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Buying a Used Car? Be Prepared.Nov 10 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Are you looking to buy a used car? Want to make sure that you are getting the best deal? Well, if you follow these simple rules you can be assured that you are not getting ripped off by paying too much, or by buying a problem vehicle. Rule #1 – Don’t buy an impulse. This is the number one rule for any large purchase, but it especially applies to buying a used car. When you buy on impulse you are buying based on emotional reasons, and when thousands of dollars are involved the last thing you want to rely on is your emotions. So once you find a car that you fall in love with you will need to emotionally separate yourself from the buying process. You do this by walking off the car lot and waiting a couple of days to make your decision. This day or two of cooling off will allow to research the car you have chosen to make sure that you are indeed getting a good deal. Rule #2 – Check the Kelley Blue Book value. Once you have found the car that you love, you will need to find the actual value of that make and model of car. The easiest way to do this is to find the car’s “Blue Book”. The great news is that you can do this online for free at KelleyBlueBook.com. This “Blue Book” value should become the maximum amount that you are willing to pay. If you are comfortable at negotiating you can shoot for a couple of hundred dollars under the “Blue Book” value. Rule #3 – Check the title history on the car. This rule will protect you from buying a previously wrecked or damaged vehicle. Armed with the VIN (vehicle identification number) from the car you are interested in, you can check the title history at Carfax.com. For twenty dollars you can order an unlimited number of history reports from CarFax.com. These title history reports will tell you whether or not a vehicle has a problem title (damaged, salvaged, etc…) CarFax.com also guarantees the clean title reports, and will pay you up to a $1,000 if the clean title report turns out to be wrong. Obviously if the used car you want has a problem title you will want to look for another car. Rule #4 – Have the car checked by a mechanic. The last step you should do before you sign that purchase agreement is to take the car to a mechanic and get it checked out. For a small fee, you can have the entire vehicle looked out to make sure that everything on the vehicle is functioning properly. If the mechanic finds any problems you can use this information to either look for another car or negotiate for a lower price. If you following these five rules you will increase the chance that you will get an excellent deal on the car that you have chosen. Just remember that the three most important thinks to do when buying a used car are research, research, and research.  |
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