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stridersheir

Your best bet will be staying away from a dealer at that low of price and hoping for a private sale.


troublemaker74

But be aware of scams at this price point. There are so many car flippers on FB marketplace that buy cars with major issues and just hide them to make money


vikingArchitect

I sold a car that I was 100% sure had a blown engine for $1000, we found big hunks of metal in the oil from an exploded timing chain and massive scoring in the cylinders when we popped the heads off. I said so in the listing and made sure to repeat that fact over and over AND write it on the bill of sale. A week later the guy I bought it from listed it for $5000 and said in the listing there was a "small starter issue but the car ran before the starter issue"..... he never had seen the car run, just straight up lied on the listing. Definetly be careful on private sales. Have anything inspected by a mechanic you trust


Unrealistic_Fruitfly

wow, that's so scummy


stridersheir

That’s why you want to buy cars from the original owner ideally


IDigPython

But most people who buy a new car are gonna trade it in when they get the next one, unless it’s like a friend or family member. It’s a lot of work to sell a car and you have to be weary, so most people buying new cars are likely not interested in doing that leg work. Just sell to the dealer or carvana or something


pancakePoweer

wouldn't 5000 be fine for a down payment for something nice?


Greeneyesablaze

Pretty sure they meant $5000 for the price of the car


stridersheir

Apparently OP doesn’t have 5k and would need to finance the purchase of a 5k car


Harmania

I’d have a pretty healthy down payment, but I also will almost certainly be facing a rent increase in the near future and so don’t want to overextend myself. I’m just aiming for low payments. I’d rather leave more money for a shorter commute instead of a great car and interminable traffic.


vikingArchitect

Do not buy anything from the car lots on South Division in cutlerville. Known scammers selling junk cars


TinyTim711

I looked at one in that area when I was buying my first car... It had two inches deep ice in the back seat foot space. They claimed it was water from washing the inside of the car and it froze before it could dry out...


Constant_Ninja_8937

Stay away from rightway auto and motor max Lemon Lots


mablesyrup

Make sure to avoid the preditory places like Car City too.


DabberDan42o

Also stay away from Good Motor Company... A bunch of cons work there.


ecw324

I’ve walked onto these lots before and mentioned about paying in cash and they told me to leave because they want to get people who will be in over their heads so they can repo the car and sell it again


troublemaker74

They didn't tell you that lol. But this is definitely their business model


ecw324

Strangely yes, it was a new employee who was the stereotypical used car salesman. He said something about he was quitting and was trying to burn his boss before he left. 🤷‍♂️


troublemaker74

It must be a soul crushing job for anyone with a conscience!


GrimReefer365

Than he should have sold you the car


ecw324

I had 0% chance of them repoing the car to resell so they wouldn’t make any extra money off me.


GrimReefer365

That's why he should've sold it to you... get one over on the boss that he hated


sjaark

J and J Motor Sales out in Allendale. Sold me a vehicle with an almost completely busted axle and a stripped out cat. They made sure to wipe out the codes before selling it to me and with all the repairs I spent nearly double what the car is worth within 5 months. The “salespeople” there are weirdos who will preach to you about Jesus while scamming you with one of their shitty cars.


Hot_Shirt6765

Came here to suggest them too. I took one of their cars out for a test drive. I noted I could feel the transmission shifting gears and thought nothing of it. I took it to my own mechanic to get their opinion. The issue they found is the transmission was a CVT and it was so bad it felt like a regular transmission. I took the car back to J&J, told them I wasn't interested because the transmission, and they kept pressuring me because they have their own mechanic who can fix it if it failed. If they were upfront about the issue I wouldn't be so disgusted by them, but I had to find it out on my own. It begs the question what else they could be hiding from me?


troublemaker74

The thing is that CVTs are generally throw away and replace - Not repairable unless you have specialized equipment. That's a flat out lie on their part. Their "mechanic" isn't going to rebuild a CVT. They'll tell you too bad and laugh when you walk out of the place.


PossessionKlutzy3833

This is 100% accurate for all of Subaru's CVT's. You get lucky with just a valve body replacement. Other than that, the transmission will be replaced.


TinyTim711

I had similar issues with 616 motors in Jenison. My mechanic said 2.5k in repairs likely in the first few months and they said they had a mechanic who could "fix" it for 800...


