What's the best way to get a car that's a good deal?

[rx7boi]

Thank you all again for the replies. I'll implement these suggestions moving forward and make it clear from the get-go that I have the funds ready to buy and would like to see the vehicle ASAP and make an offer on the spot.

I'm impartial to my list but I've been looking at A5, Q50S, and G37XS for just over a year now, waiting for a good deal and learning about the vehicles. (See my threads )

It's rare to see a low mileage (<70k km) G37XS coupe under $18k or a low mileage Q50S under $23k in Alberta. I see them more often in Ontario, maybe a couple in Vancouver.

Has anyone bought vehicles from out east?

[shakalaka]

You're likely to find better deals out of BC than Alberta. I know I have on more than one occasion and with a noticeable difference in comparison. As for jumping on good deals, a lot of it is luck. I know when I listed my dad's old Range Rover Sport Autobiography with low km's for $10K less than the next option, I literally had 10 messages in my in box. I just went down the list and gave it to the first person that came up with the $. In this case coincidentally it was the first person who had messaged.

[tonytiger55]

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Thank you all again for the replies. I'll implement these suggestions moving forward and make it clear from the get-go that I have the funds ready to buy and would like to see the vehicle ASAP and make an offer on the spot.

I'm impartial to my list but I've been looking at A5, Q50S, and G37XS for just over a year now, waiting for a good deal and learning about the vehicles. (See my threads )

It's rare to see a low mileage (<70k km) G37XS coupe under $18k or a low mileage Q50S under $23k in Alberta. I see them more often in Ontario, maybe a couple in Vancouver.

Has anyone bought vehicles from out east?

Side question. Why Infinity..?
Im looking at options too but that car/brand is not on my radar at all. Am I missing something?
I'm just curious.

[rx7boi]

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Side question. Why Infinity..?
Im looking at options too but that car/brand is not on my radar at all. Am I missing something?
I'm just curious.

I think it's just preference. I'm no car connoisseur as I've only ever owned a 1997 Civic, a 2012 Genesis Coupe, and now back to a 2010 Honda Civic. I read rage2's (and others) opinions on X/Y/Z car and most of it is lost on me. All I know is that I've test driven all 3 cars on my list and they're all comfy and fun to drive. A used Infiniti falls under the budget baller range for me since the 3.7 has been around forever. Some folks think the Q50S interior is old outdated trash but it's way better than what I've ever had.

I'd really like an Audi but I can't afford the bill on a car like that if deep shit went south. I look at IS350 from time to time but a bit too pricey for me. Since I also want to keep the car for a while, an Infiniti seemed like an appropriate choice.

Most recent car I found in BC was a 2014 Q50S with 52,000km asking $23,000.

[bjstare]

Those cars are good for a DD. Reasonably fun to drive, reasonably reliable etc.

They depreciate like rocks, give it another 6 months and the low mileage ones will drop another grand or two.

[Mitsu3000gt]

G35/37 has always been good bang for the buck on the used market IMO. As mentioned they depreciate fast but are pretty good cars, so they end up with an above average value proposition. Factory warranty is 6yrs too.

Hard to go wrong with an A4 2.0T either, especially if its a 6MT.

[jaylo]

I've looked and watched g37xs and q50s and the only reason is buy one is for the sound, otherwise there's German comparables out there for that price range.

BMW 335i xDrive comes to mind, 2013+

Highly tunable and tons of aftermarket options.
N55 engine is a workhorse and mpg is great.

[SKR]

Every vehicle I've bought, I pretty much just ask where is it and when can I come see it. If you need to take it somewhere for an inspection you can negotiate that there and leave a deposit if you need to. As a seller I don't think I would ever take a deposit from someone who hasn't seen the vehicle yet, so all I do is try to get there as soon as possible and then go from there.

This hasn't always worked out in my favor and I've bought things I shouldn't have, but I've scooped things too.

[D'z Nutz]

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Get them to pull the ad down ASAP.

Good tips, but out of curiosity, what's the percentage of people who will do this when you ask? Personally, if anyone asked me I'd tell them to go pound sand cause any time the ad isn't active is time I'd be missing out on potential buyers. That's right up there with "Can you hold it for a week cause I'm getting paid then". No, no I won't. The only time I'm pulling an ad is after the new buyer is driving away with what he or she bought from me.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

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Good tips, but out of curiosity, what's the percentage of people who will do this when you ask? Personally, if anyone asked me I'd tell them to go pound sand cause any time the ad isn't active is time I'd be missing out on potential buyers. That's right up there with "Can you hold it for a week cause I'm getting paid then". No, no I won't. The only time I'm pulling an ad is after the new buyer is driving away with what he or she bought from me.

80-90% do. If you’ve given your word and they have a good feeling most people have no problems doing it. It’s important to word it as “if the item is as you describe, then we have a deal” because if you show up and find major problems you probably won’t want it.

[relyt92]

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Thank you all again for the replies. I'll implement these suggestions moving forward and make it clear from the get-go that I have the funds ready to buy and would like to see the vehicle ASAP and make an offer on the spot.

I'm impartial to my list but I've been looking at A5, Q50S, and G37XS for just over a year now, waiting for a good deal and learning about the vehicles. (See my threads )

It's rare to see a low mileage (<70k km) G37XS coupe under $18k or a low mileage Q50S under $23k in Alberta. I see them more often in Ontario, maybe a couple in Vancouver.

