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Buying A Used Car? Don't Forget The Basics |
The internet has revolutionised the way we buy things, from paper clips to houses, and so it is with buying a used car. Now, you have access to every cyber garage and individual who lists their cars for sale on the web; the online used car market is incalculably enormous.
To get an idea of how big, just try entering "buy quality used car" into Google and then, if you have the time, page through the 114 million results returned! Narrow the search and make it relevant only to the UK and you will still get a whopping 12.8 million results.
Even if your used car buying query starts online, at some point you will need to inspect the vehicle that interests you before you buy it, unless you are extremely brave, or foolhardy. Whether it's from a dealer or an individual the same rules apply if you want to avoid buying a lemon.
If you are not a mechanic, or if you don't know one who can accompany you to your vehicle inspection, then consider paying for the services of one, or enlist the help of a major car association such as the AA or RAC who offer such services at reasonable cost. It may appear to be yet another expense, when you already have to buy road tax and insurance as well as cough up the cost of the car, but it could save you thousands in the long run, if it prevents you from buying a lemon. On the other hand an inspection could confirm that the car you are buying is mechanically sound and a good buy, and that will give you piece of mind.
Just as important as the quality of your car, is the quality of your car finance and that too must be considered before you enter the market. If you are lucky enough to be able to buy your car with cash then skip this paragraph! Banks and building societies will offer those with a good credit record car loans at competitive rates, or you could go to a specialist car company that offers finance as well as cars. The latter tend to offer finance at higher rates, but are more relaxed with their lending criteria. If you are taking out finance to buy your car, bear in mind that if you dispose of it in less than a couple of years, then you could lose out because of depreciation and finance fees.
And lastly, don't forget that you need to calculate the amount of maintenance and ongoing running costs that you will need to keep your car on the road. It's no good maxing out on the loan repayments only to find that you can't afford petrol!
Article written by John MacKenzie (new and used cars for sale)
This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007 and is filed under Buying A Used Car. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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