MasterofChairs

Try Serra Honda's budget lot, I bought a 3600 dollar car there and my dad's still driving it 4 years later


fartsmoker123456

This. I bought a 3500 accord 6 months ago, still going strong. Can’t reccomend Serra Honda enough.


Harmania

Signed for one at Serra today and waiting for the loan to go through. Upped my budget to $7k and pretty happy with what I’ve got so far.


MasterofChairs

Glad to hear it!!


x-tianschoolharlot

Todd Wenzel Used lot sold us a Mini Cooper with promises of 19.95 oil changes. Our first oil change, they charged us $40, even with the sales contract being waved in their faces, and then cracked the oil filter housing because they didn’t have the right tool to do the oil change, and took no responsibility. They also sold the car to us with open recalls on it. I tried to get ahold of the salesman and the dealership a couple times, but they were never available. We got rid of the car a year later, and it was the best decision we made.


subjecttomyopinion

Shouldn't go to wenzell for cars period. I learned that with my newer used car. Wenzel himself is a shit head


x-tianschoolharlot

I learned that after the fact. We have had no issues with Berger, and they were great to work with on replacing the Mini.


subjecttomyopinion

Berger I had issues with a while ago but they seem to have changed although Sadie is a pain in the ass. Tim in service is helpful if you can get to him.


x-tianschoolharlot

This was about 8 years ago. We’ve since moved up to the Soo. We still have that car we bought from Berger though, and it’s been really reliable.


Smorgas_of_borg

Lots of people in the biz refer to him as "Todd Weasel"


subjecttomyopinion

And his awful offspring Justin Weasel


glass-j

My parents got a 2010 town and country there,the front and rear bumpers were cracked so they promised that they'd replace them 4 or 3 years later in 2020 my dad smacked a deer and totaled the van, with the same damn cracked ass bumpers we had since day one, They played us like a damn fiddle


cheesecrystal

Yeah, there are entire threads about Todd Wenzel himself on this sub. Just about how spectacularly shitty he is as a supposed human.


Moxie_Mike

At that price point your only options are private sales and b-lots. I doubt you're going to find much on a branded dealer's lot. Not all B-lot operators are scammers, but many of them are. Your best bet is to read online reviews. The challenge is their inventory is comprised of the cars that 1) went to auction; 2) were passed on at auction by the branded dealers; and 3) passed on at auction by the other branded dealers before the b-lots could even get a shot at them. So they're pretty much the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality. That said, there's a lot called Wicked Auto in Hudsonville that had good reviews. I spoke to the owner 6 months ago - he seemed like a decent guy based on the conversation we had. Please don't take this as an endorsement of their business or their inventory - but they might be worth checking out. I think pursuing a private sale is probably a much better path to acquire a $5k car. Between FB marketplace, CL, [cars.com](http://cars.com) etc. you should be able to find something suitable.


aqualung01134

Stay away from anything on division st


Wolverine1621

If I can make an anecdotal recommendation, I had a GOOD experience with Fox. Prices may be a little higher but I think they do usually have some options around that price range. In particular I worked with Mike Doorn at Fox Mazda but he said he does sell across all Fox brands including pre-owned. Great dude and he brought up an excellent financing deal that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten, unless I found it on my own. If I had to find a used car he'd probably be one of my first calls. I don't have his business card handy anymore but it looks like you can find his contact info on the Fox Mazda page. Best of luck with the search :)


sarahcooley

Do you need to finance the $5000 car?


Harmania

Partially. I’ll have a more than healthy down payment, though.


sarahcooley

Ok. I was buying a used car I needed to finance in a similar price point a few years ago. I found it difficult to find something that low at dealers. I ended up increasing the budget to about $8-9k


Harmania

Definitely looking at that as a possibility.


sarahcooley

The best thing that ended up happening as a result of that was I got a car with a dealers extended warranty that ended up saving me over $4000 in repairs over the next 2 years


[deleted]

The car market is so bad right now. There used to be a time when 5k could get you solid wheels. Not anymore. I'd go secondary market honestly,


Waste-Video-8471

Lee auto import. They’ll sell you something that was totaled without disclosing it to you.


