Still, after all these years, there are unscrupulous car dealers who want to sell you rubbish used cars, cars that you cannot afford or cars that are just plain dangerous. Having been in the used car dealership trade for many years now I think that it is important that people have the right information on hand before they even go to look for the perfect used car.
We often buy used cars because our finance swill not stretch to a brand new one – in the perfect world we would all buy brand new! This isn’t possible and I think it is essential that people can shop for used cars confidently without worry of getting ripped off.
What follows are my essential 14 tips for ensuring that you buy the used car that is perfect for you and that you don’t overspend while you are at it.
- Work out how much you have to spend on the car itself – this is your figure and stay solid with it
- Know how much the peripheral costs will be – insurance tax, maintenance
- Know what it is the car will be used for, long distance or shirt distance
- Know what sort of car you are looking for – don’t get pulled into any clever sales patter
- Know the going price of any car you are looking at – this will give you a head start on negotiating the best price
- Shop around