One of the guys I work with is looking for an older VW of some sort. I think it’s a supercharged Passat or something, I wasn’t really listening, but what he wants is very specific. It must have a sunroof, 5 speed, leather and cannot be red. Apparently there were only a couple of hundred sold here in Canada. He’s not likely to find one.

It used to be that people looking for a used car would just find the car they were looking for and then live with whatever options came with it. Now, we have some really great used car search sites like Carmax. The folks at Carmax have released the Top Ten options searches that have been performed on their site during the first month of their new enhanced vehicle search feature.

Top Ten after the break
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From the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia comes a the bizarre story of the car exporting business gone bad. A Lithuanian ex-pat who exports American cars to his home country has been charged with the murder of his two salesmen.

Apparently the man was in financial trouble. When his salesmen, fellow countrymen, asked for a raise he lost his mind and put an end to their sales career. Oh yeah, and their lives!

And you thought Tony Soprano was the only one who had human resources issues!

Source: IHT via Jalopnik

The only thing missing from this story is the real life Nick Cage. A warehouse sites unattended for a decade and a half, until someone decides to see what’s inside. Only one problem, the place is welded shut. No sweat, cut it open and let’s see what’s hiding in there.

It’s an entire fleet of classic and race cars, crusted with the fine sheen of bird droppings. No one has stepped forward to claim the cars, as if that’s any real surprise. These guys are probably rotting in a prison somewhere for some other misdemeanor.
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One of the most common question I’m face with owners of old cars is: It’s a lot of money. should I fix it?
It’s quite a dilemma, and it’s a question with no easy answer.

The scene is almost always the same. The customer is driving a 10 or 12 year old second hand car. A couple of years ago they scraped together to buy it and have done next to no maintenance. They have developed a problem that is beyond the skills of the local major tire chain and they have to come to a dealer. The car has many faults, several of which are not only terminal, but expensive. The car isn’t safe to drive. The repairs needed to make it safe will cost more than the car is worth and they likely don’t address the driveability problem that brought them in in the first place. Then comes the question.
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Just a note before we begin: This post was originally destined to be a follow up list of Used car Buying Tips, but the Road Test is so important that it has become a post all on it’s own.
So you’ve taken your time to shop, you’ve compared prices and sought out an experienced opinion. You’ve asked all manner of questions and done a walk around of a potential car. At this point you’ve either fallen in or out of love with the car, so what to do next?

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Buying a used car is a crap shoot. No matter how well prepared you are, you still run the risk of buying someone else’s problem. Somebody is selling the car, and there has to be a reason. Sometimes the reason is simply that it’s time for the owner to move on, yet other times it’s because they are at their wits end with it. Fortunately, you can prepare yourself and minimize the risk somewhat. With this in mind, here are a few tips to help get past some of the hurdles that we’ve come across personally, or from watching customers struggle with.

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While the condition of the cargo inside the Cougar Ace has not been fully determined, Mazda has confirmed that none of the vehicles will be sold as new. They may however be salvaging some cars to be sold as used cars.

Mazda press release after the break.

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