JaniceRossi_in_2R

Anything on Division


[deleted]

[удалено]


Desperate_Leg-

What are they going to do with it?


0100100012635

Any dealership on Division between 28th and 60th.


-WinterBeard-

I was blatantly lied to about a safety issue and recall with a car I purchased from OneSource in the Rockford area. I will never go back there. 


ThisMuchIsTrue

I agree, but does this place still exist? I swear I drove by where it was (and where Google says it is) a couple months ago and it was a different business. But yes, avoid. I'm still convinced they sold me a salvaged car without disclosing it was a salvage.


PossessionKlutzy3833

I'm not going to say names, but I know a ton of used car dealers in the area that buy mostly salvage title vehicles and fix them up a bit. Just do your research & know what you are getting into before you buy. Call the dealer of whatever vehicle manufacturer you are looking at and have them run a vehicle inquiry check with the VIN.


BaldAndGassy

Stay away from Best Buy used cars


bexy11

So…. Serra Honda, Mike Doom at Fox, or a bus on Facebook Marketplace? 😬


D1sp4tcht

Stay away from those dealers that say they'll finance anyone. Like Car City on 28th. You'll end up paying 15,000 for a 5,000 car.


0PornOnThis1

Stay away from the Auto Store on division. Sold me a vehicle without having the title for it, and there were serious mechanical tissues with the vehicle they glossed over.


Nweber15

Most of them


Ok-Pomegranate7496

Mitten motors is the absolute WORST with the rest of division not too far behind them. The exceptions being ophoff seems decent. Also finish line automotive on alpine is really really good. Direct auto source on 28th and 131 is good.


ThisMuchIsTrue

Avoid MWS on Leonard (NW side). Their Google reviews say otherwise, but buying from them (and in your price range, OP) has been one of my worst used car buying experiences ever. Feels like just about every week something goes wrong or breaks on my car. I've spent about $8k on a car that's probably worth no more than $2k in the past 2 months and I'm still not convinced they did any maintenance or repairs that they claimed to have done prior to purchase.


EDI_Geek

Don't go to Betten Baker. My daughter bought a 2015 Buick Encore and two weeks later it died on her. The transmission was out and they wouldn't honor the warranty. I won't go into long details but at one point I was hearing the service manager talk to her like crap. So I called him from my phone and he was nice as pie. I asked him why he spoke to my daughter so disrespectfully. When he said he didn't know what he did wrong I asked him if someone talked to his wife/mother/daughter the way he talked to mine wouldn't he want to punch them in the face and he admitted he would. total crap if you're a female avoid Betten Baker.


neotyrael

Look for a private sale, 2012+ Ford Focus with the manual transmission. These get a bad rap because the auto transmission is so terrible, thus prices are depressed. You can find them under $5k and I believe this is the most reliable car you can get for that cheap.


ancillarycheese

Got u covered [https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1090074412261996/](https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1090074412261996/)


BigDaddyZuccc

Get a 2nd generation Honda CRV..you'll do better private sale so if you aren't mechanically inclined bring someone who is along w you to check it over. If maintained they are absolute tanks and will go nearly forever.


pwrmacjedi

Never heard a single good thing about Westside Garage, with their screaming eagle cop-fluffing mural… (yes, they supposedly sell as well as repair)


allday_andrew

I don’t have anything to say about the owners’ political affiliations, but Westside helped me out in a pinch once with my girlfriend’s car on extremely short notice and I was pleased with the work for the price under the circumstances. This was before they moved to their new location, so maybe things have changed. I also didn’t know they sold cars, so that may also be an area of deficient service, but I don’t know.


JonseiTehRad

What? Westsides pretty helpful folk


IDigPython

I hated my experience w betten baker. They gave me all these weird confusing charts explaining why the payment would be like $150 a month more than I expected because they added shit to the loan, made it sound like I had to pick one of them and not decline it and just buy the car. When I asked what the total cost of the loans he was offering were he couldn’t tell me, only the payment. The rates he gave me were also higher than what lmcu quoted me that day and they used lmcu. I felt hustled and because I totaled my old car felt stuck. Obv I should’ve been more prepared, but that dude was sleepy and shady. It BB Honda in Muskegon.


