Carfacts Used Vehicle Purchase

The best place to start looking for your used vehicle is at a New car Dealership.Carfacts has found most of the New car Dealerships only keep the best used cars for their lot and either sell the rest at auctions or to buy here pay here lots.

Some new car dealers now have their own buy here pay here lots as it is a big business and they can make more money on these vehicles than on a lot of others due to the higher prices for high mileage,high risk clients and almost always a very high interest rate.

Also check out your local National chain car rental companies,here you can find some very good deals on late model used cars that are usually low mileage and for the most part well maintained,and have factory warranty left.

I have purchased my last two vehicles at one of these lots and have been well satisfied with the deal and the vehicle.And both had over 20,000 miles left on the factory warranty.

Make sure you have a qualified mechanic or have a title search done before buying a used vehicle from either an individual or used car lot.This will save you a lot of headaches later.

Any legitimate used car dealer won't object and an individual shouldn't either.If either do object it would be a good idea to look somewhere else as they are probably trying to hide a problem.

Some other Carfacts tips include:if you find one or more vehicles you like that look the same go with the one with the lowest mileage as this will benefit you if you want to resell.

Look for a used vehicle that was loaded with options when it was new.The vehicle will deprciate as a whole and even though you will pay a little more for a loaded used car than for base vehicle you will still get all those options for less than if you would have paid for them when new.And a well equipped vehicle will still be worth more when you decide to sell.

Find out who the previous owners were and check for maintenance records and repair records to see if vehicle has been maintained or has had serious repairs done to it.

If it has had mulitiple owners or mulitiple repairs and no maintenace or inconsistant maintenance records this should throw a red flag and just back away.

There are several companies that check records and vehicle for a reasonable price that can save you money.A dearler or individual shouldn't complain if you have a check ran.A dealer should pay for it and you could offer to pay 1/2 the cost to an individual if report comes back clean.

Make sure who ever you are dealing with that everthing is in writing so there can be no mistake on what you agree on.

Carfacts on finding a good used car at great prices click here....

Some Carfacts for buying from a private used car lot or an individual you will need to do a little more foot work to make sure the vehicle is as said and not going to give you a lot of problems.

Carfacts has found some of these lots and some individuals will sell you a vehicle that has been branded.Branded could mean a lot of different things and none of them is good for you the buyer.

Branded titles is a document issued in all 50 states and the District of Columbia stateing that the vehicle was either:junked,salvaged,rebuilt or reconstructed,flood damaged,manufacture buy back,mileage not accurate etc.

These types of vehicles can be bought out of your state and brought back and sold with a "clean" title and you wouldn't know it was branded.A lot of used car lots and individuals make a good living selling these vehicles to the unknowing buyer.

Carfacts on some things you can look for before buying,check the vehicle body look for uneven or wide gaps between body panels,doors,hoods and deck lids.check for paint color difference or overspray inside doors,hoods etc.

Check under the hood,oil should be fairly clear or light brown(if black vehicle hasn't been well maintained or well past due for a change),transmission fluid should be a bright to pale red,if it brown to almost black and has a burnt oder you can bet there is a transmission problem.

Start the vehicle and listen for abnormal noises in the engine at idle and as you bring up the RPM.Brake torque the engine(hold brake and bring up RPM while sitting still)and listen for pinging,rattles or knocking noise.

Look under vehicle and on ground for signs of leaks,green or light reddish color would be antifreeze,bright red would be transmission fluid,and brown should be engine oil.

Take the vehicle for a road test and check for abnormal noises such as excessive rattles,whine noise on acceleration or decelleration.The transmission should shift smooth with no jerks,slipping or delays.The vehicle should go straight and not drift or pull to the right or left.If any of the above are abnormal have vehicle checked by a professional mechanic.

Look iside the vehicle for excessive wear to seats,door panels,switches,knobs and pedals for the mileage on vehicle.

Again it would be well worth the money spent to have a vehicle checked from one of the companies specializing in this type of reporting.

I will be giving more tips in upcoming Carfacts newsletter and in my new Carfacts book.