Reno 360°: A blog for those who love Reno and aren't afraid to admit it

I'm trying to buy a car right now ... two, in fact. For my kids. One's about to get her license, the other just totaled her car. So needless to say, I've been surfing Craigslist pretty much nonstop for weeks now, and I'm noticing some patterns about our local used car market ...

1) There are an insane amount of Jeep Cherokees for sale in this town. And they're cheap, for the most part. But I owned a Jeep Cherokee, and didn't have great luck, so .. pass.

2) A lot of jerks are using Craigslist to try and rip people off. At least a few times a day you see an ad that says something like "2004 Acura, $3000!" You read the ad, and it's a low-mileage, perfect condition car that the seller "has" to get rid of because of an injury, sickness, death, divorce, etc . AND they'll even ship it to you for free, because oh yeah, it's not located in Reno! These ads disappear in short order, as smart buyers flag them as spam, but I always have to wonder ... does anyone really think they're going to get that car at that price??

3) Subarus go quickly, as do anything AWD. We have lots of Jettas and Passats, and more 1960-1970 VW Bugs than I think anywhere else in the world. Seriously, I've looked at other Craigslist ... we are the Bug haven.

4) And lastly, there are dozens of cars listed everyday, so be patient. You'll find the one you want! Maybe not the one your children want, but hey, who asked them!??