Need Some Help Searching For A Used Car In The SOCAL Area

I recently relocated to the SoCal area (Antelope Valley) for a job. Like everyone else here I drive about an hour each way for work. Im looking for a clean used low mileage daily like a Civic or a Corolla. I can find alot of them on dealer lots in the LA area. But I cant find any from private owners for sale. Ive searched on FB marketplace, Offer Up and even Craigslist and there doesnt seem to be a good selection. Am I missing something? Is there another site that people use to sell cars here in Cali? Or is it that people just arent selling them due to the economy? TIA.

 

My opinion: with the prices of used cars being so high, most people just opt to sell it to carmax/carvana/etc. The offer prices have been very high until somewhat recently. When I was selling my wrx a few years back I had it listed in multiple places and I really only got calls from auto brokers who turn the cars over to dealers to resell. Also, paying cash for anything decent is going to be a good chunk of change and most people are cautious transacting with a stranger who might rob them, I don’t blame that logic. Welcome to LA!

 

Check Elantra’s and forte’s too. Same level.

 

You can get a brand new Nissan versa for $16k

 

I have heard this from a few people at my work.

Im going to stick with Toyota or Honda, I might even consider a Subaru Impreza or a Mazda 3.

I have watched a few You Tube reviews on the Versa, and really liked it. But, I'm skeptical of Nissan CVT transmission reliability. I thought about the 5-speed but after a few afternoons on the 405 I dont know if i can live with the constant shifting. Also, the manual only come on the base model. If it was an option on the SR I think I would have bought one.

 

Versa: Not to belittle anyone, but we rented one of these and drove several hundred miles. It felt like a child's red wagon with a motor. Suspension, handling, braking, etc. were really weak.

Autotrader might help, but they tend to be listed at higher prices. Consider a Camry. They've sold bazillions of them over the past 25 years. Comfy and dependable.

 

Used car market is a tough one at the moment. I suspect most people who were gonna buy have already bought or were incentivized to buy early during the pandemic when prices were cheap. Now, after prices were driven up and interest rates skyrocketed I think most people aren't selling their cars unless they absolutely have to or they're wealthy enough where it doesn't matter. Generally, I think there's just less buying/selling going on now than we saw in the prior 2-4yrs.

If you can wait a little while longer that might help. New and used inventory is starting to build up on car lots and dealers are starting to push various incentives. Once people start buying new cars again, used ones will be more plentiful. But hard to predict just like the stock market.

I normally use OfferUp and Craigslist. When possible, I like to find vehicle specific sources - automobile forums for example, like shopping for a Tacoma here on Tacoma World. There are also Bringatrailer and CarsandBids. And, Autotempest.com is a great resource which can help quickly search multiple other listing sites.

I just searched my local craigslist and there are tons of Civics for sale. But not sure what your budget is or specifically what years/trims/options you're looking for.

 

Pick up a Miata. Might as well make that commute something to look forward to.

 

@clenkeit I'm looking for a 2018 and up Corolla, Civic, or maybe a Camry with less than 40K miles, clean title and no problems. I have an hour commute each way to work and I drivee to Las Vegas at least once a month so it has to be reliable. From what people at work have been telling me that Craigslist is sketchy here in LA.

Funny you say that, one of my coworkers maybe selling his Miata soon. But I have to have a 4 door.

 

I’ve been buying stuff on CL down here for 20yrs, never had an issue. Just like dealing with any other person to person sale from any other source, be smart, trust your instinct and you’ll be fine.

IMO, a car would be one of the safer things to buy on CL. For a car, I’m not even wasting my time unless the person puts up a good ad with good pics. Can’t use proper punctuation and grammar? Can’t be bothered to spend an hour or two to put together a good ad with lots of info? Didn’t detail the car? Took two pics and only at night? Those are the idiots to avoid.

In the past 6yrs I’ve bought 2 cars off CL and 3 cars from dealerships. The dealerships were hands down the worst experiences of the bunch. I’ll trust a seller on CL before I trust a salesman at dealership.

 

Another AV to LA commuter, welcome aboard.

Most folks around these parts don't have 1000 cash saved let alone 10K+ for a used car. Expand your search area and jump on the good deal when seen or the local palmdale carmax has a bunch of cars meeting your criteria.

 

I was checking out the Palmdale Carmax site today. Not so sure about buying a car from them. Id rather pay alittle extra for a certified pre owned from a dealer.