Has anyone bought vehicles from out east?

My 2012 G37 was an Ontario car for the first few years, and has had the trunk repainted under warranty because it started to rust, and one of the rear quarters has started rusting over this winter. It's been a great DD though.

[rx7boi]

I have another question for you guys regarding the longevity of either the G37XS or the Q50S.

If I get one that's around 100,000km, what kind of life can I expect out of it? Is that considered high? I've never owned any car past 120k km's which my 2010 Civic just hit.

I see alot of G37XS out there with 120,000 to 165,000km but I don't have any idea what you get out of a car with that kind of mileage.

My plan is to keep the car for at least 5 years and hopefully retain some resale value but cars nowadays have way more electrical tech in them as well.

[relyt92]

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I have another question for you guys regarding the longevity of either the G37XS or the Q50S.

If I get one that's around 100,000km, what kind of life can I expect out of it? Is that considered high? I've never owned any car past 120k km's which my 2010 Civic just hit.

I see alot of G37XS out there with 120,000 to 165,000km but I don't have any idea what you get out of a car with that kind of mileage.

My plan is to keep the car for at least 5 years and hopefully retain some resale value but cars nowadays have way more electrical tech in them as well.

If it was maintained it'll have no issues going to 200k, fuel economy sucks for what the car is but the AWD is great in winter and it checks all the boxes for a DD. Mine just hit 120k. There won't be much left for resale value in 5 years though.

[jutes]

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Yeah, for cars under 5k, just carry the cash with you when you go to look at the car. But past 15k that gets a bit unreasonable, and past 20k, my personal rule is to use bank drafts.

No way I'd carry over $1k in cash with me, not to mention my banking is online. Rather send an EMT and anything over $5k is a bank draft which I can pick up the same day.

I made an offer in person for a truck @ $6500, seller was asking $7000 CASH. Like fuck I'm bringing you 7k in cash, this isn't a drug deal. I asked for his info for the draft that night....nothing. Asked again the next morning and he responds that he'd rather sell it to his "buddy" who offered $7k in cash. Well 3 weeks later he still hasn't sold it and messaged me back saying he will take the draft. Too late dumb ass, not interested anymore good luck with sale.

[ExtraSlow]

Really? I've sold several vehicles between 5 and 10k for cash and most expensive one I've purchased with cash was an even $15k, plus a couple around 10k. Doesn't bother me.

[370Z]

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I have another question for you guys regarding the longevity of either the G37XS or the Q50S.

If I get one that's around 100,000km, what kind of life can I expect out of it? Is that considered high? I've never owned any car past 120k km's which my 2010 Civic just hit.

I see alot of G37XS out there with 120,000 to 165,000km but I don't have any idea what you get out of a car with that kind of mileage.

My plan is to keep the car for at least 5 years and hopefully retain some resale value but cars nowadays have way more electrical tech in them as well.

Last winter, my beater was a 2009 G37X coupe with 223,000km... unfortunately I didn't realize I overpaid for it until I went to sell it after winter. Great car though, would've looked another one if it came in manual, the 7 speed auto is a garbage slush box, on top of that I found it quirky in that if you hit the gas again after coming to an almost stop, it would get confused and all of the sudden the car would shoot forward, don't know if there was something wrong with the tranny or what... other than it had no problems. Great looking car with 330 hp and AWD for under 8 grand these days (09 and 200,000km+, there's a couple in kijiji right now).

[jutes]

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Really? I've sold several vehicles between 5 and 10k for cash and most expensive one I've purchased with cash was an even $15k, plus a couple around 10k. Doesn't bother me.

I bank with PC/Simplii so I can’t just visit a branch and withdraw large amounts.

[ExtraSlow]

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I bank with PC/Simplii so I can’t just visit a branch and withdraw large amounts.

We all have problems brother.

[revelations]

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I bank with PC/Simplii so I can’t just visit a branch and withdraw large amounts.

Us too, thats why I had an ATB account for things like this (dumped ATB for CIBC though - their super far behind as far as technical features).

[ThePenIsMightier]

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No way I'd carry over $1k in cash with me, not to mention my banking is online. Rather send an EMT and anything over $5k is a bank draft which I can pick up the same day.

I made an offer in person for a truck @ $6500, seller was asking $7000 CASH. Like fuck I'm bringing you 7k in cash, this isn't a drug deal. I asked for his info for the draft that night....nothing. Asked again the next morning and he responds that he'd rather sell it to his "buddy" who offered $7k in cash. Well 3 weeks later he still hasn't sold it and messaged me back saying he will take the draft. Too late dumb ass, not interested anymore good luck with sale.

So, you missed out on a truck you were completely willing to buy simply because you refused to carry 65 pieces of laminated paper to get the deal done??!
What? You were scared that you'd be mugged by "teh boogeyman" in the limited time window between your bank and the deal location? That's insecure! I walk around daily with roughly $1k in my wallet absolutely problem-free, all day, every day. This is Canada, not Kandahar! Carry cash and seal deals.
Plus - LoL at the "security" of bank drafts. There is zero standard in what a bank draft needs to look like and what standard security encryptions need to be in place. I've never been more stressed out in my life than when I sold a $17k Ford on a bank draft and learned how ludicrously sketchy this instruments are.
If you want deals - cash gets it done. Period.