Is technology getting less reliable or is it just me?

[JSH]

The problem with buying a vehicle from a private party is that there aren't very many available today - at least if you are looking for a late-model vehicle that is 3-5 years old. The VAST majority of those cars are lease returns or a trade-in from someone that buys a new car every few years.

You can find old used cars for sale but I have zero confidence the owner will have records to show me the maintenance has been done. Someone that is going to go through the hassle of selling a car themselves is also someone that is likely to do their own maintenance - or skip the maintenance. Someone like Redpoint

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

The problem with buying a vehicle from a private party is that there aren't very many available today - at least if you are looking for a late-model vehicle that is 3-5 years old. The VAST majority of those cars are lease returns or a trade-in from someone that buys a new car every few years.

You can find old used cars for sale but I have zero confidence the owner will have records to show me the maintenance has been done. Someone that is going to go through the hassle of selling a car themselves is also someone that is likely to do their own maintenance - or skip the maintenance. Someone like Redpoint

Quite a few Russians selling used cars on the side, often times with reconstructed titles, though I haven't looked at the used car market in about 5 years. I was seriously close to getting a used Bolt in 2020, but that was dominated by used EV dealerships that sprang up from law that gives people money for purchasing a used EV. Still no idea what the point of that law was other than to soak up the California used EV inventory.

I had difficulty finding my Acura on the private market because so few were built with a manual transmission. Really had no intention of buying the one I found at the dealership, but they sold it to me within a couple hundred bucks of the private party price. Nobody in Portland wanted a manual.

As far as maintenance, I change the oil once a year if the vehicle needs it or not. At that time, I knock the dirt out of the air filter. I rotate tires as needed and check the brakes at that time. Every decade I change all the fluids.

You can tell if a person is a dirtbag or not. If you go to look at the car and there's piles of McDonalds trash in it, you can tell the car was neglected.

The thing is, the stealership isn't going to have any more info about how a car was maintained than the original owner. When I bought my Acura I asked for maintenance records, and they said they didn't get any from the original owner and they had no records of the vehicle being serviced there. So the value the dealer added over a private party sale was they paid someone minimum wage to spend 15 minutes soaking absolutely every interior surface in ArmorAll so it looked shiny again. That's worth thousands over private party.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

The thing is, the stealership isn't going to have any more info about how a car was maintained than the original owner.

As JSH pointed out this can be recorded electronically and show on something like a CarFax report.

I was able to download the entire maintenance history of my Avalon on Toyota.com for free. It even gave me every part number of every part and fluid used, as well as notes by the mechanics.

Of course I do my own maintenance so there is no longer that electronic paper trail anymore.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

As JSH pointed out this can be recorded electronically and show on something like a CarFax report.

I was able to download the entire maintenance history of my Avalon on Toyota.com for free. It even gave me every part number of every part and fluid used, as well as notes by the mechanics.

Of course I do my own maintenance so there is no longer that electronic paper trail anymore.

I've been out of the loop... is there a nationwide database now? I get my oil changed at Jiffy Lube and that's recorded by Carfax?

The only experience I have with a stealership is in 2010 when I bought the TSX.

I managed to get the hundreds of pages of maintenance records on the DOT truck I bought on an Ebay auction by requesting it. Only thing that hasn't been replaced at least once is the body and frame, it appears. Even the seat had been reupholstered.

[freebeard]

One of the hard parts for me, readjusting to civilian life after being in the military, was that military trucks were periodically sent to rear echelon maintenance, which was basically a frame-up restoration, and sent back into the field.

In civilian life cars were disposable. Probably why I like VW Beetles so much, restored to factory condition they're unbelievable. I'm thinking of the cloth interior of the Deluxe barndoor bus.

I just gave myself a self-guided tour of a used car lot on Main Street. They keep a row of 1950s cruisers up front. The one I like best is a 1961 [Turqiose blue] Ford Falcon two door. Original six-cylinder, but with a five-speed replacing the three-on-the-tree, electronic ignition and maybe EFI ....and maybe i3 wheels and tires?

[redpoint5]

Pics, or it didn't happen.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I've been out of the loop... is there a nationwide database now? I get my oil changed at Jiffy Lube and that's recorded by Carfax?

The only experience I have with a stealership is in 2010 when I bought the TSX.

Your info is a bit out of date.

Yes, there is a nationwide database on cars. CarFax buys data and then sells it. Selling data to CarFax is another revenue stream for Jiffy Lube, car dealers, repair shops, etc. They get registration data from state DMVs. They buy or trade data on collisions with insurance companies to report any claims on the car. (Insurance companies also buy / trade data from CarFax to catch people that under-report their annual vehicle miles)

As I mentioned above - the last 4 vehicles I purchased had full CarFax reports going back the full life of the vehicle. The Acura I bought last year has 4 pages of records. For example I know it got a new water pump at 60,688 miles and brakes at 68,921 miles.

I can see that when Ron Tonkin Acura in Portland bought it at an auto action when it was 3 years old they changed the oil and filter, air filter, cabin filter, and transmission fluid and then offered it for sale as a certified pre-owned vehicle. I can see the 2nd owner had the transmission flushed with new fluid at 50,111 miles and then again at 84,825 miles

That means I didn't have to automatically change all the fluids when I purchased the vehicle. It also means I could be confident that the maintenance was done and a vehicle that drove nice on the test drive wasn't likely to be hiding a maintenance related problem. For example I could see the brake fluid had been changed on a regular basis so it is unlikely that the ABS module will seize up and fail which is common in cars that never have the brake fluid changed.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

Your info is a bit out of date.

Yes, there is a nationwide database on cars. CarFax buys data and then sells it.

I had no idea. Figured they only provided title check and occasional odometer updates, or something. I'd certainly pay for that info prior to purchasing a used vehicle.

I haven't paid for maintenance since 2010 when Su was still being driven by me. She used about a quart of oil every 1,500 miles, so it was cheaper and easier for me to get the full Jiffy Lube service on their $20 Tuesdays, and get a couple quarts topped off between changes for free.

No idea what an oil change costs these days. I think they started charging extra for the full service shortly after, meaning you had to pay more if you wanted washer fluid topped up or the car vacuumed and windows cleaned. Man, those were the good days, LOL.

[Piotrsko]

The 61 falcon might not accept different tires. Wife had a 64 grommet and they have teensy skinny wheel wells. The rear have this wickerbill like thing that severely limits diameter. I think we could fit a 160 60-15 with negative offset Cragars but that was it. Ended up raising the whole car 4".

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

In civilian life cars were disposable. Probably why I like VW Beetles so much, restored to factory condition they're unbelievable.

No wonder older Beetles and Brasílias served as rolling frames for some interesting makeshifts once they had so much rust it wouldn't make sense to repair them in a more orthodox way, so to speak.