Car ?'s

4WD is like 10% helpful in winter driving, real winter tires and appropriate driving habits are the other 90%. 4WD will help you get going on ice or in deep snow (ground clearance is equally important there) but for the typical urban driver the main hazard is going to be losing traction on iced up roads or compacted snow. All cars brake on all 4 wheels and that's not stopping anyone from crashing if the tires don't get any grip.


There's exactly one clip in there where 4wd was useful and that's the guy trying to tow the semi on an iced up road, rest were all bad tires and/or bad driver choices.

TJT said:

Called a Toyota dealer in the area about a truck I liked with a nice price point and mileage. Wanted to make sure they still had it.

They said they would call me back twice on whether or not it was still on the lot. They never did. I called a third time and they said they would call me back again. They did, and instead asked me if I wanted one that cost $20k more than the one I was looking at.

Wtf is with these people? Every time I bought a car before it was like, yes we have it yes this is the price listed. Okay so I went down and haggled a bit and got it for mostly that price.

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Most dealers have two types of salesmen, the lot lizards and the Internet phone sex operators. This can be compounded if they separate new and used sales because they will always try and get you into new first.

You're trying to rationalize your question as a request from a potential customer to customer service, when in reality your contact was always nothing more than a free lead going to second rate agents to get you in there to sell you a new car they want to sell you. If you come in strong all "I'm interested in this specific ad" (which could just be fake) you're not a strong lead, so they just take your number for future sales outreach unless a really slow guy who is desperate thinks they can flip you now.

TJT said:

IDK, each time I went to the lot with a specific ad in mind. In the end the Salesman took the sale as it was quick and easy. When I bought my wife's car the salesgirl was like 22 and she did make an effort for me to get the lot package for an additional $4k (window tint and blah blah blah) I just said no and she fought it a little but dropped it quick enough. As the whole sale was under 90 minutes.

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I've never really had this experience unless it was a buyer's market and they were desperate. Always just had to stop by to actually see if they had a car. I'm sure good dealers must still exist somewhere?

I hate dealers and can never see myself using one, unless they were offering some insane deal on something new (seen it once, many years ago, so could happen again).

If anyone has not seen the movie Suckers, it is the recommended movie by the car sales guys I used to know, as the most accurate representation of what a used car lot is like. The main plot doesn't even matter; it's like Super Troopers in that regard.

Before the market got all fucked up, I would say find a enthusiast site for the vehicle you want and spend a few months tracking the "for sale" section there. Usually those people are more trustworthy too. Buying a vehicle remotely is all about the pictures.

Also, having access to the current dealer price is helpful when evaluating deals by private sellers, and nowadays that means the Manheim auction price. To try to get access to that, see if you can find a small shop that might do something else in addition to selling cars, like custom work on imports or other racing modifications. Ask them if you can buy a Manheim report on a few years/trim packages of what you are looking at, or maybe just walk in and offer $50 or $100 for a full report.

If they are nice/seem trustworthy, maybe even inquire about buying an auction vehicle on a commission of 10-15%. Be aware, most anything from Manheim will be well documented but you get what you see. It wont be cleaned up/detailed before it is shipped to you.

TJT said:

So I finally found the truck I will buy. Under 10k miles, not a year old 2023 Tundra with the features I wanted. Picking it up Saturday and will be just $50k which is the price point I was looking for. Just had to be patient I guess.

I want to sell my other car privately as I have a friend who wants to buy it. Is it easy to do in Texas?

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Decided to ignore everyone about the new motor eh

TJT said:

So I finally found the truck I will buy. Under 10k miles, not a year old 2023 Tundra with the features I wanted. Picking it up Saturday and will be just $50k which is the price point I was looking for. Just had to be patient I guess.

I want to sell my other car privately as I have a friend who wants to buy it. Is it easy to do in Texas?

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Do you own the vehicle outright? Then you just sign a line on the back of the title and give it to your friend. They will then need to go to the DMV register it, pay tax, and submit change of title paperwork. AFAIK, you can write a number it was sold for, somewhere, but they will take the book price for taxes if the listed sale price is lower than the book.

If it's still under loan, you will need to call your bank, tell them you sold it and ask when/how you can get/transfer the title once it's payed off. You may be able to set it up with the bank to meet your friend with the money, at one of their locations, where you do the bank's paperwork and transfer the money. The actual title may not ever even tough your hand.

If your friend needs a loan, then it's more involved with the banks transferring money and title, I think.

TJT said:

No I own it outright. I've always just paid cash for cars.

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If you wanted to go the extra mile, you could do some research on if there are any tricks to help your friend save on taxes by listing a sale price or not. Maybe it will uncover some other tricks, but yea, other than that, you sign the title over and your done (usually after getting the money of course).

I personally recommend writing that you raced for pink slips and he won your car, for giggles and shit.

Also, write up a simple bill of sale that you both sign and keep copies of.