For the OP, use
eBay and Craigslist. Look at your local nickle ad sheets and know your local market for car dealers. If time is short, toss money at the problem. If money is short, toss time at the problem. If both are short, you're in trouble...LOL! However if you have plenty of time and money, you can get anything you want at a very good price.
My 1991 Brougham took many years of waiting. I was money-short and wanted just a certain color, interior and engine as well as having it within my region, which isn't loaded with Broughams. When it appeared I got on it. Like a patient hunter or sniper, I got my target by waiting, waiting and doing more waiting when money was short.
In past years, I did fleet management and had to keep a steady stream of replacements coming in. Sometimes I had cash and sometimes I had to sign notes, which meant I always had some form of money to work with but I didn't have time to waste when those cars were needed. I knew how to get the most for my money and the local market, so I had advantages in the pre-net era to get the job done. That let me throw money intelligently at the problem when time was short. Knowledge is a power multiplier in this kind of situation.
If you are stuck in Smalltown, look for Big City dealers and markets. The Smalltown dealers are pretty stupid as they think no one will bother traveling 2 to 4 hours to save hundreds or thousands of dollars in more competitively priced markets. If you are already in Big City, then it's more a matter of learning the lay of the land. Once you know who has the goods at good prices, you'll get as good a deal as anyone can short of a Craigslist miracle, which does come along when some private party is desperate. I just saw a 2003 Saab on a local list for $3495, which is about a third of retail. The seller needed cash ASAP and no dealers in Smalltown wanted to mess with an import with no dealer support, so a Killer Deal emerged for the person lucky enough to jump on it first.
I use
eBay to find out what the real market is for vehicles nationally. There will be some regional differences but a good national trend will get you close enough to what's going on for values that you can make intelligent offers to dealers with. If they are stupid dealers who don't understand the value of information and the net, then they don't deserve your dollars. I've had some dealers get pissed off when I say what I can do on the net and I just snarl back at 'em, then go buy from someone who doesn't have sh*t for brains as a seller. For some reason I've always been able to find a good car at a decent price my entire life despite leaving some idiots out there seething. I enjoy tweaking 'em just as much as I enjoy getting a deal done at a real market value price.
Rick