In recent years, with
the transaction price of the average new
car climbing past $30,000, and the
sluggish economy, more
and more people are electing to keep their cars a little
longer,
or buy used. So the question is, how do you keep from getting
stuck with
a bad used car? Here are my suggestions,
as a ten year veteran of car sales:
1. Establish a Relationship With a Salesperson
Any time you buy from a
person you've never met,
whether he's a salesman for a dealership or some guy
on eBay,
it's a bit of a gamble. The seller may be a straight shooter,
and the
car he's selling may be perfectly fine. Or he may
be a con artist and the car
may have serious problems with it.
In my opinion, a good strategy is to find a
salesperson
you trust -- maybe the man or woman you bought your
last new car
from -- and work through them.
When it comes time to buy something used, call
them up
and tell them what you're looking for. If he's smart, your
salesman
will steer you to a car you'll be happy with,
if for no other reason than he
wants to sell you more cars
in the future.
2. Buy From a Large Dealership With a Good Reputation
I'm
not knocking small "Mom & Pop" dealerships,
because I have many
friends who work at places
like this and there's nothing wrong with the cars
they sell. But I think you have a slightly better chance
of finding a good used
car at a large, well-established
dealership. There are two reasons. First,
large dealerships
have service departments, whereas your local "dirt
lot"
probably does not. Chances are good that any car you
find at a large
dealership has at least gone through a
basic Safety Inspection to make sure the
tires are good,
the brakes work, and nothing is wrong with the steering.
Most
dealerships will also check the fluids and change
the oil. With a small lot you
just have to take the seller's
word for it that the car is mechanically sound,
or arrange
to have your own mechanic inspect it. Second, a big
dealership has a
bigger reputation to protect. They
know that if they abuse you, you'll go on
line and write
a bad review or complain to their corporate office, and
nobody
wants that. So they go to greater lengths to
make sure their used cars are
sound, and they'll be more
responsive to your complaints after the sale. Let
me give
you a quick example. A used car manager at a large
dealership I know
went to an auction and bought five
used BMWs for a song. On the outside, these
cars
looked fine -- but every single one of them had
frame damage.
I'm not sure
how this guy expected to get away with
it, but his plan was to sell these cars
without disclosing
the damage and make a killing. But when their history
was
discovered this guy was fired – instantly -- and the
cars never even made it
onto the dealer's lot. A large
organization just cannot afford to do business
like that.
A Cautionary Word About CarFax. CarFax is
great . . .
but don't put all your faith in it. CarFax only reports
what's
reported to it. If two people have an accident,
but choose not to report it, it
won't show up on the
CarFax. Second, just because CarFax says the car has
been
in an accident, it doesn't mean it's a "bad vehicle"
or you shouldn't
buy it. Read the fine print. Was the
vehicle unable to move on its own power,
and had to
be towed away? Or was it able to be driven away?
The fact is, the
collision might have been a minor
incident with only minimal damage, but
because
the Police were called and a report was taken, it
shows up on CarFax as
an "accident." Third, even
if a vehicle is involved in a collison,
if
the damage has been repaired properly there's
no reason to avoid
buying the car. See if records
are available, and ask how it was repaired and
by whom.