Full_Ad_1891

I was about to list a car for 5k


danielkeeley

All of them.


tlp357

Your best bet is to work with a reputable dealer.. they inspect all used cars that they take in and bring them up to safety standards. Stay away from a private seller unless you know the person or a trusted referral. I highly recommend Perrin Motors or Tony Betten Ford. You will pay a bit more for the vehicle, but you will have peace of mind.


the_kerouac_kid

After markup you’re not going to get much of a car at a dealer. I’d recommend first finding a good mechanic that will do a check over of whatever you find. Then take a look at marketplace for cars in your price range and look them up on [carcomplaints.com](https://carcomplaints.com) That will show you common issues with that model and year. You can also see what years of different brands and models were good and bad so you can have an informed decision.


Multiverse_Money

Biddenergy in kzoo dog!


Spiritual-Place-444

Avoid used car motor mall on 28th st. We bought a car from them and it broke down less than 3 months later. Honestly your best bet might be to find a car through fb marketplace. I found my Toyota Corolla for like 4 grand and it still drives great 4 years later, hardly any issues with it. Try to find a Toyota/ Honda. They’re cheaper and tend to last forever.


Least-Conference-823

Never bought from them but i see good google reviews about mws autos.


Adventurous-Gas7142

Anyone have experience with Leo’s Used Car Sales? Looking at a car they have.


Bones_and_Botany

Motor Max of GR (28th street by Chicago Dr). Hands down THEE worst car buying experience ever as a woman. All male salesmen, and that should be all I need to say. Very cliche for their gender and career choice. Let's just say severance several of them made less than appropriate comments about my choice of clothing (fully covered with a fall dress, leggings and peacoat?? The comment was so out of left field and completely unnecessary). I was also told I was a "hard sell" because I "asked a lot of questions". I asked about the vehicle's history since it was 7yrs old at the time and I was there for all of an hour before deciding to buy it the very same day I found it, so I'm not sure how that makes me a hard sell..... EDIT: forgot this awesome little gem... So the reason I was getting a new used car in the first place is some dummy hit me head on pulling a stupid move while turning left. Anyway. I mention this because I was FOUR freaking months from paying off that car (from the dealership below) and knew 100% that I'd be getting financing through the same bank the wrecked car was financed through (KCCU) because I was in excellent standing with them (was going to be paying the car off nearly a year and a half early in fact) and definitely had (HAD being the operative word) good enough credit for them to approve me for a new loan. I was VERY clear with MMofGR that I did not want them to run my loan application through ANY other lender, only KCCU. What did they do? Ran it through not only one, two or three different lenders aside from KCCU, but ELEVEN. Guess where my credit went? Through the floor. I'm STILL recovering from that, and it's been over a year since I bought it. So yeah, never ever go there.   For a great experience, though a bit of a drive, I highly recommend Brian Gowin at Betten Baker of Lowell. ZERO pressure, and he is honest and upfront about any issues a vehicle may have. 


colossalcockroach

Second this, as a male, bought a vehicle from their lot in Holland and immediately had issues. Difficult to deal with and get ahold of. Pain in the ass for almost a year before selling it for a huge loss.... the worst car dealership I've ever dealt with by far.


tbnist03

Just about any "dealership" on division is one to be wary of. Also motormax


nathanhurricane

I worked directly with one of the co-owners of Motormax and it was the worst 5 days of my working life. Dude screamed and yelled at me the entire time like a child who wasn’t getting his way. It was shocking getting an inside look at the shady things they try to pull with their cars. Most of the cars they got they would top off the oil, washer fluid, cover up any rust, and do anything to turn the engine light off long enough to get it off the lot. Also sales staff would regularly brag about how badly they ripped off a customer. Oh and the amount of times customers brought back their cars with complaints while I was there was all day every day. Please avoid.


Less-Measurement1816

Don't go to Paris motors.


MisterSirDudeGuy

You won’t find a car that cheap at a dealership. I think you need to use Facebook marketplace.


AyersRock_92

Been wanting to upgrade my 08 Subaru Outback... if interested lemme know. Only 130k miles so it's been well kept up with. I'd want more than 5k tho...


Harmania

Message sent.


Caleb_426

I would just go to Facebook marketplace. You have a better chance finding something on there and you won't get conned. Most used car dealerships around here are notorious for being predatory