Best Tips For Buying A Used Car

Last month, just two days before our family vacation my car was struck by lightning. At fist the damage to the car seemed minimal, as the exterior of the car was completely intact. The curtain airbags on the passenger side deployed and the car could not be turned on and none of the electrical equipment worked. While we were away the insurance adjuster let us know that the car would be considered a total loss and I would not be getting it back.

My lease on that car would have ended in January so I had already started thinking about what route I was going to take once my lease expired. I had already decided that instead of new lease I should buy a used car to save money. After speaking with our financial advisers they recommended we pay for the car in cash instead of getting a loan for it since I knew that I did not want to buy a car over $15,000.

So I set off to find my new, USED car. I usually do a lot of research before I buy or lease a car. My go to sites are: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks along with https://www.edmunds.com/ and https://www.kbb.com/ . There I review the cars in whatever category I am looking for and how they rate on the features that are important to me like, safety, gas mileage, and reliability. I was very clear that I wanted a compact SUV with good cabin space, and upgrades. Since I was buying a used car I wanted a company that had a reputation for being reliable and affordable to maintain.

After reading through reviews I narrowed my search to Mazda CX5 and Chevy Equinox. I set up a broad, saved search on Craigslist and Facebook Market Place for compact SUVs with under 100,000 miles. I needed a car with no damage, and low miles. Not much came up in my price point, or if things came up they had over 65,000 miles. I visited a local Enterprise Car Rental location that also sold cars. They did not have much and the cars they did have were slightly over my target price point, since they were all only 3 years old. I kept looking online at other used car sites like Cars.com which feature certified pre-owned cars.

I was convinced that buying through a private party would be the best value but my husband wanted the warranties of buying a certified pre-owned car. After calling our local dealership we realized that most dealers will sell you an extended warranty on most used cars. This helped him relax, knowing that if I did manage to find a used car on my own we could buy our own extended warranty.

I soon found the perfect car on Craigslist! I know, very scary but the prospects were good. It was a grey 2014 Mazda CX-5 Grand touring. That was the same car I had, just 2 years older. It had all the features I wanted, like BOSE speakers, leather interior, all wheel drive (AWD), backup camera, and heated seats. The owner wanted $15,500 which was over my budget, but it had under 48,500 miles so it was a strong contender. I set up a meeting with him in a public parking lot and I let multiple people know where I would be. For the initial meeting I brought nothing with me. No money, no checks, nothing valuable. I arrived earlier than the seller. Since it was a public parking lot there was a security officer driving around. I let her know that I was meeting someone to look at a car and she kept her eyes on me. Normally, it is best to ALWAYS bring someone with you. Since I had taken precautions by getting there early and letting the security guard know, I felt safe enough.

The seller was accompanied by his young child and was very pleasant. That made things easy. He was prepared with all the maintenance receipts that had been done at the Mazda dealership. He also brought an old car fax sheet on the car. Since his was older I decided I would run a new one if I wanted to pursue the car further. I looked at the interior and exterior of the car and was satisfied. I let the seller know that I was interested but that I would need to set up another meeting where I would want the car inspected. I also took the VIN # of the car so I could do my homework.

Don’t Feel Rushed. Do Your Home Work!

From the time I contacted the seller to the time I actually purchased the car, it took about 5 days and three meetings, but I wanted to be sure that I was completely happy. On our second meeting we agreed to meet at an auto center that would conduct an inspection on the car to ensure that everything was in order. I highly recommend this if you are buying a car from a private seller. The range in cost is $45-$150 depending on where you have it done and the most pricey being if the mechanic drives to your location to inspect. This will give you peace of mind to know that you are buying what you think you are buying. The mechanic checked the car and also did an additional test drive. I also ran a report on https://www.carfax.com/ and was satisfied that there were no loans on the car and no accidents on the report either. I also reviewed the title which said, NO LIENS.

After haggling back and forth the seller and I agreed on $14,400, SCORE! I had reviewed the value of the car with the CarFax value feature and the Kelly Blue Book estimate. Based on all my research I was prepared to pay $14,700. The fact that the seller spent so much time letting me make up my mind let me know that I could negotiate down, so the extra $300 off was nice. I went to my bank and got a Certified Bank Check for our agreed price. We agreed to meet for the third and final time, at the DMV for the hand off because I did not have my own plates. Make sure you have plates with you if you are driving the car home before registering at the DMV. You don’t want to be pulled over.

Registering a USED car

Now that I had the car’s title signed off from the seller in my name it was time to register the car. Here’s a list of what you need in NY State.

• Original Title
• Driver’s License
• Proof of Insurance (can be taken from your phone as long as they can scan the bar code)
• Bill of Sale https://dmv.ny.gov/forms/mv912.pdf
• a completed Vehicle Registration Application (PDF) (MV-82) 
• credit card or cash to pay taxes on the purchase
• credit card or cash to pay registration fees

Yay! We just bought a USED car.