Looking for a used car?
There are several ways to look for used cars. One can not
specifically say that one way is better than the other way.
This is my take on this subject. The information given here comes from car buying experiences
of mine and my friends'. This stuff is put up here for the benefit of newbie grad students
looking for a car. I do not claim this to be the guide for buying cars. And if you
think that this is the only way one should buy a car, you are mistaken.
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The first step, in my opinion, is to fix up your budget. Preferably a range.
e.g. $3000 to $4000. You should be now hunting for cars which are somewhere mid-way this range.
- Fix up the year that would be the cut off. (in 2000 my cutoff was 1990 models)
This is purely a matter of choice, but it helps to limit and focus your search.
- Eliminate manufacturers that you don't want to look at. The criteria is for you to decide.
e.g. All high end cars like merc, bmw, audi etc. (expensive), OR
May be you want Japanese cars (reliable, long lasting etc.), OR
American cars like GM, Chrysler, Ford (luxury), OR
German cars (rugged) etc.
It's purely a matter of choice.
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Cutoff mileage. for me it was 70K. Because 70k onwards used cars start
having maintenance problems and 70 to 90 k is the period where you
have to put in more money for maintenance. Usually people put this cutoff at 100K.
- Automatic or Manual (stick shift) or anything.
- Sale type, dealer, unregistered dealer, private.
avoid unregistered dealers, mostly go for private, but if your budget is
OK then you can go for proper dealers (you end up paying more but you
get a warranty).
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Start looking at yahoo classifieds , newsday/cars.com
and other websites. Get a feel for different makes, different models, and corresponding prices.
use the previous criteria to restrict the search.
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Start reading about different models and other things about the cars.
epinions and Google are good sites to find relevant info.
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After a few days you will start getting a feel of prices for makes, models, mileage,
year, features, condition and other things. The main features are, music,
ac, heating, power steering, power locks, abs brakes, windows etc. etc.
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After you have a good feel of the market prices, if you like a car call up the owner and ask
him/her about the car, things like what features it has, was there an
accident, if there was any problem with the car, if there were any major repairs etc. etc. can be discussed.
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Checkout the car, ask some experienced driver to drive the car and see if it is worth buying.
- Check out the valuation for the car at Kelly Blue Book
and Edmunds.
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Negotiate a deal, checkout the insurance cost that you have to pay.
If you don't have a drivers license yet then you may need to pay a higher insurance.
Even for new cars your insurance (just minimal
liability) may be more than 1500 bucks for a year. It will increase if
the car is older. So consider insurance also while deciding your
budget. The only way to reduce this is to get a license and get
driving experience. But for that you need a car.
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If the car is worth buying and you like it, then get a carfax
vehicle history report. You can get unlimited checks from carfax for 2
months. You need the VIN number for that. Carfax charges about 20
bucks for unlimited checks (in 2 months) and 15 bucks for a single
check. I actually found out that one of the cars which I had almost
bought was a rental vehicle and was owned by 3 different rental
companies before it was auctioned. You may get very useful info like salvage declaration or
accident history or other details.
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Finally get an auto-critic check done, it will cost you about 150
bucks. It will give you a thorough analysis of your car and its
condition.
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Once you buy a car, and later you find that there is some problem
with it, don't worry too much and try to get it fixed. If it requires
alot of money then be prepared to lose the car or the money. But if
you put in enough time and do a good research and then put in a
decent amount of money while buying then may be you won't have to worry
about it. On the other hand if you go for a sub-thousand dollar car then
chances are that you are draining your money.
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Be prepared to spend on good car research and get to know
different things about cars. This is better than spending time
making trips to mechanics and getting to know different things that
need to be fixed or replaced.
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Let people around you know that you are planning to buy a car. You
may end up getting a cool deal through your friends. The deal I got
was extremely good since it was through friends.
I would appreciate your comments to make this thing more helpful and comprehensive.
Please mail your suggestions to srikant@cs.sunysb.edu
© 2001 Srikant Sharma
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