Is this a good deal on 2005 Prius?

Have you seen it? Maybe it has body damage.

Have you done a carfax report on it? Maybe it's been in an accident. Or has a salvage title.

Or it could be a very good deal and the seller just wants cash fast.

You'll have to do some more homework.

 

Usually a Toyota dealer...

make certain no hurricane or midwest flood damage...

 

What do I know? I just talked with someone buying a repo'd 2005 with over 90k miles for ... get this ... $12,500. Even with that high mileage it sounds too good to be true in today's market. FYI - The car was running just fine when the bank took it back too.

 

CarFax and Autocheck can miss a lot of important things. Some people have accidents and don't notify the insurance company. Some states don't report to CarFax and Autocheck.

Still, a buyer should check at least one of these reports before buying. But I would have a mechanic check for frame damage by putting it on a lift and looking for welds (sometimes concealed). Also study the gaps in the front hood and trunk - they should be equal. Look for stickers on the side panels under the hood. Sometimes on a wrecked car you'll see a sticker on one side and not the other.

Ask for the Used Car manager to use his "Paint Meter" to check for paint. This detects body shop work not always seen by the naked eye. If it reads 4.2 on 3/4s of the panels as you walk around and then one panel or a whole side reads double or triple then you have paint! This will lower the value by thousands of dollars!

I am a dealer, by the way...

 

I was told Honda marks all the major body panels with the original VIN making it easy to identify replaced parts, not sure if Toyota does too. 'Course that only helps when looking for replaced, not repaired.

 

You paid the lienholder, not the seller, right??????

 

Since you are probably asleep and I so really really hope I'm wrong that you paid the seller and not the lienholder - let me run a few scenarios by you. I work in the title department for a financial institution and basically am employed by titles gone wrong.

If this person has good credit he would have been able to refinance his loan for a better interest rate. Why did he not do this? Why did he not sell the car for anywhere near its value?

I'll go from worst case scenario to best case scenario.

What if he has defaulted on his loan and would rather "sell" the car and walk way with $19,000 cash rather than have it repossessed?

The lienholder can still repo the car. Who do you think they will repo it from? You.

Or, what if he has perhaps not defaulted, but keeps the $19,000 and also keeps his loan - doesn't pay it off? That means the title is never released until his loan is paid off and you are driving around in this car that you can never own.

And the best case scenario. What if he does pay his lienholder off and because YOU didn't pay them, they don't know you exist, and send the title to your seller? Then you have to depend on the seller to contact you once the title arrives (can take weeks) and get you the title. That, my friend, is the best case scenario in the situation of paying a seller when you buy a car, and not a lienholder.

This is why it is sooooooooo important to pay the lienholder directly when you buy a used car private party with an existing lien. This way you know the loan is paid off, and the title will be released to you or to your lienholder.

This is also why it is important to see a vehicle's current registration - it will have the name and address of the lienholder or let you know if there isn't one and it is safe to pay the seller - in which case he should have the title in hand and sign it over to you right away.

If you paid his lienholder I do apologize for jumping to conclusions but perhaps someone else will read it and it will prevent them from getting themselves into a situation like this. I see it happen every day - multiple times a day. Unraveling messes like I mention above is what I do for a living.

 

Whew! Good!