Tips for purchasing used '08 or '09 (dealer or private party)

I'm looking to purchase a used '08 or '09 CRV (EX or EX-L) model in Northern California (SF Bay Area,) ideally, a model that has less than 24k miles and was originally purchased no more than two years ago.

Comparing private party asking prices, with those of Honda dealers, private parties seem to run anywhere from $2,000 - $5,000 less, so I'm trying to determine what the advantage is of purchasing from a dealer versus a private party.

I'm doubtful a dealer would bargain down to the price of private parties - but maybe I'm wrong. As far as the warranty, it appears to be the same as purchasing used from dealer, though the dealer can inspect and "certify" the vehicle, and provides an extra year warranty (up to 48k miles.)

Any advice is greatly appreciated.



EXV

First, make sure the private party hasn't blown the factory warranty by ignoring maintenance. Honda keeps records, you know. Many CRV owners keep them a long time, so unless its an "off lease" car, you better check the usual sources, too such as CarFax (which isn't perfect, but it does provide data re crashes, repos, and the like). There is no advantage in a dealer purchase really unless you really like the detailing they do to prep a used car for sale. Many are auction vehicles purchased wholesale without a real history. Dealers make more per unit on used cars than new usually. They are not too keen on matching private party sale prices as there is usually another buyer who will come along and pay a higher price.

You might be surprised at how little CRV's suffer from depreciation which makes a new one relatively more attractive as the price differential isn't what you might expect. You will pay more for a certified car as Honda makes the dealer do a lot of inspections, minor repairs, and is charged for the warranty. Its not "free".

dealers will always be more expensive than private sales. they have an overhead to take care of.
if you buy from a big dealer, in some ways/up to a certain degree... you're more protected if something goes wrong with the car. if you buy from private source and something goes wrong, you're pretty much SOL.

if you're going to buy from private source, get the car checked out by AAA/CAA or someone you can trust. check the history, etc.
read up on the model you want to buy, do some research.

there's always risk involved when buying a used car or anything that's used. be prepared to deal with it if it comes up. i once bought a used van from a good friend of mine and because that person is a good friend of mine, i thought i wouldnt get ripped off. I did! :(

Eric,

It's funny...my wife and I just went through this process. Not sure how you plan to pay (ie. bank loan or cash) but this was our experience.

On Feb 1st, 2010 I was rear ended and sadly, my 2003 Civic was totaled. I initially was going to purchase a used 2007-2009 CRV for the same reasons as you...a cheaper price! Right, so I thought. Well, I did my searches on Cars.com, Edmunds, Craigslist and all the local dealers and finally found a 2007 EX-L with 34k miles at a local dealer in Germantown, MD for $20,812. I thought this was a good deal so I applied to get a loan at my credit union (Navy Federal Credit Union). It came back approved at 7% ($526/mo, 48 months)...I was like, wow! That's pretty high, but I guess that's how it goes for a used car. I thought of applying though USAA but never got around to it.

Well, I was on midnights for the week and saw a Honda commercial for the Presidents day weekend sale (0.9 and 1.9% financing) on Pilots, Accords and Civics (but no CR-V's, which is what I'm looking for).

So I mentioned this commercial to my wife when I got home in the morning (fri) and said...you know, if we could get that kind of rate (joking) maybe we should just get a new one. She got kinda excited. Well, that morning I had to go to the dealer and pick-up my plates off of my totaled Civic, so my wife decided to call the dealer and ask that they have the plates ready for me (the BIG blizzard just ended the day before in Washington D.C., so my Civic was buried under 22"). Just so happends that the Internet Manager (acting sales manager) happened to answer the phone. She proceeded to tell him that we were going to buy the used CR-V the next day and that if he would give us the United Buying Service (UBS) price and a low interest rate we would buy a vehicle today when we stop by to pick-up our plates for the Civic. He replied, "Just stop by my desk and I will take care of you personnally". Mind you, we purchased our 2003 Civic and 2005 Odyssey from the same dealer.

Anyway, we went in, he ran our credit and he gave us a 2010 Black EX-L CR-V at the UBS price ($26,766) and 2.9% financing making our monthly payment $532 mo/ 60 months (+TTA). So, with that I got a NEW CR-V for $6 more per month with 12 more payments (60 total payments @ $532/mo. vs 48 payments @ $526/mo for the used CRV) and 0 miles.

I've avoided the unknown of a used vehicle and purchased a new vehicle vs a 3yr old version (2007) $6,384/ (1yrs worth of payments) plus $6mo*48mo=$288 totaling = $6,672 for the extra year of credit ownership and 0 miles.

So the difference in price $26,776 - $20,812 = $5,964 (equals 3 yrs and 34k worth of useage) vs paying the above $6,672 for the extra year of credit payments/ownership and 0 miles.

No brainer for me. I got more car absorbed by the interest rate (2.9% new $4,171 in total interest VS 7% used rate $6,702 in total interest with a difference of appx. $2,531 more car) and you can guarantee anything and everything thats ever been done to the car maintenance wise.

Then I bought the 8yr/120k Honda Care warranty from Jay Honda (Cleveland, OH) for $1,170 with my CC. Just buying a piece of mind, never used the warranties on my 2003 Civic or 2005 Odyssey, but you never know what's gonna happen tomorrow.

Hope this makes sense,

-J