I bought a junk Dodge truck off craigslist. It was old an worn out, but I knew that when I bought it. The ad wasn't accurate but the seller was honest when I made the trip and looked at it in person.

I wouldn't spend much on a craigslist vehicle. You don't know what you're getting.

We got our car from craigslist, and are happy with it.

I like dealing with individual sellers, and can't stand dealers. On the phone, you can find out a lot about the car, and often get a read of whether the person is being dishonest or not.

It's the same thing you would go through with a newspaper classified ad 10 years ago. There's no authority looking over the ads to make sure they represent fairly. You just have to judge the person selling. If they list all the faults of the car in the ad (small dent on left fender, etc), then they're probably extremely honest. Also ask how much of the car records they have. If you're serious, you can sign up with carfax.com (just a 30 day subscription), and check out a car's history before you drive over.

it's like ebay for cheapskates.usually there's problems

That stuff can happen on any website. If its a good deal check it out but they could just be trying to get rid of the car. Bring someone with you that knows a little about cars.