buy here pay here advice

i've gotta buy a car. mine kicked the bucket. i'm thinking buy here pay here because my credit's not the best and i've got a few thousand i could put down. i figure if i have a big enough down payment, my credit may not be an issue for financing the remainder of the price of the car. i don't have a cosigner unfortunately. any one have any experience with local buy here pay here lots? i was hoping somebody could point me in the right direction. i'm shopping for a honda or acura, ideally. would definitely consider a toyota, nissan, VW, audi or volvo.

Annemarie's advice is spot on. In my opinion, the term "buyer beware" was coined for auto financing.

You mention that you have a few thousand to put down on a car. You might want to consider buying something with the cash you have. Where I grew up that was called the Bohemian payment plan: 100% down, nothing every month.

It should be possible to find a reliable car for that kind of money, though it might not be as pretty as a more expensive or recent model. It helps if you know a good mechanic that can check it out before you buy.

By the way, of the makes you suggested Honda/Acura or Toyota would probably be your best bet for cost of ownership. The others tend to be more expensive when repairs are necessary.

My advice....Befriend a mechanic and take your couple of thousand and head to the auction.
That's where all of these "Buy Here Pay Here" places get their cars at.
A couple of things to remember though.
Everything is sold as is...That's why you really need to know something about cars or take someone who does. Looks are very deceving when it comes to the inner workings of an automobile. A car you like might be really shiny, clean and dent free, but may have any sort of problems under the hood.
And you have to pay for the full price of the car on the spot.
Besides those two things, there actually can be some bargans to be had, if you check out a car thoughly before bidding on it.
I also suggest going first not to buy, but just to understand how it works.
Things move really, really fast and it can be quite confusing to the uninitiated.
Here's some links to check out....

http://www.clarkcountyautoauction.com/

http://goodwillcars.com/

http://www2.manheim.com/locations/LOUA/services

I sent you a PM

Euro Imports on Bardstown Rd at Speed. Masoud, the owner, is very honest and if he doesn't have something on the lot you can afford, he will look for what you need. I have purchased at least 3 cars from Masoud over the years - for myself and my daughters - no financing, just cash but you may be able to get a car for what you have saved as a down payment. Masoud checks out ever car on his lot and does the necessary work on them before they are put out on the lot.

My wife (Jennifer) is the branch manager for the Park CU on Blankenbaker and could give you advice on loans and financing. You can call her at 815-7580 if you want. Tell her I sent you.

Yeah, I'd say avoid the dealers and just buy used. Three or four thousand can get you a pretty good car. Have a mechanic do an inspection (usually very cheap, and a good investment) before you buy.

Then no payments!

wow, thanks a lot everyone for all of the helpful advice. i'll check out euro impots for sure. i know where that is. i've been checking craigslist daily and nothing's jumping out at me. i'll keep it up though. sounds like that's my best bet. it's just hard to be patient when you don't have wheels!

In 1995/1996 I bought a 1984 Nissan-Datsun 200SX for $350 cash at an auciton & it worked fine for 3 years. After that I bought a 1993 Mazda Protege for $3500 cash. I still drive it on occasion. I find that it's cheaper to pay someone that you know to maintain an old car than it is to buy a new one. However, having said that, I did buy my wife a 2009 Toyota Yaris. It was the first new car that I've ever purchased & we're currently doubling the payments to get our debt knocked out. I wanted something a little more efficient because we'll keep it until the wheels fall off & something a little safer because my wife just started driving a few months before we bought it & we eventually intend to have children.

I figured I'd chime in as someone that has worked for one of those high interest finance companies. A lot of what Annemarie said is standard business practice for most of the larger "high risk" finanace companies. The company I worked for would finance anyone...filed bankruptcy yesterday, no problem...unemployeed, not an issue...want a $35,000 car on your $13,000 income, we'll take every penny we can get. It was common to see accounts for a 10 year old car that had a sticker price for $9,998 with payments of $398/mo for 36 months...after they put down $2000.

The only thing that is advantageous to going with a finance company over Jim Bob's buy here, pay here is you do have some laws to protect you. The main one being that we couldn't repo a car until one payment was 10 days late, however, after you were late that first time, we could pick up the car if your payment was 12 hours late. That meant payments that stated due on Jan 19, actually meant due by 12:01am. Also, the finance company has to hold the title in order to contract the car. Though there were several cases were the customer ended up with a car for free because the company did not have the title available, thus the customer could not register the car in their name. Some of the buy here pay here places can be rather slick with the titles, so you could end up "renting" the car as Annemarie's friend did.

Hopefully you have some wheels from a reputable dealer by now, but thought I'd put it out there...difficult economies make shady people very wealthy...hopefully none of us pad their pockets!

Euro Imports on Bardstown Rd at Speed. Masoud, the owner, is very honest and if he doesn't have something on the lot you can afford, he will look for what you need. I have purchased at least 3 cars from Masoud over the years - for myself and my daughters - no financing, just cash but you may be able to get a car for what you have saved as a down payment. Masoud checks out ever car on his lot and does the necessary work on them before they are put out on the lot.

Until he recently purchased a new car, my boss bought his cars from Euro as well, and had nothing but great things to say about the lot.

Think about financing the auto through your bank allowing for an automatic withdraw. Even if your credit is a bit weak the bank you have your checking account with may come through for you with a more reasonable rate.

Another vote of confidence for Euro Imports. Very reputable, good man. As a couple that have 5 geriatric paid for vehicles-- we have found some great deals on imports under $3,000. Do we go to the mechanic a bit more? Yes. But, also consider your insurance costs w/ a newer, more expensive car. Also, some of the import mechanics have some good cars for sale themselves. Good luck. I found 2 cars from friends after posting a "looking for inexpensive car" on my facebook last year. Your friends may already know of a good deal. Cheers!