buying a used car at dealership will always suck because you don’t want to get ripped off and you don’t want to end up in a car that you totally regret buying
now in this content we’re going over the three key steps on how to buy a used car from a dealer
a lot of content on different financial topics. if you’re shopping for a used car there are definitely some
advantages over buying new to consider.
we mean think about the fact that most new
cars lose about 30-40% of their value in just the first five years and when most of these cars are five years old they’re probably only gonna have about 60k miles on them so that is a really good deal considering it’s 40% cheaper than it was when it was new .
think about it like this would you rather buy a brand new crappy little commuter car with roll-up windows for $15,000 or would you rather buy a
used car with 60,000 miles for the same price with every single feature on the planet.
upgrades depreciate the most on new cars so if you want Bluetooth, leather seats and all that kind of stuff then buying used is something to really consider and not to mention the used car is probably a lot safer too because it was more expensive to begin with
keep in mind that the best value for a used car
is when they’re only about 2-8 years old and they only have 24-96k miles on them .
this is the best time to buy a car because it’ll be
plenty reliable and the worst of the depreciation is over with now obviously your budget is important here so make sure to buy a car that you can afford
but just keep in mind that its best value is gonna be before it hits ninety 6k miles
and sometimes buying a new car like a year-end one might not be that much more expensive than a used one so it is something to consider
but if you are open to buying a new car then you can read this Article.
now you’ve got to understand there are 3 key steps in order to get the best value in buying a used car from a dealership
- you’ve got to do a lot of research on the car
- you’ve got to get the best price for the car and
- you’ve got to get the best financing for the car as well
now when it comes to buying a used car
research is huge because they still cost a lot of money
and the last thing you want is some random repair bill right after you buy the car you’ll want to check TrueCar.com and KBB.com for the best online research for car buying these websites will help you decide which car is right for you and what you should be paying for it the first used car .
you need to research the car safety and its resale value but also pay attention to its repair costs and the maintenance schedule as well trust us you don’t want
to buy a used car that’s right on the line to needing a bunch of repairs done.
and you’d be surprised at how many cars out there don’t require any maintenance until a 100k miles so keep that in mind when you’re doing your research .
cars are so advanced these days that the 100k miles stigma needs to end for most of the cars out there and also before you buy a car make sure to call up your car insurance and find out how much more it’s gonna cost you for the new car that you’re looking into.
you don’t want to go buy a car and then after the fact realize that your car insurance costs way more because of the car that you just bought so just call up your insurance ahead of time so that you know how much more or less the car is gonna cost to insure.
so once you’ve done your research and you know exactly which cars you want to go look at and go check them out at a few dealerships .
you’ll want to visually inspect the car for any dings scratches stuff like that and you’ll want to take it for a good test drive as well.
and it’s a good idea while your test driving to check what’s called the engine run time because this is going to give you the best indicator of the type of miles that have been driven on the car so let’s say that you’re driving a truck with only 50k miles on it but it’s got an engine run time of thirty three hundred hours .
all you’re gonna do is take 50k and divide that by 3,300 which is going to give you 15 which is how many miles per hour that car has averaged over the
course of its life and in this case 15 would be a bad indicator that the truck has been to a lot of work sites or that it’s done a lot of city driving.
but let’s say that the average came back at like 30-40
miles per hour then that’s a lot better to me knowing that the car has done a lot of highway and freeway miles instead of City.
most of the newer cars these days do log engine run time so just pay attention if you’re looking at a newer
car here’s just a quick look at the log that’s currently running in we car.
no matter what time of year it is make sure to check the AC and the heater just to make sure you don’t have any surprises when you actually need to use them.
and make sure to check all the controls in the car and even turn up the radio to make sure that the speakers aren’t blown you’ll also want to hop out of the car
and make sure that all the lights are working because trust us this is the only chance that you’re gonna be able to get the dealer to fix these types of problems.
now if it’s winter time when you’re looking at the car you’re not gonna be able to tell if it’s been smoked in because it’s too cold outside but you can at least check the ashtray for any signs of use if it has one
now once you’ve found a few cars that you’re legitimately interested in buying asked to look at the CARFAX or buy one yourself most dealers will already have the CARFAX available so hopefully you don’t even have to buy it .
the CARFAX will give you a really good representation of the car’s history but keep in mind that some stuff can still squeak through the cracks
it’ll tell you how many owners the cars had the status of the title and it’ll even tell you how the car was registered to those owners so if you find out that the car’s had like 10 owners then that’s a huge red flag because the car’s been around the block way too many times
now I found out later with my used car that it was actually registered as a rental car which I’m not down with because we all know how we treat rental cars if I’d looked at the CARFAX like I should have then I would have realized that it was a rental car and I would have looked into something else .I would stick with a car that had less than two owners that drove it as a personal vehicle and if it’s a lease trade-in then this is a good thing too because it probably implies that the car has really low miles and it’s been well-maintained.
