Top Five Places to Find a Cheap Used Car in Metro Atlanta

...My Quest for the Perfect Used Car…

My extensive quest for the perfect used car landed me in dozens of places. While scouring metro Atlanta, I realized just how difficult it is to try to find a decent used car. While there are literally hundreds of used car lots in Atlanta, many of them leave a lot to be desired in terms of reliability and good business practices. However, over the years Lemon Laws have tightened up. And consumers are even more vigilant about obtaining better customer service. With this in mind, I sat down at my trusty computer and began my search.

1. CRAIGSLIST - The craze of Craigslist, an open community website originating in San Francisco, has lent itself to all sorts of interesting transactions. I started combing this website in the hopes of finding someone local who was willing to sell their “baby” for a good price. With the ads on Craigslist being quite free-form, I was able to determine which sellers were really serious about releasing their cars into willing hands. I was also met with a lot of flukes.

This is a great website for locating private sellers who might ordinarily never be found via a newspaper ad. In searching for a decent used Volvo, I met two separate individuals who were attempting to unload their 1989 Volvos. Both gentlemen posted pictures of their cars on the site, along with an in-depth description of all the cars’ inner workings. The bad news was that upon seeing the vehicles in person, I realize that neither of their cars was up to my particular standards. The good news is that I recognized that Craigslist is in fact, a valid source for locating all sorts of sales. My suggestion is that if you’re going to use Craigslist as your main method of finding a used car, make sure that you comb the ads very thoroughly, and make notes about the vehicles you intend to check out. It also doesn’t hurt to have a mechanic on hand to look at the cars with you.