Do your research and ask the right questions before you buy
Today, it's much easier to buy a good used car, for one simple reason - the Internet. The onslaught of information available via automotive and government websites makes it hard not to find a good used car at a fair price. The best way to go about it is to create a profile of your ideal used vehicle. Be as specific as possible, include preferred options, color, acceptable mileage range, and the approximate price you're willing to pay. Take your profile and shop used car classifieds, making a list of potential vehicles as you go. Narrow this list to a few select vehicles that fit your profile.
The profile will help you find the car you really want. But you still have to follow some basic dos and don'ts in order to get that dream car into your garage:
DO -- Turn into an automotive "private eye", with the Internet as your information-gathering tool. Check current trade-in and market values, as well as recalls on that model year. Read reviews, and study reliability information and safety ratings. There are a number of quality websites that offer this information at no charge. If everything checks out, take your research to the next step: investigate the specific car you plan to purchase, and order a specific used vehicle history report. Consider the rate of ownership change. Ideally, a 2 year-old-car should have one owner, and a five-year-old car shouldn't have more than two owners. Multiple owners may be a warning sign. Also, remember to ask the owner or dealer to provide service records. Note: dealerships will only have service records for vehicles they service in-house. If they do have records, however, chances are that they'll be well organized and complete.
