Woman holding car she just bought

Want to Learn How to Buy a "Great" Used Car?

Shopping for a car can be intimidating, stressful and a down right unpleasant experience. But it doesn't have to be that way! If you are an "Informed Buyer" you can find "The Perfect One" and have fun while you're doing it!

The first step down this road of becoming a Successful Used Car Shopper is doing your Homework! Know what you're looking for before you even step foot onto a car lot or start looking in the newspaper or on the internet.

To help you figure out what you should be looking for, write down the answers to the following questions on a separate piece of paper.

  • Do you want a Sedan (2 doors or 4 doors), Wagon, Hatchback, Van, SUV or a Truck? (Think about your space considerations. How many people or what type of cargo do you need to transport on a regular basis.)
  • What type of regular driving will you be doing: highway, city stop & go, do you live on a paved road or a dirt road?
  • Do you want an Automatic Transmission or a 5 speed Manual Transmission?
  • Do you want 2 Wheel drive or 4 Wheel Drive? (As soon as you put 4 wheel drive into the equation you have added a couple thousand dollars to your budget, plus it is more expensive for fuel and repairs. If you can go without it, buy great winter tires and you will get a better quality vehicle for the same amount of money)
  • What options are necessary for you: Air Conditioning, Sunroof, Power Steering, Air Bags, ABS Brakes, Power Locks & Power Windows?
  • What is your main concern: Safety, Reliability or Price?
  • Do you have a specific make or model in mind?
  • Gas cap with moneyIf Fuel Economy is at the top of your list, you can go to www.fueleconomy.gov and find out the city and highway average miles of any vehicle. You can search by MPG, Make or Class.

***Don't let your emotions take control in picking out your car. What you need and can afford will make a much better "relationship" between you and your car, than that beautiful 2 door sports car that no one wants to work on and there are no local parts for!***

Here are a couple suggestions to help you pick out a make and model: look and see what vehicles that are most often on the road. If there is an abundance of a certain vehicle on the roads, it usually means it has a good track record. Ask you trusted mechanic for their opinion of a safe & reliable vehicle that meets your wants and needs. Read "Consumer Reports Magazine" to get information on the different vehicles. You can also go to www.jdpower.com/cc/auto/index.jsp and compare 4 vehicles to each other.

Hopefully, you have narrowed it down to a couple vehicles. Next on your list is to come up with a budget! Figure out what you can afford before you start looking, because your budget may limit your choices! How much can you afford per month? This needs to include car payments, gas, maintenance, and insurance. If you're taking out a loan, now is a good time to get pre-approved for your loan. This will help to determine the year and what mileage you can afford. You can also talk with your insurance agent about the cost to insure various vehicles. There can be substantial differences in price among different years, makes & models.

Here is a very important point to remember: Most used cars are sold because the present owner doesn't want to put anymore money into it, whether repairs or maintenance work - it almost always needs something! Figure anywhere from $300.00 - $500.00 for a 2-3 year old car, $500.00 - $1,500.00 for a 4-6 year old car and $15,000 - $2,500 for anything older than 7 years. So you need to subtract the cost of repairs & maintenance that will need to be done right away from your total budget!

Ok, you have a couple choice vehicles and you have the magic number of what you can spend. Go to www.nada.com to see what the going rate is for the various makes, models, year & mileage. This is where the dealers and banks all get their dollar figures. All this information should give you a range of years, mileage, makes & models to choose from!

Just sign here Once you have done your homework, check out my article Buying a Great Used Car: Part 2 to learn where to find a good used car, how to do a pulmonary inspection, the questions to ask before you even take it on a test drive, what to look for on the test drive, and I will tell you the most important thing to do before buying a used car!

Happy Motoring,

Amy