Topic: Buying an out of town Used Car (400 km away from home)?

[ArticSteve]

Can't find stats for Owen Sound.

Ottawa uses 181,000 Tons of Road salt a year.
Montreal uses 140,000 Tons a year
Toronto has MANY more roads than Ottawa and they use a measly  135,000 tonnes

Owen Sound in comparison to the above is a mere DOT so tonnage isn't going to define how much is applied to x meter of roadway.  However, it remains the 7th snowiest city in the country due to it's location between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

Ottawa is number 34.  However, frequency is almost the same.

http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/snow-stats-100-canadian-cities

[wing]

You can do the math if you can find the numbers.  Ottawa has 5,500km of roadway haha

[CarFly]

Ottawa is the salt king

Yep, It kinda makes me proud to be an Ottawan  
Salt has led to the premature demise of a few nice cars that I've owned. It rotted out the frame and floorboards of my Firebird and 280 Zx so much that my foot went through the floor on the Firebird and a same with the 280 Zx, when I drove through a puddle water would come in and splash my feet and the circuit board and stall the car.  It was a shame because everything else about those cars were fine, I sold them both for "Chump Change" 

When I buy the 2012 Altima Coupe I will have it have it treated with Crown or Corrosion Free, I hope that it being a three year old car, that its not too late ?

My present car is a 1998, I bought it new and had it treated with "Rust Check" before taking it through a Winter and have done so every year, it has no rust

[ArticSteve]

When I buy the 2012 Altima Coupe I will have it have it treated with Crown or Corrosion Free, I hope that it being a three year old car, that its not too late ?

Not too late, but these units are far and few between particularly the V6. 

[CarFly]

When I buy the 2012 Altima Coupe I will have it have it treated with Crown or Corrosion Free, I hope that it being a three year old car, that its not too late ?

Not too late, but these units are far and few between particularly the V6.

Quite true, especially because I'm trying to find a 2012 Altima 2.5s Coupe (Black) they don't come up for grabs too often in Ottawa… so I have expanded my search to the Greater Toronto area.

I'm in Ottawa and I'm closer to Montreal where they seem to become available more often, but I don't speak French and I hear that there are more scams afoot there, and that the consumer protection laws are much looser in Quebec than in Ontario, I have heard this a few times, but maybe its just a bunch of nonsense?

I have heard that there are "Car Brokers" that will find you the car that you want, and get a good deal, but maybe its just a good deal for them

[tooscoops]

nobody does anything for free these days... a broker is just another middleman for those who can't do the legwork and negotiating themselves... for some people, worth it... most people on this site, not really. at least from what I gather from what I read.

you are correct about montreal and Quebec in general. there are more scams... i'm sure some great cars as well, but even a slightly higher chance of scams scares me away from doing deals there or on cars from there...

I agree with your plan in general... but yeah, hopefully you can be somewhat patient and wait until at least more than one is available that you would go for (if all seems genuine)

[CarFly]

nobody does anything for free these days... a broker is just another middleman for those who can't do the legwork and negotiating themselves... for some people, worth it... most people on this site, not really. at least from what I gather from what I read.

you are correct about montreal and Quebec in general. there are more scams... i'm sure some great cars as well, but even a slightly higher chance of scams scares me away from doing deals there or on cars from there...

I agree with your plan in general... but yeah, hopefully you can be somewhat patient and wait until at least more than one is available that you would go for (if all seems genuine)

Yes, that makes sense to me, I suppose that a broker would make things more expensive, and you would be just as likely to wind up with a "bum" car    I think I'll stay away from Quebec cars, I've heard too many bad stories

I can afford to be patient, as my present car is running fine, although every year I get a bit of a zinnerg of a maintenance bill, which feels like money down the drain

I'm using AutoTrader and Kijiji to search for this car, I have also tried Nisan Certified Preowned, but they only seem to have 2015 (newer) cars. I wonder if there is another site that I should also use in my search?

I was wondering if there is a web site where you can dial in "looking for" (a specific car) ?   

[ArticSteve]

Finding a 2012 Altima Coupe I4 in black in good shape will be a bit of a fluke me thinks.

Thinking about heading to the USA:


http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=42048&endYear=2012&listingType=used&engineCode=4CLDR&listingTypes=used&pricesOnly=true&mmt=%5BNISSAN%5BALTIMA%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&vehicleStyleCodes=COUPE&modelCode1=ALTIMA&photosOnlyActual=true&showcaseOwnerId=68520173&startYear=2012&makeCode1=NISSAN&engineCodes=4CLDR&extColorsSimple=BLACK&searchRadius=0&listingId=392938857&Log=0

[CarFly]

Finding a 2012 Altima Coupe I4 in black in good shape will be a bit of a fluke me thinks.

Thinking about heading to the USA:


http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=42048&endYear=2012&listingType=used&engineCode=4CLDR&listingTypes=used&pricesOnly=true&mmt=%5BNISSAN%5BALTIMA%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&vehicleStyleCodes=COUPE&modelCode1=ALTIMA&photosOnlyActual=true&showcaseOwnerId=68520173&startYear=2012&makeCode1=NISSAN&engineCodes=4CLDR&extColorsSimple=BLACK&searchRadius=0&listingId=392938857&Log=0

At one time I was thinking about buying in the USA, but now with the Canadian dollar being so low I have given that avenue up, someone also told me that there would some tariffs that would cost me?

Quite true an Altima 2012 coupe is rare to find and there in the price range of approximately $19.000 dollars, the 2010 Altima 3.5 Coupe gets the same "better than average" rating and is also in the same price range and also hard to find 

My original game plan was to wait for lots of 2010 Acs to come on the market (because that was the year that Nissan equipped them with electronic stability control (ECS), now these cars are plentiful and going for approximately $14.000 dollars, they are rated as average for reliability by Consumer Reports, not too bad as CR tends to rate cars rather harshly. They give the 2010 AC a black circle for "brakes" and "electrical", brakes don't worry me because they can be replaced/upgraded, however, the black circle for "electrical" worries me a bit, is that something that can be fixed for good or does that mean that I would have numerous inscrutable electrical problems FOREVER with that car

I have a friend who owns a 2010 Altima, he says he loves the car and has never had a problem with it, and have gotten the same feedback from other people on the Web?

I'm just doing my homework before "shelling out" and the members of this site have been very helpful!

In the past I did no homework, and later found the car that I had bought on the "Worst and most Unreliable" list of Phil Edmonston's "Lemonade report"    I sure paid in money and aggravation for that oversight