Comments on: Squawkback: What Are Your Tips for Buying Used Cars?

By: Treva

Treva — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:05:00 +0000

I bought a used car last summer from a dealership. Before I bought it I did a LOT of research on the edmunds.com, kbb.com, and consumerreports.org (well worth my weight in gold for the subscription price). I unfortunately only had 2 weeks to figure out what to do and I would have preferred a full month. I checked out a few cars, found one I liked, took it for a test drive and then had my mechanic (trusted and have known him 1/2 my life, maybe longer) who gave me a gold star for picking out a good car. I had no choice in financing b/c my previous car was totaled when someone hit me and I was not at a place in my life to pay cash. The good news is that my car payment is well within my budget and my insurance dropped $20/month. I’ve had the car only a year now, but it runs beautifully and I’m following the recommended maintenance on it. It’s an 06 model that was purchased new by the previous owner in mid-05. We’re hoping it will last us until at least 2015, bearing in mind that we are a 1-car family so our mileage is not stretched between 2 cars like most American families.

By: FupDuckTV

FupDuckTV — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:04:37 +0000

I’ve heard that Ebay is also a good place for purchasing a used car. I have mulitple friends that have used Ebay and parleyed the purchase into a new car + vacation. I like to buy new cars, but that is just me.

By: Spending It

Spending It — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:01:11 +0000

Here is my advice for shopping for a used car.

1. Know what kind of car you want to buy.
2. Know the average selling price for the make, model and year.
3. Find online dealers who have a car on their lot fitting your description.
4. Send an email to around 30 car dealers who have your car for sale. Tell them what you want and that you are sending a similar email to 30 competing dealerships and that you are going to buy from the dealer that gives you the best price.
5. Once you get offers, then you play each dealer off the lowest offer until none will drop the price any more.

This has always worked for me. It is time consuming, but it can be done in about one week.

By: Hayden Tompkins

Hayden Tompkins — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:32:57 +0000

If they won’t let you take it to a mechanic, then walk away. You can always find another deal!

By: Doctor S

Doctor S — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:32:48 +0000

To me, buying a car is such a crap shoot. I purchased my first car 3 years ago out of college. I bought a certified pre-owned Mazda vehicle with 20k miles. I had no idea I would be driving as much as I have been over the last few years. In hindsight, I should have gotten a car with better gas mileage but the bang for my buck that I got was great.

The key to buying a car is knowing exactly what your needs are and how often you are going to drive the car. Also, the key to longevity on a vehicle is what type of driver you are and you knowledge of maintaining the vehicle often and timely.

I just do not see the value in buying brand new cars when used cars with 10 miles on them are 30% cheaper. Research and the internet have changed the way car buying takes place, even ebay is a good marketplace for finding a nice car in your agrea. Put in the amount of research and you will find a car equating to your efforts.

By: Orion

Orion — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:43:56 +0000

I’m a Licensed Automotive Technician that knows this industry well from the inside. These are what I consider to be the important steps to finding the right car for you!

Start with some research, find out what you need from a car and determine which make/model fits your need. And browse your local classifieds to get an idea for pricing in your area. Don’t leave out the dealerships and used car lots in your search to find the right car. With our economy the way it is, some of the best deals can now be had at these places. The value of all vehicles has dropped considerably in the past 6+ months due to the lower costs of the new models. I find that a lot of private sale vehicles are priced a lot higher than used car lots. This is generally the case because the private seller has an idea of what there car was worth last year, and has likely invested more money in the car than it will ever be worth in today’s economy. Used car lots are hurting for sales these days and they need to move vehicles to stay afloat so do bargain with them.

Now having said that Dealerships and Used Car Lots are a great place to find a car, the most important step in purchasing a vehicle is GET IT INSPECTED!!!! Please do this before you buy it. If you miss this step, chances are you will have purchased a lemon, that is just the way it works out. The key here is to bring it to your local mechanic. I am not going to go into how to find a mechanic at this time, but if you are a regular customer, they will have your best interests in mind. Good shops offer a Prepurchase Inspection and will go through your car mechanically and electrically. A good Tech will be able to tell if you car has been in an accident, is out of province, or just poorly maintained and whether or not any of that really matters to the integrity of the vehicle. They will let you know where services or repairs need to be done and can provide an estimate for repairs. Now you are armed with real bargaining power!

Now all you have to do is bargain down to the right price, and bargain you must. Everyone wants top dollar for their car but that has changed in the buyers favor. Use your acquired vehicle inspection and local market research to get the price down to a fair value.

It is absolutely amazing what you can get in a vehicle for you money these days. So before you buy that vehicle you have been dreaming of, don’t forget it’s future maintenance costs. As a general rule the more expensive a vehicle was new the more it costs to keep going.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 03 May 2009 07:23:05 +0000

I second Ray on buying from dealers – don’t do that.
I tried it – it never worked quite well. I now always look if I like the person who is selling the car. If I don’t, I don’t buy from him even if I really like the car.
I also don’t sell my cars to dealers, btw.

By: Mr. NtJS

Mr. NtJS — Sun, 03 May 2009 02:35:30 +0000

Fox-
We did quite well selling a car and buying it’s replacement on Craigslist. That was also in a large city with a very active online community (lots to choose from). If you’ve got some time to kill, then go visit a dealer, otherwise, I wouldn’t waste your time.

CarFax reports aren’t a bad thing, but you need to know how to read them. Our month-long login caught a dealer’s lies (that truck had been worked like a dog), and confirmed a individual’s story of a vehicle’s history (the one we ended up buying).

The only hard part about buying from an individual, is havng the paper work lined up – title, bill of sale, warranty transfer…. – don’t assume that the seller will have their act together. Since we had just sold a car we knew just how to do all af this. Check your local government’s web site for more info.

By: TStrump

TStrump — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:16:39 +0000

Craigslist is always a great source but beware of lemons.
Watch our for rebuilds – they are cheaper but have usually been in accidents and may not drive the same.
BETH makes a great point about developing a relationship with a garage – I use the same mechanic all the time.
While he isn’t the cheapest, he is honest and tells me what I need to know.

By: Melanie Reformed Spender

Melanie Reformed Spender — Sat, 02 May 2009 00:22:58 +0000

While you can sometimes get a better deal by cutting out the middle man, I would not go as far as to say never go to the dealer. A good dealer has minimum standards and has access to a lot of cars that you would never find in private sale. For my last car, I found a good used car dealer and when I couldn’t find anything on the lot that suited my tastes in my price range, the dealer produced a list of cars available at a forthcoming private auction to see what we could work out. The next week, he came back with the car I wanted at a price I could afford.

Regardless of the dealer (or private seller) always be thorough in your inspectiion of the vehicle before buying. Check under the doors for signs of rust. Scratches are actualy good because they’re a sign of original paint (thus no major accidents). Test drive with the radio off to listen for any funny noises. The interior of the car is a good tip-off to how the car was treated in its past life. Owners who take care of the car on the inside were probably also good at getting oil changes and not running the car into the ground. Most importantly, if anything seems off, walk away.