Keep your eyes open, & bide your time...
Don't Quit Looking!!!
When I found mine the sales girl told me "it's not gonna be here long sweetie" (6) people couldn't get it financed this week. While I was there making my decision after the nice extended test drive (2) others wanted to drive the car, but I wouldn't give up the keys. Needless to say those (2) left in what they drove in.
YEP!! I didn't wait when mine appeared either
(see below).
So what's the reason(s) for the LOW $$$ ???
You ain't gonna get a good one for the $$$ you want to pay.
This is a mistake many make; cheap purchase price = money spent fixing the issues; unless it is just cosmetic and you can live with a bashed up ride.
EXACTLY correct - I mean, how many people do you know that don't care about getting paid everything they can get for something?? You could luck into someone who's selling an SS & thinks that it's just a optioned-up Malibu or something, but it's pretty unlikely.
(And taking advantage of someone like that is probably unethical anyway...)
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I feel your pain - several weeks ago, I was lusting over a low-mile gunmetal silver/blue CTS-V coupe that was about a day's drive from here. Called the seller a couple of times, asked some questions about it, then called a garage that was local to the seller & made an appointment to have them do a pre-purchase inspection. If the car checked out, I planned to fly out there & drive it home.
SUDDENLY the seller stopped answering his phone - and when I did reach him a day or two later, he told me that he'd sold it on the day that I'd scheduled the inspection. Burned my hide a little bit, but like my wife told me - "You probably dodged a bullet with that car..." I figure she's right.
Two or three days after that happened, my SS appeared - just
FIVE MILES from my house!
(And just to "stir the pot" a bit, another CTS-V coupe showed up about 70 miles south of here.) I went & looked at the SS one day before work, & planned to check out the V on my weekend. After thinking about it for about a day, I put a deposit down on the SS, & never even looked at the other CTS-V.
(And apparently it was a good thing I did, because one guy told me that another guy had been driving it within the last day or two.)
I don't want to say that it's a "game" - but it kind of
IS a game. When I got serious about finally getting a performance-oriented car, I knew exactly what the values of the different cars were, exactly what my credit score was, how much I could put down, pay per month, etc, etc, etc. - so when my SS showed up, I was able to jump on it like a Rottweiler on a ribeye.
Like a few others have said - keep your eyes open, & be ready to hit it when the right car/right deal shows up. The way that my SS appeared almost "in my lap" after I'd been looking for cars within a 500-mile radius made my wife tell that it was "meant to be".
(I'm not sure about that, but ****, it sounds good!) You're in a MUCH better location than I am, I have only two large metro areas within several hours of my home. You'll find a good deal as well if you're persistent & keep your eyes open. Good luck, & post some pics when you get your SS!!