Looking to buy a New to you car

[Trunks]

Hey me and my girlfriend are starting to look for a car. We have never owned one before and are on a slightly fixed income so we are looking for used. Anyway, what should I watch for or look for in a used car?

[XPTB]

Watch for leaks....

"Leak? What leak? That's just sweat... from all that horsepower"

[KryoNexus]

i can give ya a good bargaining tip if ya want.

every body panel on the car should be stamped with the VIN number of the car. if it isn't, then the panel has been replaced. this means that it's been wrecked. likely, it's just been a bit of a fender bender, but still, it might get ya some additional change knocked off the price if you bring it up.

second, take up as much of the salesman's time as you can. if you spend a few hours with him, he'll be begging you to take the car.

third, realize that most dealerships (especially on used cars) are buying the car for about 60%-75% of the price that they have it marked. so, for instance, if you are looking at a car that is $15,000, start by offering $10,000 and see what their response is.

lastly, if you can avoid it, don't get an estimate on trade in value and an estimate on the sticker price of the car at the same time. go in once and get a value for how much they'll give you on trade in. then go back and get a value for how much you can buy the new car without trade in. then bring up how much they had originally offered you for your trade in.

oh, almost forgot....buy out of town when possible. more often than not, you'll get better deals if you don't buy in your hometown. the salesmen know that if they don't sell you that car right then, then you're not traveling back up to see them later on. and call around to different dealerships and get preliminary prices before you travel there. you'll be surprised how much bargaining they'll do over the phone.

hope all that helps. it has saved me loads of money in the past. for instance, i bought a car for $16k when it was stickerred at $20k. this was a new car too, which is harder to get a deal on since they come from the manufacturer and not from an auction.

[playafly187]

also, you might try auctions and whatnot.

we just got our "new" car from a repo lot. granted, we knew the owners, we got an 01 chevy malibu for 5 grand... roughly $150 per month, which is pretty darn cheap.

shop around and dont decide on the first thing you see.

[silenze]

i can give ya a good bargaining tip if ya want.

every body panel on the car should be stamped with the VIN number of the car. if it isn't, then the panel has been replaced. this means that it's been wrecked. likely, it's just been a bit of a fender bender, but still, it might get ya some additional change knocked off the price if you bring it up.

second, take up as much of the salesman's time as you can. if you spend a few hours with him, he'll be begging you to take the car.

third, realize that most dealerships (especially on used cars) are buying the car for about 60%-75% of the price that they have it marked. so, for instance, if you are looking at a car that is $15,000, start by offering $10,000 and see what their response is.

lastly, if you can avoid it, don't get an estimate on trade in value and an estimate on the sticker price of the car at the same time. go in once and get a value for how much they'll give you on trade in. then go back and get a value for how much you can buy the new car without trade in. then bring up how much they had originally offered you for your trade in.

oh, almost forgot....buy out of town when possible. more often than not, you'll get better deals if you don't buy in your hometown. the salesmen know that if they don't sell you that car right then, then you're not traveling back up to see them later on. and call around to different dealerships and get preliminary prices before you travel there. you'll be surprised how much bargaining they'll do over the phone.

hope all that helps. it has saved me loads of money in the past. for instance, i bought a car for $16k when it was stickerred at $20k. this was a new car too, which is harder to get a deal on since they come from the manufacturer and not from an auction.

Hey I've worked at a dealership for 3.5 years now....

Not trying to correct Kyro, he's not wrong... just adding my 2 cents..

VIN plate dealy is good... request a CARFAX report on any car you're interested in..

I don't know about the time thing, if you did that here for a few hours jerkin' our chain we'd just tell you to get lost.. you'd have to be pretty convincing that you're a committed buyer, hard to do when you're constantly straying away from the actual purchase...

If you're buying a used car, calling around to different dealerships for price quotes is a complete waste of your time.. if you were buying a new car, getting bids from competing dealerships is a good idea.. make them beat eachother, get the price lower, etc... (also on that note, the dealer in the largest city that you called is likely to give you the lowest price because he turns the highest volume of cars per month..)

