Posted on: 03-01-06 16:23:11
Greetings,
I am considering purchasing a used car.
Ideally, I would like to purchase from the dealer/re-seller who can provide a decent value for my trade-in vehicle, as well as a warranty for the vehicle I buy.
Note that I am speaking of warranty for a used vehicle that is out of manufacturer's basic warranty.
Is anyone aware of such car dealers in the GTA ?
For those who are familiar with it, I am looking for dealers similar to CarMax in the US (http://www.carmax.com)
Personal experience would be appreciated because I would like to work with a car dealer who is honest and fair (is that an oxymoron) 
Thanks for any references.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
I bought a used car last year thru a private sale. I looked up ads in autotraders.ca. It took me a good 3 months.
My experience - tons of US cars out there. You don't get the history of those cars, so you can't tell if they're stolen or not. Infact one guy was so honest that he told me that the car was involved in an accident (just body damage). He even showed me the pictures.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SS
Reiki Grand Master
Beware of US Cars from flooded areas (Kitrina!)
They are fully done up to look good but are not good.
Try avoiding car dealers if you can.............you will save money trust me.
Try one thing..........Go to autotrader.ca and do a search for the car make model you want just with dealers and then just with private listings and see the price difference. If that seems substantial to you then follow my advice otherwise dealer is the obvious choice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Progress comes from deviation".
On a side note if anybody finds my comments or posts offensive or irritating please ignore it and if that still bothers you; please write to me and I will demonstrate.
Quote:
Orginally posted by sudesingh
My experience - tons of US cars out there. You don't get the history of those cars, so you can't tell if they're stolen or not.
Quote:
Orginally posted by LD
Beware of US Cars from flooded areas (Kitrina!)
They are fully done up to look good but are not good.
Shouldn't a CarFax search reveal this information?
At the very least, it would show where the car lived (which US states), and we can base our judgement on that.
In any case, it is easy to distinguish Canadian cars from US cars, except in some rare cases (special models, custom cars, etc).
BTW, does CarFax work for getting histories of Canadian cars as well?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
Quote:
Orginally posted by pratickm
Shouldn't a CarFax search reveal this information?
At the very least, it would show where the car lived (which US states), and we can base our judgement on that.
In any case, it is easy to distinguish Canadian cars from US cars, except in some rare cases (special models, custom cars, etc).
BTW, does CarFax work for getting histories of Canadian cars as well?
CarFax will show up any and all information that has been REPORTED. Anything else, as if never happened as per carfax report.
CarFax does not show any information once the car is imported to canada. Report will definately show the history in US and will also include the Import information - imported-from and imported-to. But nothing after that.
If you purchase used car from a dealer, few do provide 2-3 yrs warranty (conditional). You might have to check with the dealers.
If you are buying from Car Company Dealer such as Honda Dealer or Toyota Dealer or GM Dealers, then it will be worth buying the extended warranty if they provide. These dealer will provide you extended warranty only after full inspection of car that they sold. The caveat is you need to follow maintenance schedule.
Car warranty sold by other car dealers is not effective and sometime have many caveats. Not worth buying it.
