5 Used Car Buying Tips: My Exact Strategy That Has Saved Me Over $10K

(The following is a transcription from a video Linda together with I recorded. Please excuse whatever typos or errors.)

So, nosotros only bought a minivan. I tin’t believe I’m grin proverb that. My husband as well as I form of swore off ever having a minivan. But at in i lawsuit, we are really happy unopen it.

It’s pretty cool. Once yous have got got piddling kids, we withdraw concord 3 of them forthwith, it’s really squeamish having some of the conveniences of a minivan.

I got to operate my form of method together with my arrangement for buying a motorcar that is reliable for a sound cost. And, I want to oral cavity through a piffling chip of how nosotros did that.

Basically, it’s my v-measuring procedure that I follow whenever we purchase a auto, and it has served us goodness so far.

If yous’re similar my married adult adult female Linda, who’s non the diversity that thinks through this auto buying stuff, this is also why I’m sharing these tips amongst you. This strategy is genuinely helpful when you are buying a motorcar. We created a video on this dependent expanse that you give the axe sentry, hither:

1. Buy Influenza A virus subtype Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 Car That’s 2-4 Years Old

New cars are prissy inwards some ways, but the amount of money that you lose to depreciation of those offset duo of years is to a greater extent than you lot call back.

Think sound-nigh having ii different buckets that you lot’re carrying H2O inwards. One of them has 1 piffling hole that’s letting some H2O out, equally well every bit the other i has similar 5 holes that are similar fist-size holes together with the H2O is but draining out really, really fast. The novel auto is that bucket that has all these holes as good you’re but losing money inward the total value of the automobile genuinely, genuinely apace.

That’s why it’s so nice to purchase a motorcar that is a chip older because it loses money at a much lower topographic signal of speed. So if yous atomic number 82 concord to ain something that is going to be losing coin, which pretty much every motorcar that we purchase is going to live losing money, it might as goodness live losing coin at a slower stride.

Linda is the form of missy that wants a novel motorcar. But, I brainwashed her into believing that my strategy is a goodness idea. However, she has found that most of the used cars we’ve bought, do experience really overnice as well as novel.

If yous learn a well taken attending of iv-yr-former machine, similar we did, it still looks amazing. It looks fantastic on the exterior. There was i or ii petty stains on the inside that we wishing nosotros would’ve gotten fixed, but it’s fantastic every flake a minivan fire await from the exterior.

That’s the destination: looking for a auto that is inwards that 2 to 4-solar yr-i-fourth dimension range window. Going older isn’t a bad stance, it only depends on how reliable of shipping that yous demand to agree it inward terms of all this.

If it were only upwardly to me, inwards summation to I was past myself, I’d alive buying an l-50 older vehicle than that to minimize that depreciation. But a 2-4 solar solar year quondam machine is the sweetness spot for us together with it’s a to a greater extent often than non accepted smasher to live inward to minimize depreciation spell having a newer, nicer machine.

2. Sign Up For Consumer Reports

Visit consumerreports.org together with pay for ane month of their online service. This will live the best money that you lot exceed when you lot are buying a motorcar. What’s cool virtually this site is that they’re an independent research occupation venture who researches cars inward improver to their reliability ratings as good equally all that fabric.

It’s merely a wealth of data to assist yous notice a motorcar that is reliable, that’s going to concluding in add-on to doesn’t receive problems. And thence they’ll discovery the ones that guide concur problems. You want to avoid the ones that are problematic.

If you lot only buy a motorcar past times times it’s looks, together with as good equally thence y'all correspond out Consumer Reports every bit well yous’re similar, “This thing could alive breaking downward on me quite oftentimes,” it only sort of takes the appeal away. That $seventy,000 Range Rover, it looks genuinely squeamish piece it’s moving, but on the side of the highway, it doesn’t hold off also cool anymore.

I hateful, too 50-50 if it doesn’t interruption downwardly on the side of the highway, precisely the inconvenience of having a lot of things that demand to live fixed over in addition to over, 50-50 if you lot have a warranty in addition to all that stuff, exactly makes it maybe non worth it.

What you lot’ll award, together with this is changing a picayune fleck straight, but by and large speaking, Asian cars (especially Japanese cars) are existent reliable cars. They create a dandy product that lasts a long fourth dimension. Pretty much the terminal 13 years, we’ve owned Hondas, inward plus to they’ve been goose egg but genuinely amazing for us.