and if the car has a branded title you’re gonna want to do a little more research on it to find out what exactly happened at the car so that you know if it’s worth the risk and buying it .
the first thing you’ll want to have checked is your computer because you’re gonna want to see if it has any trouble codes on it and then after that you’re gonna want to check what’s called the drive cycle monitoring just to make sure that the computer hadn’t been reset to hide any problems.
now just check under the car for leaks and wear and tear and then also have them check under the hood for fluids and belts and stuff like that.
and once again now is the time to double-check everything just to make sure you don’t have any surprises down the road
and if the car’s got any normal repairs that it needs like tires or brakes then definitely have the dealership pay for it because it’s in their best interest to still get the sale
because if the dealership has a shop they can fix all of this stuff for chief because it’s at their cost and normal wear and tear is gonna have to be fixed regardless so just have them do it now while it’s cheaper for you
and at this point if you do find any huge red flags with the car then it was probably worth paying that hundred bucks to have it checked because nobody wants a problematic car
now once you’ve found the right used car let’s cover price because that’s kind of a big deal
 used cars are a bit harder to know how much the dealer paid for them but as an average just figure in about 10% but if you’re looking at a really old car the numbers are gonna be all over the place
the average price paid is a really good representation of what others have paid for the same car in that same region but just keep in mind that demand has a lot to do with the value of the car that you’re looking at
so if you live in snowy Utah do then you’d understand that two wheel drive SUVs don’t sell very well the four-wheel drive models is what everyone is looking for up here so unless I go down to Vegas to buy a car I’ve got to understand that that demand is stuck in my local area.
but if you are willing to go outside your region to buy a used car then you’re probably going to find the best deal but it is a bit of a hassle to have to drive 400 miles just a test drive a few cars.
now once you know the average price paid in your you’re gonna want to make sure that you buy the car for less than that average.
understand that dealers have bills to pay too but trust me it’s a lot better just to give them a quick 500 bucks rather than three thousand dollars if they were willing to sell the car regardless.
so at this point just tell the dealer that you want to pay 5k dollars over what the low average price was paid for that car and be sure to mention any dents dings or anything that you want fixed at this point because they’ll either fix the problems or they’ll just charge you less for the car to have the problem solved now the key to negotiating is to be confident and polite because nobody wants to have to deal with an asshole.
now once you’ve got the best price for the car it’s time to cover financing which can really screw you if you’re not paying attention
the financing department has even more ways to make the dealer money so you have to be paying attention to everything that they’re doing
now as far as interest rates go dealers can actually get you really good rates just as long as they’re not taking a cut most dealerships can get you really good rates from all the big lenders so just go ahead and use them because it’s a lot more convenient
so once you’ve got your financing all settled the salesman is gonna offer you extended warranties and stupid carpet cleaning and stuff like that but you’ve got to understand that all of these services are negotiable so do not pay full price for any of them
and if you are interested in any of these services just tell the salesman confidently that you want to pay invoice for them and trust us he’ll probably sell it to you at cost because it’s most likely still in his best interest to get the sale
even if he doesn’t get a commission they’re still monthly and quarterly goals that are still gonna be worth it to him
now as far as fees go just understand that these are sneaky ways that the dealer can make more money the only fees that are legitimate are taxes and license and registration that is it .
now taxes just plain suck but there’s no way of getting out of them but if you have to pay sales tax on anything then that’s how you can tell that it’s a fee because you’re never gonna have to pay tax on a tax so if you’ve got some stupid doc fee that’s like 300 bucks plus tax then that’sa fee and you can get out of it
just tell the salesman confidently that you do not want to pay it now if the salesman tells you that the fee be removed because it has to be documented then just have them compensate with the price of the car or your trade-in so that you can get out of it
just have them either lower the price of the car for 300 bucks or add three hundred dollars to your trade-in that way the fee is at least documented but now you can get out of it in a different area
and trust us at this point the salesman is not gonna love you but you’re too far into the game for them to lose the sale
now once you’ve got everything signed and documented then you can truly drive away knowing that you just got the best deal on a used car possible
AMV AUTO LLC is focused on Customer service and Customer relations. There is NO haggling and NO pressure. We understand that time is precious so we try to make it easy for our customers to find their next car, truck or SUV.
