Now is a great time to buy a used car, but getting a quality pre-owned model can be a daunting process compared to shopping for a new one. There are a lot more factors to consider to get the right car at the right price. Here are some of the most common mistakes used car shoppers make.
They Don’t Do Their Research
We have seen this time and again: a person buys a car that your average gearhead knows to avoid, and that car has some catastrophic failure which costs the buyer a lot of money to get back on the road.
People will spend hours figuring out which smartphone to buy, but won’t put in the same amount of time when selecting a car. Since pre-owned cars are often out of warranty and have some miles on them, it is even more crucial to read up on what models are known for their reliability and which cars could be major headaches down the road.
This doesn’t take a lot of work. Resources like Consumer Reports, TrueDelta, and the Long Term Quality Index all have tons of data that can tell you which cars are worth buying and which ones are likely to be money pits.
Research is especially key if you’re the adventurous type who fancies themselves a well-depreciated luxury or exotic car. Go on the forums, talk to owners, maybe even chat up some technicians that work on these rides every day. In order to avoid very troublesome and expensive repairs, buyers of specialty cars really need to know what they are getting into.
They Have A Bias Towards Imports
Ask anyone off the street what a good used car is and they will probably say “A Honda or Toyota.” And they would be right. But a lot of people think that the Asian brands are automatically a more reliable purchase than an American car, which is not the case.
By ignoring domestic models, used car buyers could be missing out on a very reliable car that will often be newer and will have fewer miles than a similarly priced import. For example, if someone was shopping for a sedan for around $8,000, your average Accord at that price will have around 80,000 to 100,000 miles. While that is really nothing to worry about for a Honda, that same buyer could have the very durable Chevrolet Impala with 50,000 to 70,000 miles for the same price.
Again, this comes back to research, but often the best values in the used segment for shoppers on a tight budget are what I call “old people specials.” These are often near-luxury domestics like Buicks and Lincolns driven gently be retirees.
They might not be the most stylish rides, but they can often be had for cheap and will often run for a long time.
They Assume Dealer Cars Are Better Than Private Party
While buying a car from a dealer may be more convenient…
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