Different ways to purchase cars

Local dealers are no longer competing with just each other; they are also competing with every car dealer and seller on the internet, local papers, trade papers and individuals. The classifieds are a wonderful source of purchasing good used cars, but you as the consumer has to know what you are looking for.

Surfing the internet for the best buy on an automobile has become natural. At kbb.com or nadaguides.com you can input whatever information you have on a particular vehicle, tell the website where you live and within minutes you have the trade in price or retail price. You can print the information out and take it with you to the dealer.

I'm not too in love with websites which pretend to let us know if a car has been in an accident or a flood. Those
websites only know what is put on them. Let's say a pickup has been part of a fleet used in the oil field and is then releasesd by the company to a dealer that purchases used vehicles for re-sale. If all the information on that vehicle has been input to the online center then there is a good chance you will know what has been done to that particular vehicle. But, let's say the vehicle has been in an accident and repaired at a shop that doesn't report repairs to the website. There is no way of knowing, unless you drive the vehicle, that something isn't quite right with the vehicle. Some problems to look for are: problems with the frame, balance of the tires, alignment of the tires, amount of wear on the tires, engine problems or misfires, does the air conditioning or heater work, are there any loose wires hanging down from the dash, does the radio work, is there an antennae, do the electrical components work; also roll up the windows and listen for any high pitched whistling which may indicate something has gone wrong. If the odometer says the vehicle has low miles, but the drivers seat is worn or looks like it's had a lot of use, chances are the odometer has been turned back in order to make it look as if the vehicle has low miles. You might want to check if the airbag has been deployed at any time and redone or not fixed at all.

One of the best things you can do is to ask the dealer if you can take the vehicle to your own mechanic and have him or her look it over and determine if this vehicle is worth your time and effort. If the dealer balks or your gut feeling is that something is wrong then you have more looking to do. Just know that you do not want to be driving an unsafe vehicle and if your teenage child is going to have the car--you especially want that vehicle to be a safe one.