car shopping by bike

[Biciclista]

I bought my (used) FIT from a private person. I assessed him as much as the car. I got a good price and I KNEW he was the kind of guy who took care of his stuff. He had a replacement for every single lamp in the car! and stuff for the oil change.. and extra windshield wipers. And he recorded every fill up.. and he had perfect penmanship. It was nice not to have to deal with a dealer or all the BS they attach to the price.

[redrhodie]

I bought my (used) FIT from a private person. I assessed him as much as the car. I got a good price and I KNEW he was the kind of guy who took care of his stuff. He had a replacement for every single lamp in the car! and stuff for the oil change.. and extra windshield wipers. And he recorded every fill up.. and he had perfect penmanship. It was nice not to have to deal with a dealer or all the BS they attach to the price.

He sounds dreamy. I've always bought used cars privately, and I've done pretty well, but never met anyone that good!

These cars don't seem to depreciate much. I suspect that's a sign of the time.

ETA, the dealer was actually very nice.

[maillotpois]

The Fit really holds its value. I traded mine in in June (have wanted to be back in a convertible for years and had an opportunity to get the last of the VW beetle convertibles). Part of the reason I traded my Fit in was that the dealer gave me 14k for it in trade - even though it had over 50,000 miles on it!!!

The Fit was a great car - I loved that the bike fit right inside it so easily and I do miss that, but I also love the wind in my hair.

I love the idea of taking your bike to shop for a car.

[Biciclista]

actually... i forgot to say, we've gone by bike car shopping many times, for the same reason. If the bike doesn't fit we don't look at the car.. of course it did fit into the FIT.

[Crankin]

I can't speak to buying a car from a private dealer (I wouldn't do it), but I can speak to the Toyota "certified" used car/warranty. In my mind, it is worth it. Buying a used car is a gamble and this gives peace of mind. There's too much that can go wrong with a car, let alone a used one. Worrying about my car is the last thing I would want to do, so I would go for this type of warranty. While I wouldn't buy one of those extended warranties, the last 2 cars I have had came with 4 year/50K mile warranties and I was very glad they did. I found Toyota service/warranty, etc. to be great when I had one and I am actually thinking of going back to one for my next car.

[Koronin]

We ended up buying a used Nissan Versa hatchback. Haven't tried to put the bikes in it, but just looking at it they should fit without much trouble. Bought the car more for my work than anything else. It's an ok car, but I doubt I'd find anything in the Versa/Yaris range that I'd consider to be fun to drive, since my other car is a sports coupe and my dream car is a sports car.

[marni]

we were dithering with the same choices back in may with similar issues about price. We ended up buying a used pre certified Ponitac Vibe, 4 door hatchback with 35,000 miles on it. Price included a 2 year engine and drive train warranty. Gotta love car max and my husband who is a suburb negotiator.

The best part is that with the back seats down (and they lie totally flat) it can take our two bikes (minus front wheels) head to tail, or resident FILs wheel chair with a bit of room to spare.

Good luck- if you have a carmax in your area, it might be worth a look.