Kryo is right on the Auctions thing, but also remember that some dealerships (like our's) recondition the vehicle to be as close to showroom quality as possible... so you might want to ask if they do.. and if they do.. get a printed out service record of it... that's one of the reasons we try to get good buys (to us) on vehicles, so we can make them as perfect as possible (yeah, luxury dealership..)

Warranties are spendy.. the dealership makes a lot of money off of you in regards to price/commission, but a warranty is very good to have, especially on a used car... you *never* know..

GAP insurance is praised... however... it screwed me and left me with $2500 to pay off on my last car that was totalled by some 17 yr old chick... so I have no advice on that.

You're not trading a car in, I know, but... Trade-in value is one thing.. Market Value is another... sure.. your car could be worth $5,000.00 according to kbb.com and how you've rated it by their "condition" levels... but the dealership can almost always buy a car a little nicer than your's at an auction for considerably less...

Some things may differ between US & Canada, don't ask me what... hope that helps some hehe..

[Trunks]

I've been pricing various cars as of late. I really don't know if I am going to be able to afford one lol. Cost of the car, gas and insurance together will likely overwhelm me.

[silenze]

I've been pricing various cars as of late. I really don't know if I am going to be able to afford one lol. Cost of the car, gas and insurance together will likely overwhelm me.

Yeah.. got almost $600 USD going out the window every month just for payment/insurance myself..

[achilles]

My Two cents you've already heard.
But for everyone elses enjoyment (not really I just have a hard time keeping my opinion to myself.)
Cars are a huge waste of money. this ( :eat this: ) should be done to you if you buy a car J/k but I still don't recommend a car, our town is small enough that you can walk anywhere and even for the GF to Cab to her school is cheaper than a car in the long run.

[Trunks]

Yeah I know but thats the thing it restricts me to this bloody town.

[achilles]

hey there ain't nothing wrong with this town, other than the only thing to do for a date is a movie or bowling or the bar. and it smells cause of the processing plant, and we only have two crappy malls, a KFC makes crappy chicken, and nothing exciting ever happens here, and it's an hours drive to Halifax,and.... Hey your right this town is crappy. either way you should finish school first.

[undergroundtech]

hey there ain't nothing wrong with this town, other than the only thing to do for a date is a movie or bowling or the bar. and it smells cause of the processing plant, and we only have two crappy malls, a KFC makes crappy chicken, and nothing exciting ever happens here, and it's an hours drive to Halifax,and.... Hey your right this town is crappy. either way you should finish school first.


Lol :lol:

[Trunks]

In case you guys can't guess achillies and I are in the same class and with that goes same town. And hey man nothing wrong with KFC, nevermind that I work there haha.

[silenze]

Cars aren't a huge waste of money in this country... it's a huge sense of freedom.. heh

[XPTB]

Cars aren't a huge waste of money in this country... it's a huge sense of freedom.. heh

yeah, and apparently the size of your junk is determined by what you drive.

[silenze]

Cars aren't a huge waste of money in this country... it's a huge sense of freedom.. heh

yeah, and apparently the size of your junk is determined by what you drive.

Gotta have something to be proud of. :lol:

[Caj Darkmoon]

Darn... what does that mean when I drive a small, japanese car?

[silenze]

Big trucks and high powered/priced cars = small winky :wink:

Phallic substitution.. :lol:

[undergroundtech]

Big trucks and high powered/priced cars = small winky :wink:

Phallic substitution.. :lol:

I wouldn't know :wink:

[silenze]

I see them at my work every day. 8)

[achilles]

I see them at my work every day. 8)
I hope you mean cars. :P

[Caj Darkmoon]

I see them at my work every day. 8)
I hope you mean cars. :P

I take it you dont know what sil does for a living? :)

[silenze]

I see them at my work every day. 8)
I hope you mean cars. :P

I take it you dont know what sil does for a living? :)

:lol: