It sounds too good to be true. A decent looking car, it doesn't really have a whole lot of miles, and even though it does have a few flaws it sounds cheap. You looked on Craigslist.com and found cars that seemed like a bargain, and priced mostly under $3,000 they were affordable. This was a car dealer that I know of. He sold lots of cars, for reasonable prices. When things were going good, people would stream onto his lot to look at and purchase cars. Most buyers came with cash or cashiers checks, bought the car and left. The problem came up when the people running the dealership didn't see eye to eye about business practices. All of a sudden the lot was vacant, and phone numbers are disconnected.
Since our lot is located very close to this other dealership, we have talked to several of their customers who are having problems getting titles and license plates. Others say they were promised repairs, but they weren't completed.
A couple of the people said they had filed complaints on this dealership hopefully they will be able to make things right.
The moral to this story is " caveat emptor" or buyer beware. Do your homework, call the better business bureau and get the statistics on the dealership. Check out the Arizona Independent Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) for some very good tips. Find out if there have been complaints and if they have been properly handled. Look around at the place of business, what does it look like. There are many car sellers who advertise on craigslist,com who are what we refer to as curbstoners. These could be individuals who buy and sell cars without benefit of a dealers license. If you buy from one of these you have little or no protection if something goes wrong. It could be a licensed wholesale dealer who is retailing cars, which is not permitted under his license. It could be a retail dealer who doesn't do the title work properly or pay sales tax on the transaction. You could be buying a car that was wrecked and rebuilt.
In Phoenix, everyone needs a car but be careful how you buy it.
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