1998 Celica, good deal? (this close to buying it) Options

[elvasoshexai]

click here to view the autotrader ad.

1998 toyota celica. silver. about 99800miles. dealer is asking $7500. i tried to lower to 7000. they said $7300 is the best they can do. (at first they only replaced passenger side cv axle. but because of the added expense of the need for replacing the driver side cv axle, $7300 was the best they could do) the pics from ad look nice.

i'm very close to getting this car...

i've talked wit the seller for quite a bit now.

used car dealer replaced 2 CV axles.

they've supplied me with the carfax report and it is a clean title with 3 owners. carfax report says there is a lien on it (in 2004) but the seller assures me the lien is CLEARED now

i had the car taken to Toyota of Orlando for an inspection. i spoke with the consultant taking care of this. I talked with him a bit after their mechanic inspected it. he said the car was in very good condition inside and out.

The used car dealer did not have any service/maintenance records. however, the consultant said he found records at their dealership for the car from around 30-40k miles to around 93k miles. other than a gap of no records between around 70-80k miles, it seems as if the previous owner kept good care of the car.

some things toyota checked:
-they did not check airbags as they don't usually check this unless the airbag sensor is on. so i hope they are working.
-no signs of accidents (if there was any then they were very minor)
-no signs of flood damage (since there have been hurricanes/floodings in florida before)
-few dings on passenger door
-driver side seems like someone lightly keyed it
-driver seat shows some wear
-all power locks/sunroof etc work fine
-radio missing 1 button
-no rust
-driverside headlight is cracked on the inside (he says it shakes a bit. can be replaced)
-they did not have a chance to take the car to a highway since all the local roads have a 45mph limit. but the mechanic noticed the car is a little bit wobbly/shaky and says it is from bad front tire alignment. he said to replace tires since they were getting worn anyway
-front brake pads 50% left
-rear brake pads are low. but not at the point of needing immediate replacement
-rotors are all fine
-he also recommended engine coolant flush, transmission drain, as well as a tune up (replace spark plugs/spark plug wires/distributor cap + rotor inside)
-there is a leak at a distributor o-ring (where it meets the block). and that i should replace it.

even though i got the car inspected by toyota. and the consultant said the car was in great shape, i know sometimes that dealerships don't do the best jobs when inspecting.

what are your opinions? should i try to knock the price down some more? any more questions i should ask the seller?

the dealer has sold cars before on ebay as well. and currently i just gotta talk to the dealer about warranty and about the buyer's guide sticker/form. then arrange for shipping date and payment

This post has been edited by elvasoshexai: Oct 5, 2005 - 3:59 PM

[eclipse_04a]

make sure they have the release papers for the lien... if its cleared then there should be papers with the title. otherwise you may get stuck paying the lien off.... if they say they dont have them, contact the finacial institution that put the lien on the title and make sure its clear, and have them send another paper with saying its clear. if you dont have this paper, you wont be able to title/register the car in your name.