Used Car Tips

Sometimes, circumstances urge us to buy a new car, but we know too well our financial limits. This is why buying a used car appears to be the optimum solution. However, when it comes to pre-owned vehicles, we must prove some extra cautiousness.

1. Be up to date

Staying constantly up to date is one of the main advantages you can have in order to master any given situation. When buying a used car, knowing the market, learning the prices, being familiar with the dealers or with the brands is definitely a plus.

2. Search for used cars under warranty

Most sellers, may they be private parties or certified new car producers, offer used cars that are still under warranty. Buying a used car that still has its warranty is a factor, which enables the decision, making process, since it entices the purchaser with the idea that all damages occurring independently from their use are assumed by the producer.

3. Learn the history of the vehicle

Used cars’ likelihood to damage sooner than brand new ones is much higher. But this probability depends on the way the respective car has been used before being put on sale. This is why, tracing the history of the car by means of the identification number is imperative.

4. Compare alternatives

Even if the potential buyer has made up his mind about a certain car, they should know that new offers never cease to appear on the market. Thus, online research is important. The buyer will have the chance to compare cars within the same category with their temporary choice.

5. Opt for private party sellers or …

Private party sellers prove an increased availability to negotiate, since they know their own interests and manage their own pricing policy. Also, they are more flexible with respect to the way the buyer wants to proceed with the test driving, and they even let them take the car to a mechanic.

6. Consider corporate dealers

People tend to trust more large companies when it comes to trading products. The greatest benefit from choosing a dealer is that most of the used cares they sell are indeed under warranty and, moreover, the purchaser can make a bargain by buying an extremely trendy car for a much lower price that they could obtain from a private party seller.

7. Check the mechanical details

Suspension, breaks, gear, transmissions, protection system, wiring, wheels – all these are elements that must be in perfect operating condition since their failure to comply with certain standards does not lead only to a poor deal, but it can also endanger lives.

8. Check the outlook

To be happy with the vehicle, even if pre-owned, also implies the necessity of being satisfied by it visually and from the point of view of ergonomics. From this perspective, the potential purchaser should mind the paint, the headroom, the legroom, and the coverings – briefly, the way the car is cleaned, repaired, maintained and trimmed both inside and outside.

9. Be ready to negotiate

Undoubtedly, negotiation is an art, and buyers should benefit from it when it comes to buying used cars. The possibility of negotiation is a feature which is absent from the new cars selling and purchasing industry, and used cars purchasers should value the respective feature.

10. Know the true market value of the car

Even if less expensive than a new car, a pre-owned vehicle has a market value of which the buyer must be aware. Not knowing this value is a handicap when going to negotiate, since the buyer is always at risk to be tricked into paying more for the used car than they should.

11. Find out about the fuel efficiency

The oscillating character of the price of oil makes it different for an end user to be indifferent to how much fuel their car needs. Fuel consumption is one of the most important aspects the buyer must consider when deciding whether the car is worth buying.

12. Consider the additional expenses

Since the expenses made with a car refer, besides the purchase price, to costs linked to repairing, maintaining, insurances, a smart buyer will always take into consideration what they will be experiencing as owners of the respective vehicle, and not just as mere purchasers.

13. Learn the psychology of the salesperson

Salespeople will always make an opening offer which exceeds the true market value of the used vehicle. The buyer must be aware of this mechanism and try to obtain a lower price, since this is the entire purpose of negotiation from their point of view. But for that, knowing the market value of the used car is imperative.

14. Make a low opening offer

Just as the salesperson opens the negotiation with a high offer, the buyer must counterbalance it with one which prices the car under its true market value, having in mind nothing more than not to exceed this value when paying for the car.

15. Trust your intuition

The buyer may get what we generally cal a “bad vibe” when entering the negotiation process. Without implying anything to their sense of reality, they should postpone the negotiation because the vibe is, above all, a factor which puts a negative pressure on the outcome of the entire process.

16. Be ready to leave

A determined buyer is almost in all circumstances a valuable one for the salesperson. This feature tells to the seller that the purchaser is serious in their intentions, which means that the seller will lower the price enough such as not to lose the client.

17. Prepare for the test drive

Test driving is perhaps one of the most important phases of the process. At this point, the buyer truly begins to know the car previously presented to them under the form of some abstract information. The direct relationship between the driver and the car is vital for the final decision.

18. Feel the car

The relationship between the vehicle and the owner is extremely important for the comfort of the driver. Test driving is the first occasion to lay the foundations of such a relation. So, first of all, the buyer must pay attention to the overall impression they get about the car.

19. Don’t lose the perspective

The thrill of the first drive must not divert the buyer from the true meaning of the test drive, which is to observe how the car behaves under circumstances as similar as possible to the ones the purchaser intends to use the car most often.

20. Ask for a second opinions

One may be an experienced driver, but may not be just as good at technicalities. This is why bringing a friend to the test drive can be the closest thing to a genuine solution for assessing the true limits of the car.

21. Take the car to the mechanic

If no friend of the buyer is available for inspecting the car the condition, one could ask for permission to take the car to a mechanic.