Buying from a business and buying from a person are different activities. The price difference is real and spookyswap article worth understanding rather than resenting. Preparation has happened. What this amounts to varies enormously. Real attention before sale. Cosmetic preparation only. Asking what was done and requesting the evidence separates the two. A dealer also carries obligations an individual does not. The specifics differ by jurisdiction. Some protection exists broadly. An individual provides more than a lower price. Direct access to the owner. A dealer knows the paperwork and not the car. Questions only an owner can answer. This is genuinely valuable and mostly ignored. A problem discovered afterwards belongs to you. Nothing else stands behind the purchase. The scale of a business changes the experience. Reputation does some of the work protections do.