Buying Used Cars

How do you find good used cars and go about buying used cars, especially if you are not well versed in auto-mechanics?

Do you go to a used car lot? Look through the want ads? Explore by word of mouth? The Internet? Driving around the city looking for used cars for sale?

When buying used cars, first, it is suggested you get an idea of what you want.

I once asked a car mechanic what he suggested, and said that Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas are what he recommends. Ask ten people, and you will get ten different answers of course, but that is ok. In any case, You must decide what type of car you want. Narrow it down to at least four types. If you know what you want when buying a used car, you will save a lot of time, instead of looking at uses cars you do not like. Are you looking for a reliable used car? You may want to check how the model you are thinking about rates before you buy it. Buying used cars is one of those tricky deals.

Then, it is recommended you do a blue book search.

Visit www.KBB.com and get a rough idea of what these cars are valued at. Get the values for a variety of years. You can figure out what kind of used car you may be able to afford. Narrowing down the search when buying used cars helps.

Armed with the highest amount you can spend, and as clear an idea as possible of what kind of used car you want, and what the blue book values are, it is time to begin your search.

I suggest you look in online bulletin boards such as craigslist.org or autoweb.com. Even if you decide against buying used cars from these places, you will have a real good idea what people are selling used cars for.

When you go to check out the car, if you have a friend who knows a lot about cars who's willing to come too, that is of course ideal.

Otherwise, it is suggested you go to a mechanic to get the car inspected. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. Yes, it is an inconvenience, but so is buying a lemon! Years ago, I bought a small sports car. I never got to drive it. It was in such bad shape that every time I started to take it out of the driveway, something new broke. If I had just had someone who was a mechanic look at it and tell me all the things that were wrong with it (or even a few) I would have been able to use that money on something that ran. When buying used cars, it is buyer beware in most cases.

What many peopel do not know is that some mechanics will give you a deal on inspecting the used car you hope to buy, especially if you promise to take it to them if it needs work.

Ask them about this. It could not hurt. They may have a special offer, where the cost of your initial car inspection ends up going towards the car fixing. In short, wheel and deal with your mechanic. You have nothing to lose. Of course, then the mechanic may be tempted to overlook a few future sources of income in the car.

If you do not take the step of going to a mechanic, then your seller must have accurate records of all labor and parts.

It is highly important that they changed the timing belt for instance within the last 40,000 miles. Are there good records of oil changes? Check the lines where the doors meet the body. If the lines between body parts are not even, it is a good sign the car was damaged in an accident and repaired.

The best advice I have is this: if you trust the person you are buying from, you will have better luck buying used cars.

I have bought several used cars and each one came from someone who kept accurate records. I do feel safer with a mechanic's check though. It makes buying used cars so much less stressful.

One best way of buying used cars is to find a retired couple or elderly person who is selling one.

If they are selling because the want to, not because they need to, then I would say, you have found your new/used car! However, a ten year old car with ten thousand miles on it, is still a ten year old car. Some parts deteriorate from age not just use. Buying used cars that have a good record of maintenance may be better than the proverbial used car driven only to the supermarket by an old lady (who never had the oil changed in the ten years).

Remember, when buying used cars, it is buyer beware.

Do everything you can to make sure you do not buy a lemon. Buying used cars is a great way to save money. You just want to make sure the money you save buying used cars does not go to fixing used cars.