How to find and get a great deal on a used car online.
The best deal is always to buy from a private party and not a dealer. In this case you are usually buying “as is” and are responsible for deciding the condition of the car.
But if you don’t know much about cars this can be risky: a car with a warranty from a dealer might be a better choice for you.
Now to begin your search:
1) Search your local paper classifieds (which are becoming less useful since most people are selling online now).
2) Cars.com and autotrader.com
3) check ebay.com (you might get a great deal, but its not always possible to check out a car beforehand)
4) Craigslist.org (try Crazedlist.org and craiglook.com which have better interfaces and let you search broader areas).
5) Check kbb.com and Edmunds.com for used car pricing on the model you are interested in. Also they have check lists of things to inspect when viewing/test driving cars you are thinking about buying.
6) Make an appointment to check out the car and drive it. Print out “things to check” list from above sites before you go.
Don’t let the seller know you are “VERY INTERESTED”. Pretend to be only interested if you can get a good deal.
Always know the Blue Book value and print out the price estimate and take it with you. Sellers put a list price of what they would LIKE to get. But will often take thousands less!
BARGAINING:
Instead of offering asking them if they will take a certain amount. Point out any problems with the car and ask them how much they are willing to move on the price. They may offer to reduce the price before you even start to negotiate. I often say on the phone, “I have to drive quite away to check the car out so can you tell me your lowest price so I know if its worth my time to come take a look.” Many sellers will give you a great price just like that since they want you to come buy their car! When you do see the car in person, you are in a better position to start negotiations since they have hopefully already given you close to their final desired price.
NEVER PAY MORE THAN BLUE BOOK! You can always find someone who is more desperate to sell than you are to buy.
Don’t be in a hurry. Thousands of cars are listed every day. If you search for days or weeks you will “know the market” much better by the time you actually buy.
Save up and pay cash. You can always get a better deal paying cash since there is ZERO hassle for the seller.
Most cars need to be smog checked when sold. So you can make it a condition of the sale that the seller goes to get the car smogged before you buy it.
Print out a BILL OF SALE from the DMV website of your state. You will have to pay car registration and taxes when you go to register the car.
-Grayson