Buying an used car
You made a decision and you are not buying a brand new model of your favorite car but a few years old with a low millage. You will flip through the used car listings, visit car dealerships selling used cars, negotiate and renegotiate, test drive, think and look some more. It may not sound complicated to find what you are looking for, but there may be few things you may not know or expect down the road while shopping for an used car.
What are you getting yourself into?
Since you already made up your mind you understand that an used car has at least two lives and some of them that third one, secret, seller may not want you to know about.
Obviously the first life is one of a brand new vehicle in the hands of it’s owner and the second life would be, few years down the road, of that same car with possible headache that is being past onto you, a second hand buyer. OK, headache may be exaggeration in most of the cases but it does happen that someone, here and there, ends up with quietly inherited problem that can end up being, for an example, a costly major mechanical issue. The third life may be a secret one since, in some cases, you may not be told about it because it hides a history of accident(s) that happened while a car was in the hands of first or following owners, before you bought that car.
If you are the one buying that 2-3 years old or older second hand car without asking yourself important questions that include, questioning previous owner or used car dealer, his or her decision to sell it as a good deal, question cars low millage, accident history, etc. than continue reading.
“Beside your favorite color (if priority), you never know what you’re going to get”.
In this post you can find, combined into one, real life experiences people shared with us while shopping for, driving used cars and observing the world around them. I hope that you’ll find it all as useful tip that may help you a bit when choosing among thousands of cars, few or more years old.
What is the advantage in buying an used car?
Savings! When buying an used car from a private person you may save on one of the taxes. If individual selling the vehicle at their house is charging you taxes, and private owner does not have to, than you are dealing with a diler and will pay tax that you may not count on.
Let’s get back to savings and say that buying a, ~ 2-5 years old car at ~ 30-65% off of its original price it could end up as being a great discount if you get a low millage, no inherited problems or poorly done touch ups after accident(s).
But, what if there is something you do not know about it and seller is keeping it from you just to make a sale?
What to look for on an used car?
No, it’s not your favorite color but everything else. The best way to protect your investment is to take all of the necessary steps in the process before purchasing a second hand vehicle. That goes for you too when paying 20, 30, 40.000$ or more for an used luxury vehicle.
- Visual inspection is that first step. Look for body scratches, worn down carpets, used pedals, checking at the same time if the doors and lights are being aligned with rest of the car. Compare your observations to everything seller told you about the car, including the car millage and the year of the car.
- Take a car for a test drive! Go on a highway, go on a dirt road or poorly maintained stretch of road, spin it on the parking lot with radio and ventilation turned off. Listen for strange noise, cracking sounds, vibration, loud engine, smell or smoke from the engine or anything else unusual.
- Inspect and test every component, ventilation, air conditioning, electric windows, doors and any other option car you are considering has build in.
- Have a car professionally inspected.
Do not fall for the stories!
Test drive may revel some problems and professional car inspection even more. You may not know much about the engine or other mechanical parts but you can check yourself every feature car has, especially electric components and do not miss even one of them since later on you’ll be paying out of your pocket to have them fixed. So, take chosen car for a car inspection to an experienced mechanic you trust and who operates well equipped garage that can check most of the critical components but motor compression as well.
Try not to have a car inspected by a mechanic recommended by a dealer or a private seller who wants to bring you to his friends garage.
Used luxury cars are bullet proof?
So you thought! Times are changing and it’s not easy to hide something but here and there things may go unnoticed. As an example, luxury car does not always guarantee that it has clear history, especially when you knew decade ago owner who had heavily crashed his few months old luxury sedan. To make the story short, he never told insurance company about it and had brought the car to his friends body shop who had spend months quietly fixing it. There may be nothing wrong with that car after its body has been restored to its original glory but question that arises is, will you ever find out about it from a seller and would you buy if you just knew, even at the good price?
On the other hand, out there are insurance companies that cover car repairs after most of the accidents and information about it ends up in the car history record.
Did you check a car history online?
Very convenient way to check the history of a vehicle you narrowed down to can be done online on few web sites who search throughout numerous databases that may contain at least some information about your, maybe to be, future car. For a fee information you’ll get may be a deal breaker reveling in history that car had numerous accidents, maybe that car was stolen, car had been declared a total loss after accident but repaired anyway, someone may have changed millage on it etc.
How you’ll preside when confronted with information you discovered or seller decided not to disclose it’s entirely up to you, but if a car history contains non negative, or no major negative information that you are ready to accept you may end up being a happy buyer after few dollars spend on peace of mind to check a car history record.
Only draw back I can think of could be if you end up unlucky enough and you give up on a car after checking its history record, as well as few following cars, what could add up in $ figure very quickly, especially if you take a car for an inspection and that too did not bring a good results.
After this said, if you think it is a good idea to check a car history online you can do that on the next web sites;
Today, in Canada a lot of car dealers who sell used cars will provide you with a car history report without a fee.
Another important thing you should check is to find out if there is any outstanding payments left on the car you are buying – for an example lease.
Who to trust?
Can you trust anyone?
Not without asking yourself questions we have talked about here.
It’s possible that you will not have to spend a lot of time in search of a perfect used car but if you take your time looking for it you will quickly find that trust statement is true. With time you’ll encounter story tellers among a car dealers as well as among private sealers. You may end up checking and inspecting cars, spending money and time without happy-ending.
Better be safe than sorry
There are some legal rights that do protect a buyer so take your time, do not rush in to signing a contract without reading it and do not wave away your rights. By taking your time and looking around some more you may lose one car just to discover better option on the other side of the street or in another ad. As with anything else, being flexible works for you, so try not to get stuck on a particular car model, color, options etc. and that may work to your advantage when negotiating.
Good luck!