How are we finding our cars these days?

Each morning, I run through Craigslist for my surrounding areas, followed by Jaxed (like crazed list, little easier imho) to widen the search. I'll follow that with Autotrader.com, Cars.com and eBayMotors.

If I'm feeling particularly frisky, I'll do some random Google searches like, "1972 BMW Bavaria for sale" or "2001 Subaru Impreza obo" and you'd be surprised by what you can find---random smaller forums where people are talking about needlepoint, but there's a car for sale in their classifieds section next to the yarn post.

So....is that it? Where else are we finding our latest projects?

I found my e30 because it was a poorly worded CL ad.
it was titled " '87 BMW" and in the description it just said:
"1987 3 series, 5 speed, 140k miles, asking $2,100."
Nowhere in the ad did it say 325is but the pictures of the basketweaves and the sport leather were a dead giveaway.

It went up on a Thursday night. I spoke to the owner Friday and agreed to look at it early Sat morning. Two people called about it while I was there looking at it. Also I should note that it was quite possibly the coldest day of the year at 5 degrees on Jan 31st.

The moral of my story is that I had been searching on craiglook.com via keyword searches like BMW 325, or 325is and this car did not come up. I switched to all BMWs under $4000 and found it.

Craigslist never caught on here, but we have something called Kijiji.

It's free like CL, but laid out much better, and the search function is quite good. Autotrader is generally for the overpriced cars, and dealers.

I look at CL all the time too, but I bought my '06 F150 after I found it on Cars.com at a local dealership. Autotrader and Carsoup both suck, if you ask me.

www.statewidelist.com is nice because jaxed sometimes misses things.

I search them all in pretty much the same order as you but my last 3 cars came from ebay (E46 325XiT, 964 C2 & 2500HD). Its worth noting that 2 of the 3 were private sales, negotiated the old fashioned way after making contact with the seller.

I am not sure if the search engine is better, the volume higher or its just dumb luck but I always seem to find what I'm looking for.

I prey upon the weak and poor of pocketbook. Wait no, I was describing myself. Cars seem to find me.

I tend to go to the forums that cater to the cars... get myself known there.. and then when a deal gets posted.. I pounce

I got my set of Supras from the classifieds here on the board. I got my aspire from the forums also.

The only things I have gotten from Craigslist has been a decent set of Miata wheels, my underpaying job, and my beautiful Doggy.

zomby woof wrote: Craigslist never caught on here, but we have something called Kijiji. It's free like CL, but laid out much better, and the search function is quite good. Autotrader is generally for the overpriced cars, and dealers.

Ebay bought out the German Kijiji and made it totally suck. :( If it was valuable enough to buy as-is, why do they insist on monkeying around with it after the fact?

I never understood that either... unless they WANTED to kill Kijiji because it was a threat?

so far craigslist seems to be the best way for me to find anything i need. occasionally i will go to ebay if the item in question is relatively easy to ship, easy to describe, and needs a wider net than the local cl adds to find one.

i havent used autotrader in years .....

I have noticed that Autotrader very occasionally has something because the seller is apparently too unsophisticated to know about CL and the others. There was once an E36 in Toronto for $500 ("not running, bought new car, just want it gone"), for example. Not often, but sometimes.

I check Craigslist with SearchTempest every morning and then usually search "Lotus; Other" on e-Bay.

Most of my projects have been found by just stopping when I see a parked car without tags. Usually best to stop and deal w/ "Mrs. Sick of this P.O.S. Sitting in My Yard". I have scored some outstanding deals this way. Craigslist would probably be a close second. Although for SELLING , Auto Trader has always worked very well for me.

I have a CL search with a bunch of keywords that I do for the two closest CL areas. I have these in a IGoogle gadget so everytime I open my browser and igoogle pops up I see the latest additions. This helps me catch most good deasl within 1 hour of them posting (if I'm at work). Here's a screenshot. Sorry about the size. (Note the $400 B M W under Cool Cars):

I also search "All Cars" under $1500 once a day or so since some people just don't know what they have. Found a 200ZXSER (200SX SE-R) that way. I also use Searchtempest. Just a tip, if you want to search multiple things at once put this in the Cl search (Miata|RX7|E30) etc and it will find ANY of the items inside the parentheses between the bars. Then just bookmark the results and you can check them any time for added posts.

I've found that local print classifieds can yield good finds occasionally. Our local Pennysaver is delivered on Wednesday, and if you are quick, there are some great local finds to be had. It seems a lot of these classified ads are posted by folks that may be older / not computer savvy. Usually these cars aren't offered for sale anywhere else.

CL is useful, but all the postings written in "text language" instead of English make me want to kill.

I scrounge the back lots behind the Lexus/Mini/Porsche/BMW dealer nearby my house. They sometimes get it stuff they just want to unload at wholesale prices. That is how I found the Lexus GS400 I am currently driving.

I check CL (craiglook) and sometimes ebay more for market values. It's been about 4 or 5 years since I bought anything with wheels on ebay (porsche 911 - that was definitely a roll of the dice). I'll pick a new obsession, hop on the forum, learn what I can. Usually there are folks on boards posting up finds (like the $1k porsche 914) in addition to what's in the classifieds. Also do the random google for as much info as I can gather. I'm also willing to search a good distance from home and put a message on the boards - wtb - sometimes they'll come to you.

When I am looking for a car, I just come here and say something like, "Gee I wish I could find an 88 Pontiac Fiero GT for about $3000".

Within the hour there are about a dozen posts of exactly what I am looking for.

Thanks for being so diligent everyone!

I've found a few great deals over the years on "local" or smaller marque-specific forums. The best deal was an ABA-swapped GTI with a bunch of good parts for $800. The forum it was listed on required you to be a paid member in order to post or PM. There happened to be a member there who I knew from another site, so he had the seller contact me.

$1100 bmw 2002 - www.mye28.com classifieds

Obituaries and I ask my UPS and Fed Ex and postman to be on the lookout BOLA and I allways have a wanted and for sale sign on whatever flavor of car I have in front of the shop .

Stealthtercel wrote: I have noticed that Autotrader very occasionally has something because the seller is apparently too unsophisticated to know about CL and the others. There was once an E36 in Toronto for $500 ("not running, bought new car, just want it gone"), for example. Not often, but sometimes.

My theory exactly. When I heard that Autotrader will no longer print the other day, my first thought was "Who the berkeley uses autotrader anyway...."

A: Old people...old people who have no clue that their mint, rust-free 60.000 mile 1986 honda civic hatch could possibly be worth more than $500.

For "projects," insurance auctions and wrecker yards FTMFW. You can't lose paying scrap price.

Autotrader allows you to save your searches on "MYATC". https://www.autotrader.com/myatc/register.xhtml

It's either Craigslist or local enthusiast forums for me. I've seen a lot of dirt cheap cars sell on my local NASIOC chapter. There's a Challenge-friendly 92 Legacy SS (aka Legacy w/2.2L closed deck turbo motor that can handle ungodly amounts of boost!!!) on there right now that's tempting, but unfortunately it has the auto trans. But hey, it's $700/obo!!!