Buying used saws

[NORMZILLA44]

Btohlen, I have bought most of my saw's use'd. As what you mentioned, and your'e inspection question all you mentioned is good rule of thumb. I pull the muffler's check piston, and cylinder. Check compression by pull, and inspect over all shape. I have learned that cosmetic blemishe's can still mean a great saw. You can tell a flat out beat, and run hard saw from one that has normal wera, and tear. Norm...............

 

[qweesdraw]

Makita 6401 from Home Depot rental dept.
A commercial 64 cc saw for about $250.
Baileys has a piston and jug upgrade is it fails for about $100.
DAMM GOOD SAW!
Mark

 

[jbighump]

i have bought 2 new saws and that was before i knew how to work on them from now on its used for me,,,,,,, once in a while u will find a deal on a runner but the real deals are in the ones that dont run,,,,,,i can pick them up for little or nothing and most of the time have a good saw for a small price after a little work:msp_thumbsup:

 

[mikefunaro]

Whether I buy "like-"new or used, I try to save substantial amounts of money, to cover myself for the potential that something is wrong with the saw.

I generally assume that the saw should be ~40% off even if it's in very good to excellent condition.

I see beat up 372s all the time for $400--half of them are from a time when those saws were $650 at dealers--and I quickly pass.

Most of the time when I meet someone from craigslist I just run the saw, idle, accelerate, and feel the compression at the pull cord. Lots of sellers don't feel particularly comfortable with you taking the muffler out, hooking up all sorts of gauges and stuff to the saw, etc, and to a degree I can respect this.

Unless you find something that's poorly labeled, mislabeled, sold by a nitwit, etc on ebay, you're going to be paying market rate and then some.

At the end of the day my attitude is just to make sure that you have quite a bit of padding versus the cost of new, so that even if something does go wrong, you can probably repair it, unless the whole thing doesn't explode, and still be at or below the cost of a new one. If you buy a like new 372 for $600, and it's out of warranty, and you have a leaking boot or something, and then all of a sudden you're whole top end is fried, suddenly if you go OEM you're probably north of $900, and you got one expensive 372.

The other thing about Ebay is youre competing against people who may be used to paying more money for saws than you. I guess this is true for craigslist too but...at this point I know of a handful of husky dealers where I can save between 50 and 100 bucks of MSRP. When you're competing wtih some guy from wherever, and they're used to paying full sticker and don't know that dealers are out there (maybe theyre not in his neck of the woods), suddenly your $200 savings is a $300 savings for him, and so he's going to bid it even higher.

 

[bigredd]

Whether I buy new or used, I try to save substantial amounts of money, to cover myself for the potential that something is wrong with the saw.

I generally assume that the saw should be ~40% off even if it's in very good to excellent condition.

I see beat up 372s all the time for $400--half of them are from a time when those saws were $650 at dealers--and I quickly pass.

Most of the time when I meet someone from craigslist I just run the saw, idle, accelerate, and feel the compression at the pull cord. Lots of sellers don't feel particularly comfortable with you taking the muffler out, hooking up all sorts of gauges and stuff to the saw, etc, and to a degree I can respect this.

Unless you find something that's poorly labeled, mislabeled, sold by a nitwit, etc on ebay, you're going to be paying market rate and then some.

At the end of the day my attitude is just to make sure that you have quite a bit of padding versus the cost of new, so that even if something does go wrong, you can probably repair it, unless the whole thing doesn't explode, and still be at or below the cost of a new one. If you buy a like new 372 for $600, and it's out of warranty, and you have a leaking boot or something, and then all of a sudden you're whole top end is fried, suddenly if you go OEM you're probably north of $900, and you got one expensive 372.

The other thing about Ebay is youre competing against people who may be used to paying more money for saws than you. I guess this is true for craigslist too but...at this point I know of a handful of husky dealers where I can save between 50 and 100 bucks of MSRP. When you're competing wtih some guy from wherever, and they're used to paying full sticker and don't know that dealers are out there (maybe theyre not in his neck of the woods), suddenly your $200 savings is a $300 savings for him, and so he's going to bid it even higher.

The ethonol fuel left sitting for months also increases the likelyhood of damage when buying a used saw. Bottom line in Buyer Beware.

 

[mikefunaro]

The ethonol fuel left sitting for months also increases the likelyhood of damage when buying a used saw. Bottom line in Buyer Beware.

agreed! buyer beware, be smart, and don't spread yourself so thin on any deal that a repair or problem could put you in the red.

 

[NORMZILLA44]

You can find some good deal's, fair prices, and some good saws. Yeah there is also bad 2. Don't be afraid to pass one up. Plenty for sale. I got my 660 for 450. Great saw 1200 out the door here new.

 

[jbighump]

there are some great saws in the classified section here... have purchased 3 saws from there not one problem yet

 

[fearofpavement]

Almost all the saws i have were purchased used. I have acquired them from Craigslist, eBay, garage sales, flea markets, pawn shops, etc. The best scenario is to be able to see the saw in person and generate a deal based on your findings. I have sold saws on eBay because it is easy. ie, you get paid, you don't have to wait around for someone to show up that doesn't etc. So I like to buy in person and sell not in person. If selling on eBay, a detailed description is paramount to netting a good price. I can't believe how vague some descriptions are and how many people will bid knowing almost nothing about the saw. I make my descriptions very thorough because I want the buyer to receive exactly what they think they're buying. (that's how you keep good feedback). I also package things I sell very ape proof. Buying on eBay is fine if you understand you are bidding against the whole country (or world) but you can still make satisfactory purchases. ie, get what you want for what you're willing to pay.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

The last new saw I bought was in the late 1970s, bought used ever since. I usually go to flea markets for my saws and generally don't pay over $20 for them but I have made exceptions. The last PM610 I bought I paid $11 for it and still didn't get a warm, fuzzy feeling about it. The main reason is because I had to carry it about 1/4 mile or so to my truck. They don't call them the concrete block for nothing!

 

[jimdad07]

I like to buy used and then rebuild when I can. A good safe place to look is in the trading post here, at least you know you are buying from a saw nut.