Where's all those Craigslist Jeeps?

I figured it's time to look into private sellers and give them a chance since I have had such a bad time with dealers. Where's all those Craigslist Jeep's at? Ever had anything go wrong? How many miles did you originally buy at and how many miles do you have on them now? I have always been extremely fearful of buying a car from a private seller. What's your take on private seller vs. dealer?

Tell me what you think a dealer car can provide for you that a private party car would not have...?

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Warranty. Cars being checked and given two thumbs up my mechanic. You can guarantee you aren't buying a stolen vehicle. There's reputation. You get a free CarFax. Things like this.... which are all true.

JeepRebel said:

Warranty. Cars being checked and given two thumbs up my mechanic. You can guarantee you aren't buying a stolen vehicle. There's reputation. You get a free CarFax. Things like this.... which are all true.

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My take is that you're paying for all those things. I've bought and sold plenty of cars on craigslist (I flip 2 or 3 cars a year) and generally have good experiences. I personally like dealing with private sellers better than dealers - there are just better values to be had, and I'll give you this, there are more opportunities to be ripped off.

• I don't put much faith in a used car dealer warranty. I may be wrong, but I'd be surprised if you are able to return a car you don't like (outside of state laws).
• You can certainly have any craigslist car checked out by a mechanic. If the seller didn't want to do this, then that's a red flag in itself.
• Stolen vehicle - You could compare their drivers license to the title when you buy it. I guess it's possible to forge a title, but that would be really hard (at least in my state) - it's printed on some crazy watermarked paper.
• Unlimited carfax reports are only $70.

FYI - tax refund season isn't always the cheapest time of year to car shop, but then again, if you don't have a ride then you don't have much choice.

I have bought bunches of cars on craigslist. many, many, many cars. the only time you have trouble is if you buy one with no title or the title signature and name are different then the sellers or you don't check the vehicle over well. I have gotten deals that no dealer could match from private sellers. our last grand Cherokee was a 98 limited for 2k, or 2200, I cannot remember which. it was sooooo clean and nice with everything working but, I checked it out well.

IMHO there is always risk regardless of where/how you buy something. I bought my current Cj7 off ebay and was extremely pleased how everything turned out. Maybe I was just lucky, but I tried to do my homework. I bought my own Carfax, and I did a bit of a background check on the seller. It was still a gamble, but I feel I came out ahead. You might want to assign a risk to the various classified sites to see if it's worth it. I came close to pursuing a deal that starting feeling hinky, the more stones I turned over the worse it got. Finally confirmed it when I talked to PayPal and they clued me in to the gift card scam. It's your money to do as you please, but no deal has to happen right now! Take a little time and do some research! That my advice... Take it for what its worth!

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I prefer private. I just bought a new to me Jeep. I did look on some used lots and believe it or not they try and hide a lot stuff. Can't tell you how many vehicle I damaged in used lots by pushing on "metal" to find out they did patches with spray foam and then painted it. Private owners you run the same risk at a lower cost normally. Do it's a buyer beware. Do your home work and check the vehicle out. The Jeep I just bought I found a Facebook pages. At least there you can kinda do some research on the seller before even meeting or contacting them.
I had one kid telling me the Jeep was never off road I looked at his FB page and there was time of pictures of him beating the Jeep real bad off road. I just walked away shacking my head.

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