Manufacturer Buyback, I need some advice.. Options

[Jen]

I have been driving my mother's Avalon for the past 5 months. She now wants it back, and I am forced to trade in the Z. =(

However, the car I am very interested in purchasing is a manufacturer buyback. Which is in short, a car that was bought back from the consumer because there was something wrong with it that could not be fixed after 3 times. The problem on this car was a mechanical problem.. in which they ended up replacing the entire engine. It has a 12 month, 12k mile factory warranty on it. I have the option of buying an extended warranty if I choose to.

I've been doing some research and some people are saying stay away, as others are saying it's an excellent deal. But I could run into problems if I were to trade this car in further down the road.

I'd really like some input on this.

It is a very good deal from a prestigious dealership that only sells exotic and luxury cars. According to them most of their lot is manufacturer buybacks.

This is the best price I could find for this type of vehicle with low miles. Most of the ones in my price range have very high mileage.

Advice, comments, questions? Help? I didn't know where else I could turn. =)

Edit: This has all been documented, and the carfax is completely clean except for this.

This post has been edited by Jen: Mar 29, 2010 - 8:56 PM

[jgreening]

The question is whether the initial savings is worth the risk of a problem or the added problems of selling it down the road. I wouldn't do it because I do not want to be bothered by problems in the future and the financial savings would be a secondary issue for me. For people that are not risk adverse, enough savings could tip the scales in favor of buying it.

In other news, hows the baby?