RX in NC

Your inexperience seriously hurt you in this case. Never reveal your financial situation/plans to the opposing party (i.e. the dealership), and never even consider a vehicle that has MIL/OBDII issues until you force the seller to properly resolve those issues. You should have briskly walked away in both cases. Work with your head, not your heart - this is a business transaction and must be treated as such. Be patient and always do your research before even considering making an offer. Remember that there are always better deals out there and it is up to you to find them.

salimshah

Please don't be too hard on yourself. I went with my son on his first purchase of vehicle and the sales person kept on telling my son that he is getting a sales deal of the century. I winked at my son and later told him that in his entire life he will purchase less cars than the salesman sells in a month.

Just followup with the independent inspection. If things check out fine then you can choose to proceed forward. If there are red flags take that back for further negations or repairs. Short-long-term ownership will tell you over time if it was good purchase or not. Did some one pay the right price or not ... no one knows. Only time would tell.

If you are dealing with legit dealer then the "sale" only happens when the title is exchanged for money. Read the fine print on deposit and most likely it will be returned if the title transfer has not happened.

Salim

LuizCA

Hi all,

As my final update on this whole story, we purchased the vehicle today. I took it to the mechanic this morning and he told me the car was in great shape mechanically, very well taken care of, and that he would buy it for himself.

I am deeply thankful to everyone that spent some time to give me tips and advice. It was not an easy process and I learned a lot from it. Probably not the best deal ever, but I feel it was not bad either. I must confess that it is one thing reading tutorials online and it is a COMPLETELY different thing sitting in front of the salesman. As Salim already said, they do this for a living, and amateurs like me are at a clear disadvantage, but it could have been way worse without your help. Now it is time to enjoy the purchase and look forward to the good times my wife and I will have with this car. Maybe the car that will transport our first baby? Who knows!

Cheers,
Luiz

salimshah

Let me be among the first to congratulate you and my heartfelt wish is that the vehicle lives up to your expectations.

Salim