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Buying Used Cars? Use This Check List

Buying used cars goes beyond your personal style. Used car searching is about finding a car that fits your lifestyle and budget.

Look beyond the sticker price

buying used cars

Look beyond the sticker price of the vehicle. Gas mileage might be eye-catching because it cuts into your monthly household budget. Buying a vehicle is also about wear and tear and overall maintenance like do you have to replace hub caps, blinker lights, or do an oil change? These are all maintenance tasks to keep your used car running in good shape.

Talk to your insurance guy

The next thing to look at is insurance premiums for a used car do you want to have to save up a lot of money every month to cover insurance costs on a shiny sports car or do what is manageable for you. Before picking out a vehicle you may want to talk to your insurance guy to see what is going to be financially sound for you.

Look at multiple used cars

Now you don’t want to just buy any used car on the car lot you want to make sure the used car has the reliability you want. Yes, maintenance is always going to be a factor but how long do you want to be under the hood? Make researching used cars in your neighborhoods a priority so the vehicle can last you long-term.

You want a vehicle that is going to hold its value for a while. Don’t become upside down on the vehicle just because it’s what you wanted at the time and when you go to buy your next car the current vehicle you have is the value of a trash can. Be smart with your vehicle choices and shop around at local car lots. A higher resale value on a used car is a better investment.

Shop used cars in other cities

Some good areas to look for used cars are Philadelphia, Kansas City MO, and Grand Rapids Michigan. You can also look for used cars in the Detroit and Cleveland Ohio area. Don’t forget Rochester New York or Pittsburgh Pennsylvania either.

Find out what the dealer means with certified pre-owned

Even though you have a certified pre-owned car from the car dealership you will want to ask the car dealer if the manufacturer certified the inspection because some car dealers do the inspections in-house and others have third parties inspect the used cars. You want to be ready to ask the right questions for certified pre-owned vehicles.

Read the fine print

Find out what the fine print means on the contracts. See what is covered and what is not with a certified pre-owned car. Some car dealers may offer you low-rate auto loans for a used car. Certified pre-owned cars should have a better long-term warranty. With some car dealers, you may see them extend the warranties an extra six months and give you that new car bumper-to-bumper warranty even after the original warranty has expired. We want to help you in buying used cars.

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