The Pretty Much Made Money Deal

Most of what used car yards brisbane found had ripped up seats, or was in the $5,500 range if it looked any good. I finally came across a limited used car yards brisbane model that had all the options that I wanted, plus a huge moon roof, towing hitch, and some other goodies on used car yards. So I called and set up an appointment for the next day. Time to put my poker face on! Now, the test drive that I’m very fortunate to have a brother-in-law that loves cars, and knows a bit about used car yards brisbane on Toyotas and Hondas. He agreed to come along and help me check out the car. They might be car savvy, or you might be, but I recommend that at least one of you is. He was also able to find potential problems and help use them as negotiating tools to help lower the price. Having a trusted mechanic or mechanically inclined friend can save you thousands in the long run, so I highly recommend this step.

If you absolutely can’t make this happen, just Google common issues with used car yards and then you should get a good idea of what to look for. We started up the motor, and popped the hood to check out the car. I played with all the gadgets inside the car (moon roof, power windows/locks, radio, seats, air conditioning, heater, etc.) and my brother-in-law check out the motor. We heard a distinct squeaking coming from the engine bay, which was definitely a loose belt. No problem, everything else seemed ok, so we hopped in a drove it around for a bit. The transmission was a little whiny, but shifted fine. We also found that it had an upgraded exhaust and air filter, worth over $500! When we parked the car, we then noticed a coolant leak. It was getting a bit dark, so we couldn’t quite see where it was coming from. The guy was insistent he’d never seen the leak before, but now we had our bargaining chip.

The negotiation when we got back in my car, and discussed what I should pay for the car if I were to buy it. We figure at worst, we’d replace the water pump and radiator, so it would cost about $500. But my brother wanted to bargain hard, and said I should offer $2,800, but buy it for $3,000 if it came down to it. I thought it was a low ball offer, but we got out and chatted with the owner a bit. When I have negotiated for other cars in the past, we usually meet in the middle. When you go to make an offer on a used car, I always go a few hundred dollars lower than you think you would pay. If you low-ball just a little bit, you can meet in the middle, and both parties are happy. I lucked out a bit on this one, and drove off in my used car yards with a big grin on my face. We did end up replacing the radiator and water pump, and while we were at it, did the timing belt, and new hoses and belts for good measure. Yep, I pretty much made money on this deal.