Celica Forums General Discussion General Should I buy my GTS from a dealer or private party?

there are cheaper GTS's being sold from private parties, but I'm a little worried about buying from someone other than a dealer. Any of you have experience buying from a private party?

i got mine for $13700 at dealer.. gts.. 53800 milage..

I would get my GTS from a dealer man. Because those cars are Toyota Certified used vehicles..

They are only certified if purchased at a toyota dealer, correct? I'm talking about buying from just any used car dealer or something.

Also, do you guys know of any good websites to look for used cars? I already tried autotrader, and all the good deals are far away from where I live.

Alright guys, what do you think about this deal. This is from a used car dealer in Los angeles, which is about 4 hours away from me. I bought my GT from a dealer that was about 2 hours away from me, and my dad made the deal over the phone and we just went down there to pick it up. He told me if he could make this deal over the phone also, we would drive all the way down there to get it. Tell me what you think.

2000 Toyota Celica GTS 6 speed
-fully loaded, power everything, leather, moonroof
-38,000 miles
-silver
-12,995

Assuming there are no problems with this car, and the carfax is good, do you think that is a good deal? That's the best deal I've found so far with low miles like that.

Be careful purchasing a car even thru some random dealers. When I was searching for my GTS. I found a black one with 38K miles for only $13K. I asked the dude what's up with it and dropped the price down to $11K. So before I made the purchase, I carfax the car and guess what? Salvaged title. Car had 4 recalls also.

I purchased my GTS from Craigslist. 53K 2000 GTS with 800Watts Fosgate Amp, 2x12 JL Subs, Custom Box, Fully loaded, and Gold Extended Warranty which got transferred over to my name and I have used once for the Belt Tensioner for $11K flat. And he even hooked me up with some other stuff...

Sometimes you can find good deals from Private Party

yeah man it just depends on what YOU feel most comfortable with. I personally rather would find a bad ass deal from a "Toyota" dealer man. But hey to his/her own aye?

Yeah I would definitely rather find a bad ass deal from a toyota dealership, but "bad ass deal" and "toyota dealership" do not belong in the same sentence.

2000 GTS with 50k miles for 18,995? Oh hell no.

Actually, I would be comfortable with either. You can get a certified one through a dealer, but a better deal from a private party. Whatever you're comfortable with. Always be sure to have a shop inspect a car from a private person BEFORE you buy, and of course always Carfax.

yes Carfax the sucker before you buy it always! I would sign up for a carfax account for 1 month it's like 20 bucks i believe. Its worth it man on the long run.. trust me.

Oh I trust you man, and that's because I bought a carfax before I bought my GT and it made me feel much, much better about the purchase.

w000 so what chu you gonna do?? damn so what color GTS you looking at ?

I did some mods to my GT that I wish I could change, and now I have the chance.

This time on the GTS:

-no custom exhaust (maybe go with TRD this time)
-eibach springs instead of tein
-different tint

Everything else I will pretty much keep the same (aem cai, s2000 antenna, tails, etc.)

As for the color, I will be pretty much satisfied with any color (as long as its not red) if the right deal comes along. On sunday, my dad and I are going to call the toyota dealers located around here, and if they don't have any good deals on GTS's, then we are going to call that one in LA.

It really depends on what you are comfortable with. Toyota dealerships are often pretty expensive...

Other car dealerships i wouldn't really go for unless they have a LONG warranty...because you have no idea who had that car before you. I bought my eclipse GSX from a smaller dealer like that...and after a while i noticed that the thing was shit...it was gorgeous on the lot...but i noticed a lot of minor problems and things done to it that makes it look like it was a flood vehicle...all kinds of shit was rusting out underneath etc.etc...but it didn't show up on car fax or autocheck...well i lost control on some back road only doing like 35 or something...turned into a sharp turn and it just slid straight off the road...yes even with awd. I dunno if it was bad luck or a poorly performing car from the damage...

Anyway i got my 2000 GTS 6-speed with 58k at the beginning of this past summer for 11,200 from a private party...which i like...because you can normally tell if you meed the owner what the car is like. My car was owned by a 30 year old woman teacher with 2 children under 2...and her husband was anal about everythign on that car...plus they had a pair of range rovers. He apologized for not having time to steam clean the floormats and trunk mat. it smelled like car wax and armorall...I mean for me meeting the person who drove it and owned it is a great indication of the car's condition...and i've had no probs 6 months later...i love it!

If you can find a private owner that's clean and has no records, I'd get that. Dealers always overcharge.

Dealer. They're more expensive, but worth it and you can trust them.
I bought my 2000 GTS from a small used car lot for $12,100. You don't know whats wrong with it. I was going to put on a TRD exhaust. I find that the previous owner had a magnaflow customed exhaust welded on. If I still want to put on my TRD exhaust, I have to get a B pipe and a cat just for the exhaust. The previous owner did some other stuff as they do.
Never used TRD GTS standard exhaust for sell for $600.

You're joking when you say you can trust a dealer I hope.

It doesn't matter which you buy it from when you're buying used. Just inspect it yourself and take it to a mechanic to put on a lift. If you're nervous get a warranty through the bank.

cars.com
usercars.com
carsdirect.com
edmunds.com
kbb.com
toyotacertified.com

got mine-2002 celica gts loaded leather automatic 16,ooo miles $17,000 from the dealer--so there are good deals out there

2000 gts fully loaded, gold package..22k for $16,000..but the clutch went bad after 2wks..fucking dealer said it was checked out..should have carfax the damn thing..

Carfax would not have helped prevent this, unless there were indications of odometer tampering. Carfax shows changes in title and registration, and reported major accidents.

I'll give you the best answer ever: it depends.

If you have a set price ceiling and can only afford a high-mileage car from a dealer... go private party. I would much rather have a private party GTS with 25k miles than a dealer GTS with 55k miles. If you COULD afford a low-mileage car from a dealer, I strongly suggest you go that way.

^^^good point..on other suggestion, find out what kind of driver were the previous owner..young, old etc..that way you have an idea of how the car were driven..shit too bad i didn't think of this when i bought the car..don't get too psych about getting a car, stay calm and ask many questions..the previous owner of my car abused this car, to the point of the clutch burned out 2wks after i bought it, did some kind of aftermarket stuff to the axle..dunno what though..

If you know about cars and are confident that you can tell the difference between a car thats having problems and a car thats runs good I would definately go private seller with your purchase. Dealers always charge a lot more for cars because they have expenses to cover, where-as a private seller doesnt have those other cost to add in. 13,000 for a gts with 40,000 miles is a little high. If you look around you could find one in good condition for more like 10,000.