Common Mistakes When Buying Used Cars or Keeping Your Old One in 2023

What's harder than finding a good used car? Finding a good honest mechanic!

My daughter was given a ‘99 Camry (5S-FE) as her first car. She drove it for 6 years and I’ve been driving it for 2+ more years. I’ve calculated that over 8+ years of ownership, this car has cost us about $40 per month. I just rolled over 331K this week. It’s still very clean inside and out and drives smooth.

I have been a car dealer for 30 years this guy knows exactly what he is taking about.I was amazed this guy said what I have always told car buyers but not everyone listens.Great video for sure.

This guy is a jewel! I'd love to have him as my mechanic! Honest people are hard to find these days.

We need to clone you and have technicians like you across the country to act as advisors for those of us who don’t have car knowledge. It’s hard to find honest mechanics. Thank you for always providing such honest videos. Maybe you can start a business of “honest” technicians across the country that can offer advice for a fee. I’m quite sure it would be a welcomed service. 👍

I have been messing with cars for 60 plus years and i grew up in the rust belt. Most used car buyers are incapable of judging the condition of a used car. They are buying the habits of the previous owner. They buy with their eyes. I tell people that a pre purchase mechanical inspection is mandatory, but so is a body inspection. A box of donuts at a body shop will reveal all. Body men love to point out previous shoddy work. They can tell quickly.

Simply Put-- How much will it cost to fix my old car to avoid car payments that are at least $600 per month. So repairs that cost $3000 and may get you another 24 months will save you $14,400 in car payments for a net savings of $11,400 after repair costs. Lower insurance rates on the old vehicle will add to your savings.

Thanks for sharing this information with us. I'm a 69 yr old widow here in Memphis. I was hit head-on in November 2022 😢 i ended up with severe injuries. My 2004 Lincoln Towncar car Limited edition that was in excellent condition with only 100k miles was totaled. I babied that car. I serviced it as scheduled all these years. Now I'm a widow and retired and I need to by a new car. I'm out priced by the market. This is scary for someone like me. These videos really help me as i search for a reliable used car. GOD bless you young man for sharing your knowledge with all of us on Utube. You never know who you are helping. Joanne Williams.

AMD, When you sit down behind the black work bench with the shop lights dimmed, we know we are in trouble. 😬

Telling a young couple with 2.5 kids the car they just spent every penny they could scrape together isnt worth fixing is a honest mechanics nightmare. Heartbreaking. It still happens every day. Listen to this man, he is telling you the way it is

Great discussion. When you have an older car and you understand vehicles and their potential failures, you spend on preventative maintenance. When you commit to older vehicles, you are also committed to maintaining them. Sure it costs a lot, but you will know you have a travel worthy and safe vehicle. Last thing I want is to have a bricked vehicle because I didn’t maintain it. Too many people don’t understand the concept of It’s your horse and your ride and it’s your responsibility to take care of that horse.

I literally almost bought a Lexus from a dealer in a different state without even seeing it in person. What you just said about how horrible it is when doing post purchase inspection made me feel so relieved. I’ve just been so frustrated with this market of used cars, but no matter how frustrated I get I’m glad I backed out of the purchase last minute

This video is funny cause barring any significant life changes, I plan to drive my 2012 4Runner until the wheels fall off or it just dies. But it’s a truck I bought new 11 years ago, I go above and beyond doing preventative maintenance, keep the frame clean, and only hit 100k miles last year. I don’t even drive everyday. Dealers keep asking me to sell it to them. Any car could potentially break down for sure, but if you keep up (or even do extra) maintenance on a Toyota/Lexus, it’ll last way way way longer than any other brand car on the road comparatively. Love my 4Runner!!

My trusted mechanic had the same talk with me about my 2001 manual transmission camry. The last couple times I had brought it to him for repair (evap check engine code, leaking brake lines) He looked at the rusting body and frame, took a deep breath and I knew this same talk was coming.

Even as a toyota/honda driver, no car is reliable if maintenance is neglected. The problem with used cars is it is really hard to tell the maintenance history for most of them. Always get or do a thorough pre purchase inspection. Cheapest insurance you can ever get

Heres one thing that's ALWAYS overlooked. It's not whether the cost of repairs exceeds the value, it's whether it exceeds the depreciation and interest costs of the car you would replace it with. These are perpetual silent killers to your finances. Buy a new(ish) car and expect to lose at least $3-5k per year in lost value & interest. If you're spending $3k or less on maintenance and your existing ride is clean, reliable, and meets your needs, you're ahead of the game.

I had to buy a car 18 months ago. What stunned me was the price of cars in the class we wanted that were 6 or 7 years old. My feeling was to go for a very much older car instead. So I found a 16 year old one with a big but fixable dent in the back that has no rust that required some simple fixes that I could handle. 22000 miles later I have no regrets at all. And now it's tidied up it's worth over double what I paid...

One point (among MANY good points) he brought out is when people are contemplating a repair that exceeds the value of the car and saying, "It isn't worth it." Several years ago, I crashed my car into a deer. I called up my insurance company and they said the cost of the damage was greater that the value of the car so, they would total it and pay me my money. (The value of the car was $900.00 the cost to repair it was $,1,600.00.) Now, the car was very well maintained and in good condition (even with 400,000 miles) Now, could I have replaced that car for $1,600.00? Not likely. Was it "worth" repairing? Depends. In my case, I knew what I had. The car didn't use much oil and was meticulously maintained and I would have let a perfectly good car go to waste. In some cases maybe not. Just because the cost of repair exceeds the value of the car doesn't mean it isn't worth it. A person has to evaluate that.

+ 1 for me. From another auto mechanic wise words from AMD. I spent a lifetime fixing cars and trucks. Since I retired from the trade I am stunned at the amount of incompetence and pure greed I see now on a daily basis in the trade especially in the used car market. It was always bad but now it's beyond atrocious. It really saddens me the way things have deteriorated where it has gotten to point that auto mechanics are considered crooks until proven otherwise. I've had to back away and just steer family and friends along in the right direction.

I wish there were people like you, in the motor trade, in the UK. May you continue to prosper with your business. Your customers are lucky to have you.