Buying a car is the second most expensive purchase after your house. One needs to do some research and planning to find the best used cars to buy. Follow these 10 tips to make sure that you are making the most informed investment.
1. Assess what you need first
You must be sure what you want in a car. Better to think these practically considering your present and future requirements. It should include your type of driving i.e. highway or within the city driving, whether you require driving through snow or ice; safety requirements it must have; whether you require a child car seat; if you require all-wheel drive; how much fuel efficiency you require; the garage or parking space available etc. for ascertaining what is the best used car to buy.
2. Set the budget
Never purchase a car with you hearts it could be extremely dangerous. Rather you must apply your logic to find out how much you can afford. Such calculation will help you to stay within your means. Unless you are purchasing the car outright in cash, you have to make monthly payments and the thumb rule says that you should never go beyond 20 percent of your monthly take-home salary. So you must budget accordingly including all your expeditures. This will help you to know if you can buy best used cars under 20000 or best used cars under 15000.
3. Short list your choices
While preparing to get the best used cars to buy, you must have some idea about what to look for. To have some buffer you try to look for the best used car to buy which is priced at least 5 percent less than the budget you have in mind. If you can lose the deal like this you will have some amount saved for insurance, running cost and other allied costs. You should also consider the price quoted against model, year of manufacture and mileage. It is better to short list cars from less popular but reliable brands for getting used cars under 1000.
4. Try to find used cars for sale in the locality.
There are many used car dealers across the country for best used cars to buy. You should start searching webs if there is a sale of used cars in you locality. These websites also allow to search based on the car features like, make & model, year of manufacturing, quoted price, distance covered and many more. As such it becomes easy to find out a match with the requirements. One can also search online ads such as AutoTrader.com and eBay Motors.com etc for getting information on best cars to buy used by certified pre owner.
5. Dig into the car history
You must finishing digging into the history best used cars under 10000 you intend to purchase. Obtaining the vehicle history report is a must and none should buy a car with a discouraging history report. You can use the services of AutoCheck or Carfax to get a vehicle history report or you can check provincial records using the vehicle identification number (VIN). Moreover find out the insurance cost of the car, if it is very high you should smell a rat and dig further in.
6. Do rigorous inspection
Not two used cars under 5000 are the same and therefore these are to be inspected with meticulous care and attention. Vehicles that have undergone repairing after collision are really difficult to spot. You must check if there are overspray spots on door seals or any other place, you must also check under the seats for glass fragments. You must use the services of a third party garage for professional inspection of the vehicle before nodding to get it. If the shopper does not allow this and there are definite reasons for that and better be off form the deal. But if the car is a CPO car you may skip the mechanical inspection.
7. Have a test drive
Only by test driving you can get to know about the condition of the car. While undertaking test drives you must do it with your normal driving habits to check if the car renders comfortable driving. Also check the seat and mirror adjustments for a good visibility. If your usual route covers mountain you must check the car on steep slopes. Also check in details if you are comfortable with the dash board controls and its functions. If you are satisfied with test drive, then check for servicing records for scheduled maintenance performance.
8. Find out all ownership costs
There are many cost associated with a car besides the price. You must calculate all those for finding out the average ownership cost each year. There are many auto information websites that provide you with such information or you can also check it yourself considering the insurance cost, average fuel cost depending on your driving schedule etc. You must also consider the resale value unless you are certain to keep it for very long period.
9. Negotiate with best options
You should look for the best interest rates available for purchasing best used cars under 5000. You must have settled a maximum price for your chosen car but offer the authorized seller lower than that. Bargain hard and be prepared to leave when you reached your prefixed limit. Remember sometime this becomes the strongest negotiating tool. If negotiation fails, then check for other cars.
10. Closing the deal
If you are happy with the above 9 steps then you can think of concluding the deal. If you are buying used cars under 3000 through close the deal at the finance and insurance office. For buying from the private parties make sure that you have made full and final payment and the seller immediately arranges for proper transfer of title and registration in your name. Make sure that you have the insurance coverage before you are on the wheels. The vehicle licensing and registration rules are different in different states and, therefore, you must check what is applicable in your state. Only after completion of all these paper works you can relax and enjoy the prize catch: best used cars to buy.