Girl Needs Car Buying Help - $100
 

Okay, check it out. I'm a girl (yes, really!) and I've taken out decent car note (I will tell how much to the person I hire) through my credit union. I have excellent credit and got a fantastic rate.

I've been driving the same POS money pit of a car since 1998 and it is certainly time to upgrade. I have my heart absolutely set on a New-Used Honda Accord through a private sale. (No dealers!!)

So, here's the thing: I am truly an orphan and don't have a dad, brothers or boyfriend to help me through such things and this car will have to last me a long time. My loan was approved on the 2nd of November and I've already had one guy try to scam me. :(

Damit, I will NOT get scammed again. This girl needs some back-up and I'm willing to pay for it! I want someone on MY side so I won't get scammed, slammed, or pay too much for too little. Therefore, I would like to hire someone to be my car whisperer. I have 30 days to buy a car or my loan goes kaput!

Your job would be for a few hours of time, max, and you can track your time. I won't be taking up hours and hours hemming and hawwing and being all girlie. I will ask my questions, you will answer. Easy Peasy - either over email, IM, text or phone call.

I show you the cars I'm interested in via (craigslist or some other place?), you tell if
a) it's a good deal or to pass
b) If it's a good deal, tell me what to ask about the car and
c) What would be fair to offer if they have wiggle room on the price.

By the way, I have a great mechanic who will do a through inspection of any car I plan to buy.

I understand that I am brand new to this forum and this will be looked upon skeptically, I don't blame you one bit. I of all people know that the internet is full of scammers and dishonest people. I have never cheated anyone in my life and am 100% ethical but you don't know that. Therefore, to show I am 100% on the up and up, I am *happy* to PAY FIRST through either an escrow service of YOUR choosing OR through a Trusted Mod here on the forum. The mod or escrow service pays you when I buy my car or after 30 days, whichever comes first as long as you've actually tried to help me.. Edit to add: I want to make this clear... You get the money if I end up buying a car or not!

You can apply here if interested and I hope that $100 for a few hours work is fair. Think of me as your little sis who needs a new car! ::sigh::

Qualifications:

Someone located in the US (I'm in the Bay Area, California) with Honda Buying experience. Your forum posts here I guess will be your resume? :-)

You are friendly, generally available via text, IM, email or phone call for such an enterprise! e.g. If you are going out of town for a week or can't talk for 3 days straight while you are on the road or something, that might not work. Of course I won't be buying a car over Thanksgiving weekend, so we got to get cracking!

I am very friendly, cheerful, not psycho, don't expect you to be on call 24/7, we'll figure it out -- just a normal girl looking for a little help.

Who's game??

Some free advice is:
Have your mechanic look over whatever car your want to buy, even if it costs $50 or so.

The 98-02 Automatic Accords had some pretty major problems and I would stay clear of them.

Most sellers on craigslist do not expect to get the price they put on the ad, its more of a "if i can find someone stupid enough to pay it then thats great" type of deal. Depending on the price of the car I would take a certain percent off, if you are looking at a $15,000 car I would offer at least $1,000 less. If its $1,500 then I would offer $300 or so less.

If you find one you like we'd be willing to tell you if the price is fair or not, and what problems to look out for on that specific model.

Excellent Advice, Live2Rice - thank you!

.... does this mean you are interested in the job? :)

You should investigate a used car broker service. Check edmonds website for guidance. Your part of this deal is on the front end to check the reputation and successes of the broker before you engage them. There are online brokers who claim to do deals anywhere.

Buying a used car is difficult, even for a skilled buyer. I think you have the right general idea, but we only give free advice.

good luck

Okay, thanks so much TexasHonda, I will check on Edmunds too. I appreciate the help. So let me ask this, if I posted for help here (for free), which section would be best to use?

Thanks again! :)

No sorry I have way too busy of a schedule for that type of commitment. You can post any questions you have here and we will try to answer them.

NP, Live2Rice!

Thanks ever so much for the valuable information you provided above, though. It's much appreciated.

I agree on posting your questions or request for opinions on this forum. You can get feedback from several people that may be more invaluable than from any one person. Additionally, whoever is available can help to try to answer.

Thank you SO much for the warm welcome, g22cd5, and everyone else. Wow, what a bunch of super friendly folks!

I have posted my first question here as I'm going to go look at a car tonigt. https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...ad.php?t=35990

and am including the link as smart suggestion by the first responder. :)