How to find a great used car
When I was a beginner, looking for a used car was a nightmare. I would start with
a model, pass to another model, change make completely, look for a 2 years old one
and then for a 8 years old one. I just did not know where to start from! However,
as time passes, I have learned some good tactics that make the job much easier:
1. Narrow your search to 1 model
The first thing to do is to pick the model we know we like and we desire the most.
Obviously, this is one of the most important decisions to be taken. Make sure that
the model you pick is robust and well built, and that it is easy to find cheap parts
for it, in case anything goes wrong. In order to achieve this, read car reviews
(you can use our car reviews search engine
to find them) and also do the following:
- Search for that particular model between our used cars database
- Look at the average mileage for that model
- Look at the top mileage for that model
- Compare the two figures with other models. If the figures are low, then probably
the model you like doesn't really last too long.
While you doing your comparison, also count how many used cars are on sale for your
particular model and compare that figure with other models. The higher the number
of advertisements online for that model the easier (and possibly cheaper) will be
to find parts for your model.
Now that you have finally found your model, stick with it! Start arranging viewings
and get familiar with your model. In this way, after a few viewings you will start
being able to distinguish a great used car from a bad one. If you change your model
every time you go for a viewing, you will only get confused and it will be harder
and harder to distinguish a good car from a bad one, and ultimately, to find a great
used car!
2. Make sure the previous owners are okay
Usually the owners make the difference. You can find FIAT cars in perfect conditions,
because have been well treated by the previous owners, and Mercedes-Benz cars in
the worse conditions, just because of the owners! When you go for a viewing, specially
for a sportive car, make sure that you speak with who was driving the vehicle, and
try to figure out if he might have abused the car. Also, if speaking with a lady,
try to find out if her kids drove the car too. Look for funny stickers around or
signs that could indicate that a kid has been driving the car.
Pay attention when viewing vehicles that have been leased, rented
or that
were part of a company's fleet. When leased or part of a company's fleet they usually
cover a great amount of mileage, and when rented usually they go through bad experiences
as the people driving often doesn't really care about them (and actually at times
enjoy treating them as bad as possible).
3. Ask lots of questions about the car
When going for a viewing, ask as many questions as possible about the car.
Here we have a great list of questions that you can print out and bring
with you. Also, don't forget
checking the odometer (in case the mileage has been
lowered) and reading through our hints
on securely buying a used car.
Well, hope the three hints above will help you finding a great used car. Often is
just a matter of narrowing down your search to one model, and viewing as many cars
as possible of that model. You will soon become an expert and easily spot the good
one!
Good luck!
Giammarco Schisani
*Published the 28th of September 2007
P.S. If you have any suggestion on how to improve this article, please
let me know!
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