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Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_j988mkm wrote

Any car fix it place will do a used car check over for you..i think the bigger issue if you are taking it to a local shop is if they have time.

Also be careful with carvana. We bought a car from there about 4 years ago and it was fine but they're having financial problems and r/carvana is full of titling and registration horror stories.

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AffamaffAD t1_j98942g wrote

Take it to the nearest dealership for the manufacturer of the car and pay the diagnostic fee, most likely 1 hour possibly more at their door rate (100-200/hr). Dealerships typically know what problems to look for even though it may be expensive.

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uglybushes t1_j98azsz wrote

What year is the vehicle? Or just link the vehicle.

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uglybushes t1_j98f1mp wrote

A local reputable dealer that has recently inspected the vehicle. Carvana is likely to be out of business in 18 months. I also don’t think the buying process is easy in pa right now since they can’t issue registrations. I like your car choices just not your dealer choice

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fobreezee OP t1_j98frq5 wrote

>A local reputable dealer that has recently inspected the vehicle. Carvana is likely to be out of business in 18 months. I also don’t think the buying process is easy in pa right now since they can’t issue registrations. I like your car choices just not your dealer choice

Thanks about the car choices! Do you have a favorite one of the 2?

You think they will be out of business?? I saw something about their stock going down. Have you been following that story a lot (I'm not sure a lot about the details) or any experience yourself dealing with them?

What's going on with PA registrations? Is that a Carvana issue or just a PA registration issue in general?

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chrisms150 t1_j98hb2p wrote

> A local reputable dealer that has recently inspected the vehicle.

Not gonna disagree with carvana being sketchy financials right now.

But absolutely do not trust any dealer to inspect the car they're selling you... Always take it to a trusted 3rd party.

(doesn't apply if you're buying CPO I guess, since that comes with warranties I suppose)

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uglybushes t1_j98j624 wrote

The fit. I think the Yaris was made by Mazda and had Toyota badges put on. Carvana sold cars before they had the titles to them. This lead to them not be allowed to register the car. That lead to PA taking away their ability to issue plates and register cars.

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fobreezee OP t1_j98k3eu wrote

You are right about the Yaris being Mazda. So how do cars get registered and issued when they sell them? They can't just be allowed to sell them and not provide customers plates.

I'd love to find one at another dealer, but inventory is TIGHT on these models.

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uglybushes t1_j98pebf wrote

You probably have to go to a 3rd party titling service like AAA. If you’re stuck on carvana just make sure they acquired the vehicle in the last 60 days and it’s not been sitting for a year passed around to different carvana locations.

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fobreezee OP t1_j98qe1p wrote

>You probably have to go to a 3rd party titling service like AAA. If you’re stuck on carvana just make sure they acquired the vehicle in the last 60 days and it’s not been sitting for a year passed around to different carvana locations.

Thanks for the help! I went out like 300 miles on my search and the trade value is 1-2k more than dealers I've called offered too. I've been researching everything and definitely read some horror stories, others have said it's a great experience with them. That why I'm looking for someone GOOD to do the inspection as my mechanic I've been having some issues with lately. I don't want to get some flooded vehicle or something. They give you a 7 day return policy, so as long as I find dont find anything in the inspection or driving it as much as possible in the first week. I might also go with something lower miles just bc it's scary.

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fobreezee OP t1_j98ray6 wrote

>Reputable dealers don’t sell flood cars. You want to make sure tires and brakes measure 50% or better. 2 keys is a plus and the less accidents the better.

Do you think they would cover the breaks in the first 7 days or the tires? That's a good point about flooded cars. I saw that. I wonder if it's just some mechanics that totally miss that it's a flood car. Is it super easy to tell if it's a flood car of some kind when they do an inspection?

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uglybushes t1_j98rrfj wrote

A flood car get a a branded title. Certain dealers sell branded titles however reputable dealers won’t touch them. I don’t think they will cover the brakes and tires. Technically if they are 2/32 (tires) or 2/12 (brakes) they still pass pa inspection

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Confident_End_3848 t1_j99onlc wrote

If you can, I’d try to buy a new enough car that you could still shop an extended manufacturer’s warranty for it.

Different makes handle it differently, but generally it still has to be within the original bumper to bumper warranty. Some dealers around the country do a nice side business selling discounted manufacturer’s extended warranties online. I just got one for a new car from a dealer in central PA.

Carvana (and places like Carmax) have really high prices for used cars. You can’t negotiate. You do get the 7 day return privilege, I guess. But that wouldn’t make up for the higher price imo.

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Confident_End_3848 t1_j99pfl1 wrote

If you can get clear title quickly, it really wouldn’t matter if Carvana goes belly up after you buy a car.

Carvana is sitting on a mountain of debt they borrowed to expand as well as inventory they bought when used car prices were high. Now interest rates are climbing and used car prices are falling and Carvana is caught in between.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9bg3ia wrote

>Carvana (and places like Carmax) have really high prices for used cars. You can’t negotiate. You do get the 7 day return privilege, I guess. But that wouldn’t make up for the higher price imo.

The deal on my car is really good as I searched a 200 mile radius and their price is definitely the best. From what I remember Carmax always tries to make $2k a car, but Carvana only makes $1-1.5k currently according to some youtube videos I watched.

I'm more so worried about all of their titling issues honestly.

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fobreezee OP t1_j9bjtno wrote

That article include both the profit from financing and warranty sales and was written during the peak summer months last year as Used car prices were going up. The video I watched was from last month and they talked about how the profits went down, so probably a more recent thing.

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TeslaPittsburgh t1_j9ffyoi wrote

Firestone does PPI for like $25 and it's thorough. We've done that twice in the last year (Wexford).

First was Carvana (title/reg was not a problem on that-- cash purchase makes it easy) due to wanting very specific spec and also southern car (no rust).

Second was local dealer in Wexford. Both were satisfactory experiences.

At the Yaris/Fit pricepoints you're not going to have much downside potential, they're-- no offense intended-- the most basic of basic cars. Just be VERY careful regarding corrosion and good service history as typically entry level car owners are a combination of disengaged and expense-averse.

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