Are You Car Smart? - Buying a Used Car

What do you need to remember when buying a car? Remember, it's an investment, so make sure it is the right one. Most people tend to go for the look, the glitz, the engine and other such features. It is recommended to make an informed decision by taking all following aspects into account:

Car History

Buying a used car can be difficult, and somewhat of a gamble. You can put the odds in your favor by knowing all you can know about the car's history. This includes number of previous owners, if the car was involved in any accidents, any previous mechanical failures and its maintenance history.

Ensure that car Odometer has not been tampered with

Simply look at the dashboards to see for marks, or if it is loose. This generally is a sign of tampering. Also look for service stickers under the hood or inside of the car. They will contain latest readings, and you can match them against the current read.

Reasonable mileage

Listed prices for cars suggest that reasonable mileage should be around the range of 12,000 miles an year. For a car with much higher mileage or in a poorer condition, the sale price should be lower.

Never sign an 'As Is' agreement

Read all documentation before you sign. Agree a warranty for at least 30 days, you never know what to expect with a second hand car. By signing an 'As Is' agreement, once you drive the vehicle off the lot, anything that goes wrong will be your problem.

Do not share

Never share this information with dealer number with your dealer. Not recommended.

Shop Around

Don't settle for the first car that you see. There are a lot of second hand cars being sold, you can certainly find one that suits your budget and style.

With these ideas in mind, you can certainly make an informed decision.

Many people do not consider that they have a choice when buying an automobile they need for transportation. They assume since they usually buy new shoes and new underwear that a car is something that should be bought new also. In our culture if you don't have enough money saved to buy something now, there are always plenty of hawkers of loans and credit to lend you the money to do so. Is this always the wisest thing to do?

What if you owned a 2003 Toyota Camry, sold it this year for $6,000, and took the money and made a down payment on a new $24,000 car? You would have to finance $18,000. According to Yahoo, the current national average for a car loan is 5.75 percent, and government statistics inform us that the average car loan is for a period of more than four years. Let us say you finance the car for six years. Your monthly payment would be about $320 a month. Six years later you would have paid $23,000 out of pocket for the car and you will have only $6,000 to show for it if you took very good care of the car and are able to get that price when you resell it. That means no accidents, no eating or drinking in the car, and getting the oil changed and other maintenance taken care of on schedule, and keeping the mileage low to average. In other words, you will need to have a bit of luck and be very conscientious in taking care of your car if you want to get a good resale value on it six years later.

Now pretend that you keep your 2003 Toyota Camry or that you are the buyer this year that bought it for $6,000. You have no car payments, so if you get laid off from your job or have other temporary financial setbacks, there is no stress from the possibility of the car being taken by the repo man. Granted it's a used car so we might need a little extra for repairs, let's say $100 a month. You still need to get the oil changed and regular maintenance done on the car like the new car, but you don't need to sweat over a few coffee spills on the upholstery or scratches and dings on the paint since you know the car will be worth little when you are ready to get rid of it anyway. Where will you be in six years if you sock away the extra $220 dollars a month in a rather lousy investment CD with a rate of one percent? You will have $16,000 in savings. That is surely plenty of money to buy another nicer and newer car.

So who is the smarter consumer? Who is on their way to being able to always buy nice cars? Just from one or two times abstaining from borrowing money to buy a new car a consumer can have the money in the bank to buy all their cars new, if they so desire. Also, after a little time of driving an asset they own free and clear, consumers may find they like the way that feels, even if the car does not look showroom perfect. They say there is an air freshener you can buy for that new car smell. Also bear in mind that our calculations did not take into account the amount you can save every year on ad valorum taxes and insurance for less-than-new cars.

The days of spending hour after hour for days walking through car lots are all but gone. The modern car purchaser has many tools at his disposal. The chief tool is the internet.

People can now watch videos to see reviews of cars from real owners and in some cases, they can see videos of the cars they are considering purchasing.

The most popular use of the internet, however, is looking for cars for sale online. There are millions of searches monthly for cars for sale and specifically for no reserve cars.

A no reserve auction means that the lowest current bid for the item wins. There is no reserve price that a bidder must bid above.

People are looking for car auctions with no reserve pricing for two reasons. First, they are trying to get the best deal possible. If nobody else enters a bid, and the auction was listed for a very low initial bid, they can get great deals for potentially thousands below the value of a car.

The other reason people look at no reserve car auctions is to establish a comparison price with other cars. They know that they shouldn't just assume that a car has a great price because it is in a no reserve auction, but they can compare it to other cars for the best deal possible.

It would be easy to assume that only private sellers are selling their cars online, but dealers are selling new and used cars online. Some of these dealers go the extra mile for the internet sale.

For the modern car buyer, looking for best pricing on autos or looking for antique, classic, or exotic cars that are difficult to find locally, online auctions are a powerful tool.