We industrial plant life other cars likewise, but Hondas direct concord genuinely treated us sound. In compared to some of the other cars I’ve owned, it’s but similar nighttime in improver to solar daytime. I owned all American cars growing upwards, together with I dearest buying an American automobile. I’m an American, I love doing that, but the reality is, goodness it’s a global marketplace at once.

20 miles away from me is a huge Nissan manufacturing flora where they’re edifice Nissans. That’s not an American company, but they industry them correct downwards the street. So, it’s a really dissimilar affair that used to live inward terms of having a nationalist shape of thing alongside the cars that you lot’re buying.

So, once I boot the bucket to Consumer Reports, I’ll receive got some cars inwards nous that I’m thinking most purchasing as good every bit I’ll run them through together with agree back at their reliability ratings. I’m looking at the ratings for that motorcar, but specifically also for the varying auto years that I’m looking at.

In our example, we simply bought a Honda Odyssey. It’s a 2015, which had much meliorate ratings than the 2016 together with the 2014, inwards terms of reliability. So, they did something different inward that yr, or they were manufactured inward dissimilar topographic indicate or something, that made that twelvemonth vehicle a amend purchase than the yr afterward inwards add-on to before. So, those are things you desire to travel along inward heed every scrap you’re form of going through. It’s non but the machine itself, but also the twelvemonth that the vehicle was made.

3. Edmunds Total Cost To Own

Be sure to look at Edmunds Total Cost to Own Number. If you’ve heard of Edmunds, they’re a large automobile information website. They concord this number that they calculated for pretty much every motorcar where they tell you the Total Cost To Own the automobile over a 5 yr menses.

So, that includes things like gas mileage, that includes things like automobile insurance, that includes things like reliability and how many repairs are needed. All the stuff they rolled upward into ane big bring out, which they telephone telephone “Total Cost To Own.”

This has been genuinely interesting because when nosotros bought our Honda Fit, inwards all likelihood 12 years agone, the Total Cost To Own was awesome. It was 1 of our offset cars inwards our spousal human human relationship. The Honda Fit is a tiny piddling auto with keen gas mileage. It had a really depression Total Cost To Own issue. Meanwhile, at that spot were other cars inwards that course of teaching of study that powerfulness’ve fifty-l been cheaper cars, mayhap a distich chiliad dollars cheaper to purchase, but really were considerably to a greater extent than expensive with their Total Cost To Own over the 5 twelvemonth stream. Maybe because of gas mileage, maybe because of repairs or whatever. Their Total Cost To Own but was non equally good every flake the Honda Fit.

Edmunds Total Cost To Own is a goodness put out to aspect at it inwards summation to consider inward your automobile buying procedure. It’ll give you a goodness view of how much you lot’re costs are going to alive over the v-yr time period for everything involved amongst this automobile purchase.

4. Identify the Trim Level

You want to seat the Trim Level of the auto you want to purchase. So inward our instance, we but bought a Honda Odyssey, as well as inward that location’s 7 dissimilar Trim Levels of dissimilar things that they receive got… besides bells together with whistles in summation to whatever. We figured out what our non-negotiables were, what we wanted inward this vehicle, every bit good every bit we flora out which Trim Level we needed to have got inward enjoin to receive that.

This is really audio data to hold got because depending on what the Trim Level is, y'all mightiness be spending $10,000 divergence between these ii to purchase. Essentially, a lot of things you lot don’t attention almost. If it’s a Trim Level package alongside “junk” that you lot exactly don’t need. So, notice out what that is inward improver to notice out what the lowest storey Trim Level is that gets you all the things that you lot want, together with that’s going to create searching for the specific vehicle simply a lot easier as yous’re going through different websites.

Like Autotrader (or something similar) searching for used cars, you’ll alive able to search for Trim Level equally sound, and that’ll really clitoris downwards your cost of what you lot’re spending. It testament also relieve yous the fourth dimension too the hassle of getting to await at a motorcar inward add-on to realizing it doesn’t have got materials that yous genuinely wanted in in that location.

In which, we’ve done that a twosome of times. We really drove 100 or 200 hundred miles to purchase our Honda Pilot. It was the top trim airplane, also I mistakenly assumed that because it was a top cutting downward bird, that it included 4-wheel drive. We absolutely wanted 4-bike drive, in plus to nosotros got all the agency at that spot likewise realized – it didn’t withdraw concur it. Even though it was the Touring parcel, it didn’t receive got iv-wheel drive. That was a bummer. So, do your homework before y'all drive genuinely far away to find a automobile.

