Automotive Deal-breakers

I could find my favorite car online and I'd walk away if the ad was full of bad spelling mistakes.

I saw a GMC sonoma with "sanoma" stickers on the side one time. I can't imagine how improperly that truck must have been treated.
 
I could find my favorite car online and I'd walk away if the ad was full of bad spelling mistakes.

I saw a GMC sonoma with "sanoma" stickers on the side one time. I can't imagine how improperly that truck must have been treated.

Agreed. Also, when the seller tries to hype up a fact about the car that's actually completely wrong. See: Lexus dealer who tried to sell me on the fact that an MR2 is a FWD car, and the Jaguar XJR ad that touts its "turbocharged V6".
 
IIRC, Spectre got an amazing deal on his oldest Jaaaaaggggg, because the idiot selling it made spelling mistakes that made the car difficult to find on whatever website it was on. So in a sense, you might get a good deal if the seller obviously doesn't know what the hell they're selling or anything about it.
 
The smell. I've seen plenty of cheap cars that look good and drive well, but the interior smells like the chain-smoking owner's living room or like it has spent most of its life at the bottom of a lake.

Modifications are also something that will usually send me running, as well as sellers who just don't seem trustworthy. A couple of years ago I went to look at a second hand Ford Laser for my brother. The seller couldn't find the keys and had to leave me waiting in his driveway while he drove somewhere to get them, and next to it in the garage was a hideously modified W201 Mercedes with chrome wheels. I had pretty much made up my mind at that point that I wouldn't be buying his car.

The previous owner of my car also kept pronouncing Renault with a hard 'T'. Despite that he seemed to know what he was talking about so I let that slide.
 
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Seating position. As cool as the Fiesta and the new Focus are, holy crap, those are awkward cars for me to sit in for some reason.
+1 definitely a problem, I like having a low position with stretched out limbs, tall seating position doesn't work for me.

Also FWD, don't care how great a car is I don't drive FWD. Lack of roof is much less of a problem but I really need one.
When looking through ads on second hand cars, I tend to quickly dismiss any cars with after-market wheels on them. Any sort of after-market bits and pieces on a car tends to put me off as I get the feeling that these cars were abused the most.
That's rarely the case, aftermarket wheels are a fairly popular mod for "regular" people who really just want a car to look nice and be comfortable. Most abused cars I know look 100% stock.
 
Rare, one of only xx out of xxxxxxx. I don't really care how rare you think it is, your car was listed 6 months ago and that means it is not that desirable to begin with. Oh, and this one is rich, just came across it today, a Jaguar XJS.

RARE = 1 of few that were built in Europe

Really? Who would of thunk it?

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/2480542888.html
 
I looked at a Jensen Healey once. The car had been undriven for twenty years and had never been trained of its oil and coolant. The guy wanted $4k for it.
 
Tow bars can always be removed.


Anyway, on topic:

FWD.

I think the reason a tow bar equipped car is off the table for him is due to the additional stress on components that occurs when one is towing something.

I'd never want something like say...a spectra5 with a tow hitch if there was any possibility it could have towed something as large as the trailer top gear did with their spectra5.
 
There are also tow bars for cars to be towed - usually by an RV.

Towing a car with all 4 wheels on the ground can do quite a bit of damage to the driveline - especially in cars with a transaxle.
 
There are also tow bars for cars to be towed - usually by an RV.

Towing a car with all 4 wheels on the ground can do quite a bit of damage to the driveline - especially in cars with a transaxle.

One SL (and Ion due to customer demand) advantage: you can tow one behind something on all 4 wheels without fear of transaxle damage.

I see them all the time behind RV's.
 
You'd only have to worry about something being towed behind a motorhome if it's a Suzuki Jimny or 3-door Grand Vitara here.
 
IIRC, Spectre got an amazing deal on his oldest Jaaaaaggggg, because the idiot selling it made spelling mistakes that made the car difficult to find on whatever website it was on. So in a sense, you might get a good deal if the seller obviously doesn't know what the hell they're selling or anything about it.

Yup, $800 for a pretty good Series III because the dealer selling it couldn't be bothered to spell Jaguar properly. And they were adamant about it being spelled Jagar. It was even listed on eBay as Brand:Other rather than under Jaguar.

Sellers that don't know what they have can be a great source of deals.

Removable faceplate on the radio, aftermarket wheels, loud exhaust

Many 80s and some 90s cars came from the factory with a detachable faceplate, and dealers are known to stick different wheels on new cars on the lot.
 
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A freshly washed engine bay on a older car. I like to see it in it's natural state.

Same with a fresh paint job on a cheap car. A decent paint job is not cheap, even if you do it yourself. I'd hate to have the paint come off two months after purchase.

The biggest thing is the owner/seller, I've walked away from more cars because of sketchy owners than any other reason. Teenagers are iffy at best. Seniors may have a spotless car, but the underside is beat to shit from jumping curbs. If I can't understand their English, I'll steer clear because I can't find out any service history. My best vehicles have come from tradesmen. They have enough money and mechanical knowledge to make sure that the vehicle is taken care of, but they aren't prissy enough to cover up any little flaws.
 
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