and it was a done deal.

All of my used cars have been from dealers so I have no experience buying from an individual. Typically I look online on Autotrader, Cargurus, Cars.com etc since not everyone lists on all the sites. I also typically know exactly what I want so I will check those dealers inventory directly also. Usually negotiate everything online and just show up to pick up the car.

[gunsmoker]

I found my m3 on cars.com back in 2018. It was being sold by a BMW dealership. Somebody had traded it in at their Porsche dealership.

[plutnicki]

I purchased my son a 2016 Honda Civic in July of 2020. I used Cargurus to identify several cars I was interested in at various dealers. I then contacted each dealer to confirm they had the car and arrange an appointment to see the car in person. We had 3 appointments, but purchased at the second one (a Honda at a Mazda dealer) because it was much nicer than the other two and the salesman brought the price in line (the first dealer refused to negotiate off his price). Bought it that day.

[Cos270]

BMW CCA classifieds, believe it or not!

[ppointer]

I bought a 2012 17k me 335is out of a Dallas Porsche dealership from an ad on Autotrader. About January or so.

Bought a 13k mile 2012 335i off of bmwcca from a private owner, also in Dallas. Roughly March.

[BMWCCA1]

My wife's 128i sport I found on Cars.com in Texas from a private owner.
My 128i Msport came from the 1Addicts forum right here on Bimmerpost from a member.
My wife's 328ix sport replacement for the totaled 128i came as a trade-in from one of my customers during the height of the pandemic and the 30% increase in used-car prices.

[HNSKP]

Bought my last used car on an enthusiast forum (Rennlist). It was important for me to have maintenance records so this was the obvious way to go. I arranged and paid for a PPI for extra peace of mind.

I got a decent financing rate through an online lender, Lightstream. Tax and title transfer were handled by AAA which saved me a ton of headache at the DMV. I'll likely do the same for my next used car purchase.

[StradaRedlands]

Last three all from Craigslist. Two winners from private parties, one lemon from a small-scale dealer. I think CL is the go to for finding gems out there. Just be patient and wait for the right one. Car Gurus as mentioned above has some good search criteria I like using, but is really dealer biased. Very few private party ads, although there's an X3 I currently have my eye on.

[Marcoose]

Autotrader.

[POBEP]

in my case - way too much time spent here. spotted in the first page of "new posts" section

[Almuliman]

Local(ish) Craigslist.

[spazzyfry123]

I had been searching for my wife's (now) vehicle for months. Not all too many out there and some specific criteria from me made the search a bit frustrating. I don't get on Facebook, but I thought I would check their Marketplace section on a whim. As luck would have it, a dealer about three hours from me posted only a couple pictures of my exact spec, good mileage, and good price about 20 minutes prior. Called them up, negotiated a contingent price, left a deposit, and traded our other car to them at a good price a couple days later. They said by the time I got there they had over ten additional offers. Luck of timing.

Another one was my "stripper" E90 M3. I had been searching for the spec off and on for about three years. Randomly went to CarMax's website and low and behold, a zero option, low mileage 2011 E90 M3 6MT was there for the taking. Put a hold on it and drove up to Nashville that weekend.

My old Landcruiser was another by-chance scenario. I had been muddling around on the forums for a while without much luck trying to find one with maintenance up to date and clean. Stumbled on a member that had a very local location that no one would have ever heard about unless you lived here. Messaged him if he knew of anyone around that may have a nice one for sale. He invited me over, and it turns out he's a collector with a barn full of incredible examples of all generations. Ended up taking one home.

I guess where I'm going with it is... your car is out there, but it could be anywhere.

[AlexFL]

cars.com

[Fixedfan]

Facebook Groups.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

I had been searching for my wife's (now) vehicle for months. Not all too many out there and some specific criteria from me made the search a bit frustrating. I don't get on Facebook, but I thought I would check their Marketplace section on a whim. As luck would have it, a dealer about three hours from me posted only a couple pictures of my exact spec, good mileage, and good price about 20 minutes prior. Called them up, negotiated a contingent price, left a deposit, and traded our other car to them at a good price a couple days later. They said by the time I got there they had over ten additional offers. Luck of timing.

Another one was my "stripper" E90 M3. I had been searching for the spec off and on for about three years. Randomly went to CarMax's website and low and behold, a zero option, low mileage 2011 E90 M3 6MT was there for the taking. Put a hold on it and drove up to Nashville that weekend.

My old Landcruiser was another by-chance scenario. I had been muddling around on the forums for a while without much luck trying to find one with maintenance up to date and clean. Stumbled on a member that had a very local location that no one would have ever heard about unless you lived here. Messaged him if he knew of anyone around that may have a nice one for sale. He invited me over, and it turns out he's a collector with a barn full of incredible examples of all generations. Ended up taking one home.

I guess where I'm going with it is... your car is out there, but it could be anywhere.

Thanks for the comments. How did you place a “hold”? How much money, if any, and was it nonrefundable?

[Almuliman]

Originally Posted by Almuliman

Local(ish) Craigslist.

The slightly longer story is that I was looking for a manual, sport seats 128i E82 – everything else was negotiable. I found a couple of very likely candidates on this very board, one of which didn't end up coming to fruition and one of which was The (damn near) Perfect Car, but above my budget.

Then my CL alert fired for a LMB car about 3 hours north of where I live! I contacted the seller, arranged to go see / drive it it, took it for a PPI the same day I first test drove it, agreed to buy it and a price. The seller was incredibly gracious and took it off CL the evening I told him I'd buy it, even though I had to wait 2 loooong weeks for funds to land where I needed them. Finally had a good friend give me a ride to go get it and it was mine.

CL can come true. Your car is out there somewhere.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by chassis

Thanks for the comments. How did you place a “hold”? How much money, if any, and was it nonrefundable?

For my wife's car, I gave the dealer a credit card number over the phone and authorized a refundable $1000 deposit to hold the vehicle for me which would go towards the purchase. If I showed up and didn't like it for whatever reason, they would refund (part of my contingent offer). Regardless, I would have disputed the charges had they not.

For the CarMax M3, all I did was select online that I wanted to purchase the car and would be at the car's existing location to pick it up. No obligation, doesn't cost a dime, they pull it from the website's availability, and physically stash it away on site away from the other cars with a "sold" sticker on it - even though I haven't committed to anything. I followed that up with a phone call to the location to confirm that the car would be "off limits" until I make my decision.

Another CarMax experience... I had shipped a car from a different location to my local CarMax. That also immediately put it on hold and no one else could buy it. In my scenario, it was a $99 charge. Car showed up and had, what appeared to be, several hail damage spots. I told them no thanks and went on my way. I began to fight the $99 refund, but quickly realized the effort wouldn't have been worth it when they started going down the "normal wear and tear" road.

[Bootboot340]

I looked at lots of the online sites and felt cargurus had the best search ability. Then I went directly to the seller.
Note- with any of these sites- if you are looking for a manual transmission make sure you actually see a pic of the shifter or clutch, and no illuminated P on the dash!

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by Bootboot340

I looked at lots of the online sites and felt cargurus had the best search ability. Then I went directly to the seller.
Note- with any of these sites- if you are looking for a manual transmission make sure you actually see a pic of the shifter or clutch, and no illuminated P on the dash!

I don't get that... why do so many people list cars as manuals? The few DCTs out there I sort of will let pass, but everything else... not even close!

[Almuliman]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

I don't get that... why do so many people list cars as manuals?

Take your pick: drive traffic, on purpose, drive traffic by lying, ignorance, incompetence ...