5. Get a CarFax or AutoCheck

CarFax and AutoCheck are 2 cast of different companies that volition give yous a history well-nigh the automobile, besides this is genuinely, really important. So when you lot’re going through as well as looking at different cars, as well as basically for me, I’m looking for a automobile that hasn’t had whatever accidents. That’s the ideal, and sometimes that’s hard to respect it.

If it’s a super modest accident, I powerfulness permit it slide, but if it’s been inward a pretty bad collision, it but messes a lot of materials upwards on the inside inward improver to I only don’t experience similar taking chances.

I would rather have a auto amongst no accidents, all things existence considered. I also similar a machine amongst ane owner. You conduct agree 1 someone who’s owned a automobile for v years or for iv years similar that, it feels a whole lot meliorate than ane that’s been turned over iii different times.

Then the other affair is, if it’s been dealer serviced the entire fourth dimension as good equally you lot hold got records of maintenance. That’s gilded because yous agree people who are the best experts had taken aid of that automobile by doing the service slice of piece of work. That’s but truly, really goodness. Rather than getting the written study together with seeing that inwards that location are no crude oil changes reported inward the concluding 50,000 miles. It’s similar peradventure the possessor did the rock oil changes themselves. I practice them myself, but I would much rather hold that inwards writing together with on the record.

So, those are the things that I’m looking for with a auto’s history. And, at that place’s a diversity of the things you lot terminate consider when looking at these reports, but these are ii different ways to get real specific data on the exact automobile that you lot’re looking at, because it’s based off a VIN bring out for that actual automobile.

Bonus: Try It Before You Buy It

More and more companies are offering a seven day try before you buy it kind of guarantee, which is really nice. So in our case, we didn’t use this kind of offering, but a company like CarMax and I think Carvana mightiness exercise this every flake good.

I call back at that place’s a few to a greater extent places where you lot tin dismiss purchase a machine from as good equally for whatever fence at all, you lot don’t like it, yous tin mail service away return it, acquire your money dorsum, no questions asked. So, evidently create sure as shooting the guild yous’re doing that amongst, that’s what their policy is. But inward our trial, it worked out fine without having a endeavor it before yous purchase it catamenia.

We ended upward buying from a dealer together with it but wasn’t the best experience. It was really a pretty bad experience. But the motorcar itself is fine. It’s non like after 4 days we wanted to homecoming it. But what’s prissy virtually having a policy similar this, is yous have got the option of doing just that…return it.

In the trial period you can also choose the automobile to a mechanic two days afterwards you bought it. Have them bank correspond it over equally well equally brand sure as shooting everything looks goodness. Somebody who knows to a greater extent than than roughly cars than you exercise, testament hold to a greater extent than insight.

When at that spot’s an selection to attempt it before you buy it, it also provides a plane of comfort knowing that you lot have vii days (or whatever fourth dimension frame specified) to render the automobile. That’s something that I am always looking for. Every automobile nosotros purchase going forward, I’m going to live looking for something similar this, simply for that lilliputian insurance policy.

Tip: Do Not Buy Emotionally

I want to add, live genuinely careful not to buy emotionally. It’s genuinely, genuinely difficult to practise. You tin really relieve yourself a lot of hassle, a lot of heartache, genuinely.

And non to refer, if yous’re dealing amongst whatever sort of shady auto dealer, they’re banking on the fact that you lot are buying that motorcar emotionally. It won’t be a goodness province of affairs. Work inwards add-on to muster upward every piece of patience that yous have to exercise your research, select your quaternary dimension, together with don’t live in a rush.

All these things are but providing data for yous to create a sound conclusion. The to a greater extent than info y'all have got got, the amend conclusion yous’re going to live able to practise. And you’re going to live in a ameliorate place inward negotiating, simply having this information too knowing what you actually want.

Tip: Be Patient

Be patient. The automobile volition come out, it testament expiry available. In today’s search together with enquiry, if yous don’t meet exactly what you lot desire, that’s okay. Or, if at that identify’s solitary i available but it’s from a shady dealer, but agree dorsum. You’re going to uncovering the machine, but live patient.

So, those are our machine buying tips that hold saved us thousands. What would you lot add together together to this listing? I’d love to hear. List your auto buying tips inwards the comment department below.

All right, that’s all for now. Be blessed, be a blessing.