I needed to get a new car a few months ago. I found an ad on craigslist and it seemed perfect. Great price, pictures looked good, the information looked great. I even went on Edmund's and it seemed like this particular make and model had excellent reviews for reliability.
I got my money together and I had planned on buying the car. However, once I went out to see the car, my opinions instantly changed! There were rust spots not shown in the pictures, rips in the leather seats, a couple of the dash components didn't work, and the check engine light was on.
Long story short, I didn't buy the car and I wasted my time reading all those reviews online and going to the bank to get the money.
Moral of the story is: you might want to check out your car before you go through all the work of getting ready to buy it.