So, last night Hubby and I tired of Craigslisting for a mini-van and went to the auto auction to take care of our transportation problem.
We had a $4000 budget, and were looking for a car to seat all six of us comfortably, and amongst the vehicles being sold, we found several we were interested in. The first one we bought was a 2000 Plymouth Voyager. Yes, I said first one. We paid $1200 for it.
Then we decided to stick around to see how much other cars went for. Then one of the vans we REALLY wanted came up. Yeah, we bought it. It's a 2000 Nissan Quest. Luggage rack. Sun roof. Captains chairs. Not a bad deal. We paid $2300.
After the auction we took both vans to our mechanic to see what all they needed to make them road worthy. After driving them to the shop, we figured we'd enjoy a great big lemonaid from the Voyager. I'm a car 'tard, and I could tell the engine was on its last leg.
However, the mechanic tells me today, that some belt in a compressor somewhere had been removed so that the engine wouldn't lock up, so it could be sold. Now, I'm pissed. I could handle getting screwed because I didn't know enough about cars to know I was buying a POS, but to have been purposely duped pisses me off.
Lucky for us, the Nissan's engine is in great shape-- just needs some fluids and a battery.
So, on Monday, I am doing battle with an auction company. While driving the other van, which, while needing work, wasn't fiddled around with to hide the problems.
ba-deep ba-deep ba-deep . . .
13 years ago
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Buying cars from auction can be risky, but even buying from a reputable used car dealer can be problematic. I got a GREAT deal on our truck a couple of years back, but it turned out it had a bad transmission that needed a rebuild.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, after rebuilding the transmission, I was still below blue book on what I paid, so it was an okay deal, though it did involve a certain amount of hassle.
I hope you can work things out with the auction company.