What Makes a Good Used Car Purchase?

Blaine

 

What makes a good used car purchase?

Because we’re a car dealer we’ll share our perspective as to what a good car purchase is. In a nutshell it’s when all party’s feel as though they’ve been treated fairly and with respect at the end of the day. Obviously car dealers are no different than any other types of business.. There are always a few bad ones, but luckily for consumers and the good car dealers. The bad ones are soon found out and end up putting themselves out of business.

But let’s get back to what makes a good car purchase. For starters it takes a good car! All car dealers acquire their cars in one of 3 ways.

1) Buy cars at the big auctions: Typically we like to purchase one owner trade ins or lease/rental program cars. One owner cars are generally well maintained and periodically traded off by single women or older people that just feel more secure in riding in a newer car. Typically every 3-4 years they will trade in whatever model they own and purchase a new one. And because they like feeling mechanically secure they observe the maintenance schedules on whatever vehicles they own. If it’s a program car, they’re perfectly maintained by the companies that own and lease or rent them. All in all these are the number one types of cars we like to pick up and have available at our dealership.

2) Trade ins: When we typically take a car in on trade we take a very close look at it. This gives us a chance to bring it up to top mechanical shape before it hits’ the lot.

3) Buy cars from individuals: We don’t buy a lot from individuals, but do on occasion have a person stop in wanting to sell their auto. If it’s in good shape and they’re offering it to us for a fair wholesale price we may end up purchasing it from them and putting it on our dealer lot.

Beyond having good car in the cue, the car must be sound and offered for a fair price. Some of the sources for determine a fair price can be found online at Kelly Blue Book Online or a source like NADA’s Official Car Values. Visiting either of these respected resources will get you in the ball park for knowing a fair price on any car or truck purchase you may be considering.

Another good resource for checking the condition of a vehicle is VIN CHECK and it’s FREE. The only draw back to VIN CHECK is that it only checks to see if the car is stolen or has been listed as a total loss before. And yes it’s sad but there are people who will by a total loss vehicle. Repair it to the point where it’s passable. Then try to sell it to an unsuspecting customer.

When you’ve landed yourself on a vehicle that you want the last thing to do when you’re sure this is the one is to ask the dealer for a CARFAX on it. If you’re serious about buying it and the dealer knows it they won’t have a problem spending the extra 30-40 dollars to provide you with one.

At the end of the day, if your sales rep has been respectful and answered all of your questions about the car. Taken you on a suitable test drive of 15 to 20 minutes including all ranges of driving (city/highway) and you’ve gotten a fair price on the vehicle that’s in accordance with industry standards. Then congratulations! You’ve made a good used car purchase.

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502-498-5573