Ontario - Ottawa where to buy a second hand car?

[Mitchtsy]

12k with or without tax?

it would be with tax

 

[canuck78]

Not super recent purchase but Mega Automobile on the Quebec side was good. Purchased a good Honda accord. You need to do your research about what kind of car is in your price range and then research which would be good buys. Would look at autotrader online to see what kind of cars And year you can expect in your budget. Domestic tend to be worth less on resale market versus import. Make sure to get car fax or car proof which ever one it is. Watch our to make sure the car hasn’t been a flood or accident. Take it to an independent garage and pay for an inspection before signing anything. Assume you are likely looking at a sedan of some sort to get the best car in your price range.

 

[subodhp]

Hi folks, Jurafsky's partner here.
Just wanted to point out a few things that would most likely make it clear for everybody.

The reason we're looking for a vehicle to keep is mainly related to health issues (as stated above). We don't want to find us without a car next winter.
We're not looking for any particular vehicle, as it's not a hunt for a dream car. As long as it's guaranteed to be working, we're cool.
Thing is, a dealer tried to sell us a lemon, a repair guy was trying to convince us into buying a vehicle with no documents, where he "would handle it all", and when you have to figure out who's to be trusted you can only rely on previous experiences.
We are trying to avoid being scammed because we're new.

We also considered getting a certified pre-owned, but in this moment the best thing is to gain knowledge on how does this work.
We would avoid kijiji or craigslist since there's no way of knowing what of the car, and the less we can worry about what we buy, the better.
Coming from Europe, where cars are to be checked once a year and if they don't get passing marks you can't drive it around, we have the feeling that every vehicle can be potentially destroyed.
A carfax report isn't enough since if the previous owner fixed the issue without involving his/her insurance the damage won't be listed.
Knowing that our budget is 12k tops for our first vehicle, what would you rather recommend?
Is a certified pre-owned the way to go or is there some little known fact that we should be aware of, a game changer for what it may be?

Thank you all for the answers!

Few tips:
Certified pre owned or cars with good Carfax report
Models known to work for a long time ex. Honda or Toyota can go 400k+ km
You might be overthinking this, most second hand cars should run more than 1 or 3 years
Check autotrader and dealer website for dealer ads

 

[KRP]

Hello guys,
finally my family got the PR this week. We have been living in Ottawa for the last two years without a car, after a whole life living with a car. Transportation is not the best option in Ottawa and recently things have been getting worse due to Covid. My partner suffers from asthma and using Uber to go to work has been the worse option, because he caught the covid. In short, we already don't go outside very often (work and walmart basically) and we won't like to have another round of covid next fall. At the same time we don't have permanent jobs and we are not ready mentally to have a brand new car. Still, we need one.

We are searching for a second hand car that can last at least 1 year without problems (the best should be at least up to 3 years). We went to a car dealer and they tried to sell us an optimal carfax certified car but - when the lady was printing other documents - we noticed that there was a hidden document of the last owner attesting that he had a brutal accident and there was over 5k of expenses to make the car secure again (plus other 6k to buy the car...). We went to another car dealer and he offered a car with 190000 kms for 3k but he was the same person that should have to repair the car, test its security and sell it... Basically we were not able to understand really the conditions of the car.

Unfortunately we don't have friends here and we don't know where to search and who's affordable and reliable.

Suggestions?
Thank you and have a nice day

check in autotrader.ca
https://www.autotrader.ca/cars/?rcp=0&rcs=0&prx=100&hprc=True&wcp=True&sts=New-Used&inMarket=basicSearch&loc=K0A 1W0&pRng=,7500

 

[canuck78]

Few tips:
Certified pre owned or cars with good Carfax report
Models known to work for a long time ex. Honda or Toyota can go 400k+ km
You might be overthinking this, most second hand cars should run more than 1 or 3 years
Check autotrader and dealer website for dealer pot

Although I agree that Toyotas and Hondas can get to 400km not all of them do. They also tend to be harder to find them domestics so you pay a premium. You still don't want to get a 200km+ car just to secure a honda for example. For a 2nd hand sedan OP has a decent budget to buy a car that should last many years if taken care of. No matter what you buy dependability should be your #1 with lower maintenance costs and good gas milleage.

You may benefit from these services as a beginner cae purchaser unless you have been doing your research and feel confident that you can pick one or two models+year you are looking for a should be able to afford and feel comfortable negotiating to a price which is fair if the price is too high based on your research.

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/apa-vs-carhelpcanada-vs-unhaggle-2302588/

Maybe you know someone who has lived in Canada longterm and has purchased some cars. They may be willing to help you and go look at cars and help you during the purchase process.