Buying from dealer Vs Buying from Private

[jmai22]

What are the pro's and con's from buying from each. Buying from a dealer will be about 5,000 more than buying from a private party for basically the exact same car. If I buy from a private party which dealer would I get to go to to get warranty work done since all dealer ships are privately owned.

[Dammmittt]

I think that's just it, there's no guaranty that you'll have a warranty if you buy a car from joe shmoe on the street. Only deaers can sell you certified pre-owned.

[BlackSapphireZ]

yeah but u can purchase aftermarket warranty over the internet for like $1000~1500

[Dammmittt]

Maybe...depends on if the dude screwed up the car in any way.

[KenTenn]

I believe the dealer has to honor the factory warranty, even if you buy from an individual. So, provided you buy one new enough to still have warranty left, you should be ok.

[wasupdu]

The dealer has to honor the factory warranty in the U.S.. ....I'm positive on that. I've bought my last 2 BMW's private party and have had no problem whatsoever getting them serviced at different BMW dealers (3 total). I'd imagine it would be the same case for a CPO.

In my limited experience it's waaaay less expensive to find someone selling private party vs buying from a dealership.

[maxz4]

CPO is nice when something breaks.... I waited until my dealer had a "internet special" bought the car at a ok price I think, but with dealers you still have to pay Sales tax.... which add 8% to the price in the car

[Dammmittt]

What's sales tax?

[Hawkeye]

8% that is pretty steep. It is only 6% here, and that is only because of the 1% that goes to the school district here in my county.

[wasupdu]

Originally Posted by maxz4

CPO is nice when something breaks.... but with dealers you still have to pay Sales tax....

Not sure about Arizona, but in Minnesota and Wisconsin you have to pay sales tax regardless of whether you buy from a dealer or private party. At the dealership you pay it right there, with a private party transaction you pay the tax at the DMV. Only difference is that sometimes you can 'fudge' the price when you pay the tax on a private party sale. ie saying that you paid $20k for the car when in fact you paid $30k.

[Spaceman Spiff]

You have to pay the sales tax regardless of who you buy it from. If you buy from a dealer, you pay it at point of purchase. If you buy from a private party you pay when registering the cat with DMV. Either way you pay the same tax (8.25% in LA). Buying from a dealer can save you a few APR points if you're financing (used car finance rates are usually 1-5 percentage points higher if you buy from a private party vs. a dealer) but you end up paying way more. A happy medium would be buying from a private party with a dealer as a middleman. So the dealer "buys" the car from the seller, turns around and sells it to you. I have done that with 3-4 cars so far and paid $400-700 to the dealer depending on the car

[Dammmittt]

Originally Posted by Spaceman Spiff

You have to pay the sales tax regardless of who you buy it from. If you buy from a dealer, you pay it at point of purchase. If you buy from a private party you pay when registering the cat with DMV. Either way you pay the same tax (8.25% in LA). Buying from a dealer can save you a few APR points if you're financing (used car finance rates are usually 1-5 percentage points higher if you buy from a private party vs. a dealer) but you end up paying way more. A happy medium would be buying from a private party with a dealer as a middleman. So the dealer "buys" the car from the seller, turns around and sells it to you. I have done that with 3-4 cars so far and paid $400-700 to the dealer depending on the car

Not everyone has to pay sales tax...

[Spaceman Spiff]

Originally Posted by Dammmittt

Not everyone has to pay sales tax...

Well those of us unfortunate enough to live in a state with sales tax I even considered going to OR to buy my car to avoid paying

And I forgot to mention, some states deduct the trade-in value from the price so you just pay tax on the difference (again not CA unfortunately)