jagsfan05

Never bought a car from someone in my life so it's very nerve wracking and I don't know any of the steps. Came across this Craigslist posting, does it look like a possible good deal? I was texting the person selling it and he said the title is clean, no accidents and they are looking to sell it because they want to upgrade to an SUV.

https://nashville.craigslist.org/cto...337791370.html

ThumperPup

it looks like a good clean vehicle
with a 140k I would expect 8500 to be the price at a dealership that has gone through it and inspected it and fixed things that were wrong with it.

I would have a mechanic check it out do a full inspection.

however, i would offer 6500 I wouldn't pay more than 7,000

I have sometimes thought about if I where going to sell my 2007 with 186k on it what I would ask for it and I would put it for sale for 7000 and take 5,500

rlx101

Step 1. Take a VIN# and run carfax report: www.carfax.com. See if number of owners checks out and if there were any accidents (bargaining power)
Step 2. Ask to review full service/repair history. See whats been done and if the car was maintained regularly.
Step 3. Schedule a test drive and drive the car. See on youtube videos what to look out for during test drive. See how car feels, see if you like it.
Step 4. 8.5K is a high end price so the car would have to be perfect. Tell seller that you would like to do a PPI at a local dealer (per-purchase inspection), ask him to split the cost with you. Should be around 80-100 bucks for PPI. See if they find any mechanical issues.
Step 5. If you still really like the car then bargain the price down based on the discoveries in Steps 1-4.

Good luck and let me know if you have anymore questions! ES350 is a wonderful car that should last a long time if you find a well cared for example.

jagsfan05

Doesn't carfax cost money though? I know dealers give you one for free but what about private sellers? And can I literally just text him to ask him for a Vin number or is that weird? Also, someone on another forum said to make sure it has no liens and what does that even mean? Also he said to not out if it's been stolen or not but how do you find that out? And he said to make sure the seller is the legal owner of the car or not? But how do you do that?

Also, side question...how does "emissions testing/smog testing/inspection/etc." for most states normally work in terms of buying from a dealer or private seller. In both cases, do you still have to go and get it tested on your own after purchasing before you register the vehicle in your name or do you not have to when you buy from a dealer or private seller because they have already done it for you?

EDIT: I asked him for the vin number and he gave it to me. I ran a report on some site called vehiclehistory.com and it said it had no accident records found, no theft records found, no junk salvage records found (does this part mean it's confirming that it's a clean title like he said?