kama'aina nissan

[terracore]

I shopped at ALL the used car lots in Hilo. Pretty much left each lot disgusted. One lot had a car that wouldn't start without getting jumped as they tried to explain to me that it was a "feature" it jumped so easily. Another had a car with a headlight that could be pulled straight out of the car if it wasn't for the frayed wire holding it in place (the headlight was full of water which clued me in to this defect). Finally made a very fair offer on an overpriced vehicle and they preferred to see me walk away than make a decent profit. Later found out they weren't interested in me because I was paying CASH and they couldn't gouge me with their financing company. They probably wound up selling the vehicle I made an offer on for less money to somebody who needed their financing. Go figure.

I bought our first two vehicles off of Craigslist. That is it's own quagmire. Buyer beware. We walked away from several deals because there were title problems. We did buy one vehicle with a title problem but only after the seller went to the "DMV", paid the fees, and fixed it.

Eventually we replaced those temporary Craigslist junkers with reliable cars from Oahu. Dealing with the barge companies etc was a pain but we saved THOUSANDS and got cars that weren't high-mileage beasts with rust and water-filled headlights.

I would NEVER go to a lot in Hilo to buy a car. Get one shipped in from the west coast, shop on Oahu, or maybe give Kona a try. Anybody have luck in Kona?