1998 Celica, good deal? (this close to buying it) Options

[elvasoshexai]

click here to view the autotrader ad.

1998 toyota celica. silver. about 99800miles. dealer is asking $7500. i tried to lower to 7000. they said $7300 is the best they can do. (at first they only replaced passenger side cv axle. but because of the added expense of the need for replacing the driver side cv axle, $7300 was the best they could do) the pics from ad look nice.

i'm very close to getting this car...

i've talked wit the seller for quite a bit now.

used car dealer replaced 2 CV axles.

they've supplied me with the carfax report and it is a clean title with 3 owners. carfax report says there is a lien on it (in 2004) but the seller assures me the lien is CLEARED now

i had the car taken to Toyota of Orlando for an inspection. i spoke with the consultant taking care of this. I talked with him a bit after their mechanic inspected it. he said the car was in very good condition inside and out.

The used car dealer did not have any service/maintenance records. however, the consultant said he found records at their dealership for the car from around 30-40k miles to around 93k miles. other than a gap of no records between around 70-80k miles, it seems as if the previous owner kept good care of the car.

some things toyota checked:
-they did not check airbags as they don't usually check this unless the airbag sensor is on. so i hope they are working.
-no signs of accidents (if there was any then they were very minor)
-no signs of flood damage (since there have been hurricanes/floodings in florida before)
-few dings on passenger door
-driver side seems like someone lightly keyed it
-driver seat shows some wear
-all power locks/sunroof etc work fine
-radio missing 1 button
-no rust
-driverside headlight is cracked on the inside (he says it shakes a bit. can be replaced)
-they did not have a chance to take the car to a highway since all the local roads have a 45mph limit. but the mechanic noticed the car is a little bit wobbly/shaky and says it is from bad front tire alignment. he said to replace tires since they were getting worn anyway
-front brake pads 50% left
-rear brake pads are low. but not at the point of needing immediate replacement
-rotors are all fine
-he also recommended engine coolant flush, transmission drain, as well as a tune up (replace spark plugs/spark plug wires/distributor cap + rotor inside)
-there is a leak at a distributor o-ring (where it meets the block). and that i should replace it.

even though i got the car inspected by toyota. and the consultant said the car was in great shape, i know sometimes that dealerships don't do the best jobs when inspecting.

what are your opinions? should i try to knock the price down some more? any more questions i should ask the seller?

the dealer has sold cars before on ebay as well. and currently i just gotta talk to the dealer about warranty and about the buyer's guide sticker/form. then arrange for shipping date and payment

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Oct 5, 2005 - 3:59 PM

[BlackSTX]

I think it looks good. That's not a lot of miles for a Toyota, especially one that's been well maintained. Go to kelly blue book and edmunds to compare the prices and see what's fair.

[elvasoshexai]

the seller posted a KBB value on the ad. she said it's 9120. not sure what options etc they put. but when i checked it's about $8800. i've checked other autotrader, ebay and cars.com ads. they are around the middle. considering the mileage, the condition and that they are a dealer

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Oct 5, 2005 - 3:52 PM

[Consynx]

i say buy my car still...lol
sounds kinda like mine

[dustin15brown]

Buy stephen's

[Consynx]

in all honesty that is a nice ass car.
98 = pimp steering wheel too!

[elvasoshexai]

there's no warranty on the car. it's as is... hm... well i guess i'll go ahead with arranging shipping and send the certified cheque to the seller then

[eclipse_04a]

make sure they have the release papers for the lien... if its cleared then there should be papers with the title. otherwise you may get stuck paying the lien off.... if they say they dont have them, contact the finacial institution that put the lien on the title and make sure its clear, and have them send another paper with saying its clear. if you dont have this paper, you wont be able to title/register the car in your name.

[Celica_Fan]

Thats a really nice celica there.

[elvasoshexai]

o. thnks for this info! the seller said the lien is cleared because the title is in her name (this car is at a dealer... lien was when previous owner had it). she said in florida they don't have a release paper and that they just change it on the title. the lien was with toyota motor credit corp. (this car used to be leased) and was released 6/21/05 but i will definitelycheck to make sure this is true!

make sure they have the release papers for the lien... if its cleared then there should be papers with the title. otherwise you may get stuck paying the lien off.... if they say they dont have them, contact the finacial institution that put the lien on the title and make sure its clear, and have them send another paper with saying its clear. if you dont have this paper, you wont be able to title/register the car in your name.
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This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Oct 6, 2005 - 5:44 PM

[soulshadow]

wow, that is pretty nice, but the TAG is huge. I dunno if u want to invest so much for a car that high in miles. For that much u could put a down on a new car already.

[elvasoshexai]

make sure they have the release papers for the lien... if its cleared then there should be papers with the title. otherwise you may get stuck paying the lien off.... if they say they dont have them, contact the finacial institution that put the lien on the title and make sure its clear, and have them send another paper with saying its clear. if you dont have this paper, you wont be able to title/register the car in your name.
[right][snapback]341830[/snapback][/right]

i'm not too familiar with this stuff (first car purchase)

but the seller faxed me a copy of the title.. it's not too clear so she is gonna email me a (hopefully) better copy...

at the top it says the name of the previous owner (ie before the dealer got it)
below that it says mail to: 08/30/2000 toyota motor credit corporation
on the right it says date of issue: 08/26/2001
below that it says lien release/interest in the above described vehicle is hereby released. then there is a signature and date.
so this means the lien is completely released right?

then a bit lower it says certificate of title... in the middle i think it's a stamp of toyo motor credit corp...

and i see a lot of void words on it.. what does that mean?

[Consynx]

sigh...lost another one to ditech...err dealers

My car is finally going in the papers this week. . .

congrats on the new car.