Buying a car is a hassle, especially when you are looking for a used vehicle. The sellers can be incredibly expensive and tend to not be entirely truthful. How are you expected to know how to handle yourself with those kinds of situations?

Know how to protect yourself from overpaying for a used car. Check out these tips that will ensure you know what you’re looking for, and know how to get it. 

Research Before-Hand

Before you go somewhere to look at used vehicles, do your research. Have an idea of what you like, and what you don’t like in a car. Have a minimum year that you would like to purchase. 

It is recommended to research natural disasters in the area to see if you should look into a car that was made after that year. In New Jersey, it is a known fact that people should purchase a used vehicle for 2015 or newer, due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy in 2013.

Make sure that you have the ideal car in your head, and then research how much it should cost you on average. Print this information out, so that you have a justification for the vehicle being too pricey. 

Having information on a car under your belt is a great tool to make sure that you can call out a scam from a mile away.

Set Your  Pricing Boundaries

Understand what your budget is. What is the most amount you are willing to spend on a vehicle? Through your research, what is the least amount you can expect to pay for the items you want in your vehicle?

Take Into Account Urgency

If you are buying from a single party, like your neighbor, or someone in the next town over, you should take into account how quickly they need the vehicle off of their property. If they need it off within the next 3 days, you are more likely going to be able to negotiate the price. 

If they have time to wait, or they don’t have a reason behind giving the car away, you might be in for a tougher time. People are more likely to negotiate if they know they have a limited time to have the car. 

Start Low

Start your price negotiation lower than you expected. This gives you and the seller room to talk about the price and will allow you to potentially pay less than the asking price. This is where having the research comes in handy.

Having that research in your back pocket will justify each issue that you find with the listing or the value of the car in general. This should not take into account anything wrong with the vehicle, as this is for later. 

Bring Cash

People are more likely to give you a better price if you pay with cash upfront. People say that money talks, and it is still true in this case. People will do anything to have cash in their hands, even take a few hundred dollars off in order to get it in their hands right then and there. 

Bring Up Issues

Check out the car, or bring someone who can. Any kind of issue that the car has, or may show signs for late, bring it up. Take money off of the cram as you will have to pay for this to be fixed up later. 

It isn’t worth paying the asking price for issues that might not have been mentioned before. Take money off for each time that you find something wrong with the vehicle. 

Be Persistent

Being persistent is key. They are going to do their best to make sure that you pay the money that they asked for the vehicle. Whether that means that you don’t get the car or not. Remember, some things are meant to be, and some are not. 

Remember that if you get the car, you should make sure to protect it with a DriveSmart Warranty. Whether things are wrong with it later or not, you should always make sure that you have DriveSmart on your side when something goes wrong.

Blog By: Brooke Lazar