Thanks for the response.

Your concerns are a good reason why it's important to talk to the old owner.
He or she will most likely be happy to tell you everything about the
vehicle, since they have an interest. By going to a dealer that sells that
brand, you'll likely stand a better chance of finding a vehicle traded in by
one of the dealer's loyal customers, many times simply to upgrade to a newer
model. That's the one you're looking for.

On the other hand, if a Ford customer trades in to a Toyota dealer, what
does that tell you except that he perhaps was unhappy with the vehicle (or
it was, as you say, an auction vehicle.).

I don't know if that is necessarily true that a dealer only goes after
brands that he sells. It may be. If the dealer can't put you in touch with
the old owner, that's a good sign that's it's an auction car, if the dealer
doesn't tell you outright.

Here us an example: My father decided to buy a used Camry. He saw one at a
GM dealer. When he tried to get ownership info, the dealer told him he got
the car at an auction. I told him to forget that car and look for one at a
Toyota dealer. He found one there. The dealer explained how the vehicle came
in as a trade-in from a woman a few miles up the road in Vermont. The dealer
sold and maintained it and actually provided my father a copy of the
maintenance history. Finally, he put my father in touch with the woman, who
was happy to speak both to him and me about the vehicle. A few bad things,
mostly good.

Get a car like that and you can have confidence in what you're buying!!!

--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni

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"Happy Traveler" > wrote in message
...
> Anthony,
>
> Wonderful advice about the new car dealer. Just one thing, from my
> experience. I found out that buying a used Ford from a non-Ford dealer is
a
> much better deal. Why? Most, if not all of the used vehicles that sit on
the
> Ford dealers' lots in my area came from a wholesale purchase, and the
> salesmen play dumb when you ask them when the vehicle came from. Sure,
they
> will run a Carfax report on it, possibly even agree to let you talk to the
> previous owner, but not before you take it for a test drive, make an
offer,
> and put up with a lot of hassle. I ended up walking through the lot,
writing
> the VINs down, thanking the sales hasslers for letting me do it, and
running
> them through Carfax myself. Lots of interesting information came back:
> Canadian rentals that had had a second life as corporate pool vehicles,
> Alaskan repossessions, lease returns from across the continent, anything
> except even a single privately and locally owned trade-in.
> Obviously, the Honda dealer goes to auctions to buy Hondas, not Fords. If
he
> happens to have a Ford on his lot, chances are that it's because someone
> traded it in for a Honda, and he is hoping to sell it retail rather then
for
> the wholesale price. It's a lot harder to find a Ford of any particular
> model that way, but that's where the internet comes handy...
>
> "Anthony Giorgianni" >
> wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > I also suggest you go to a NEW car dealer. The best truck will be one
the
> > dealer himself sold and serviced.
>
>