Journal Bull999999's Journal: Don't make the car manufacturers richer; buy used instead.
An average car will lose 25% of its value (some better, some worse) per one year of normal driving. That's a bad news for the person who bought the car new, a good news for someone who's buying used.
Car manufacturers make billions of dollars per year. That doesn't mean that you need to be one of those people who contributes to their profit. Make yourself richer instead by buying used and let the other person spend his/her own money foolishly.
Here are some tips for buying a used car:
1. Once you find a car that you are interested in, look up its book value on Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com) and NADA Guides (http://www.nada.com), as well as local classifieds of similar cars.
2. Get the VIN number and run a Carfax report (http://www.carfax.com) to make sure that it was not involved in any major accidents.
3. Test drive it to a trusted mechanic to have it checked out. If the seller is unwilling to have it check out, walk away. While test driving, write down any deficiencies that you can use for the negotiation later.
4. After everything checks out, it's time to negotiate! Never ever pay sticker/advertised price. Remember that as the buyer, you have the power to walk away. I found that threatening to walk away almost always work with the used car dealers when the negotiation seems to go no where. In one situation, I was able to negotiate $1250 off of their so called "best offer" by haggling and threatening to walk off after about an hour of negotiation.
After buying the car, take a good care of it to squeeze as many miles out of it. If the car came with the owner's manual, follow the maintenance schedule as described in the manual. This is one case where RTFM does pay off. Unless you do a constant highway driving, follow the "severe" schedule. If the manual's missing, search the Internet or buy a repair manual at an auto parts store. Many people believe that an oil change every 3,000 miles is all there is to car maintenance. Those same people also wonder why their transmissions aways seem to go out before its time. Don't become one of them.
If you can, save enough money to buy the car with cash, which is easier with used cars since they are cheaper. This will allow you avoid interest, save your credit for something else (i.e. home loan), and also allow you to get a liability only insurance coverage to save even more money (if you are a good driver).
Finally, use the money you've saved for investment or donate to your favorite FOSS organization. Happy motoring!
Car manufacturers make billions of dollars per year. That doesn't mean that you need to be one of those people who contributes to their profit. Make yourself richer instead by buying used and let the other person spend his/her own money foolishly.
Here are some tips for buying a used car:
1. Once you find a car that you are interested in, look up its book value on Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com) and NADA Guides (http://www.nada.com), as well as local classifieds of similar cars.
2. Get the VIN number and run a Carfax report (http://www.carfax.com) to make sure that it was not involved in any major accidents.
3. Test drive it to a trusted mechanic to have it checked out. If the seller is unwilling to have it check out, walk away. While test driving, write down any deficiencies that you can use for the negotiation later.
4. After everything checks out, it's time to negotiate! Never ever pay sticker/advertised price. Remember that as the buyer, you have the power to walk away. I found that threatening to walk away almost always work with the used car dealers when the negotiation seems to go no where. In one situation, I was able to negotiate $1250 off of their so called "best offer" by haggling and threatening to walk off after about an hour of negotiation.
After buying the car, take a good care of it to squeeze as many miles out of it. If the car came with the owner's manual, follow the maintenance schedule as described in the manual. This is one case where RTFM does pay off. Unless you do a constant highway driving, follow the "severe" schedule. If the manual's missing, search the Internet or buy a repair manual at an auto parts store. Many people believe that an oil change every 3,000 miles is all there is to car maintenance. Those same people also wonder why their transmissions aways seem to go out before its time. Don't become one of them.
If you can, save enough money to buy the car with cash, which is easier with used cars since they are cheaper. This will allow you avoid interest, save your credit for something else (i.e. home loan), and also allow you to get a liability only insurance coverage to save even more money (if you are a good driver).
Finally, use the money you've saved for investment or donate to your favorite FOSS organization. Happy motoring!
