Car Salesman
Confidential:
How To Buy A Used Car
It's All About Who You Can Trust
By Mark McDonald | August 01, 2014 |
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.
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.
A Word About Rental Cars.
Many times, dealerships
will supplement their
used car inventory with
vehicles from rental
car companies
.
The reason is simple: they need
the inventory. A
dealership can't just sit around
and wait for customers
to trade in what's popular,
so they go out and
buy desirable vehicles from
rental companies, or at
auction. A lot of people
are put off by
this, but they shouldn't be.
If a car is in good
condition it shouldn't matter
who the previous owner
was. (In fact, you may
even have a better
chance that the vehicle was
properly maintained
because most rental companies
perform regular
maintenance.) Rentals will
typically have a little
higher mileage on them
than comparable
privately owned cars, but that
also means they're
priced lower. I have sold
many a used car that
came from a rental fleet
and had no complaints
yet.
3. Buy a Certified Used Car
If you've been out cruising dealerships lately you
may
have noticed some of the cars have stickers
on
them saying things like "Certified" or
"Certified
Pre-Owned." What this means is that
the car
has gone through an inspection process,
been
serviced and, if necessary, repaired, and is
being
sold with an extended warranty. For example,
if
you come across a Certified Honda, it means that
the
regular 5 years or 60,000 mile drivetrain warranty
has
been extended to 7 years, 100,000 miles.
This
is a tremendous value. A certified car has a
warranty
on it that, in some ways, is better than
the
original factory warranty. Certification offers
every
used car buyer extra "peace of mind" that
they
haven't bought a lemon, and knowledge
that
the manufacturer stands behind it.
Of
course, a certified car will also cost a little more
than
a car that isn't certified, but in my opinion it's
worth
it. A Word About "As Is" Vehicles.
Most of
the used cars found on dealership lots
have a
sticker called the "Buyer's Guide" or
"As
Is" that tells you whether or not the car has
any
warranty left on it. Pay attention to this sticker.
If it
says "As Is," it means As Is -- you're buying the
car
just as it sits, with no warranty. There's an old
saying
in the car biz that, if you buy an "As Is"
vehicle
and you drive it off the lot and it breaks
into
two pieces, you own both pieces. The dealership
is
under no obligation whatsoever to fix that
vehicle
for you. Here's the thing. If you discover a
problem
with an "As Is" vehicle before you complete
the
paperwork or drive it off the lot, most dealerships
will
probably fix it for you -- depending on what it is.
If
it's a minor cosmetic issue, like a broken cupholder
or
soiled carpet, probably not. But if it's something
major,
like a bad headlight or mechanical issue,
they
probably will. Just be sure to get any promises
in
writing on the "We Owe" (that's the document
the
dealer uses to remind us of what we owe
the
customer). Verbal representations in the
middle
of a sale tend to get forgotten, or can
be
distorted by memory, so always get it in writing.
Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/1408_car_salesman_confidential_how_to_buy_a_used_car.html#ixzz3As5KeVjF
