A Consumer’s Guide to Buying a Used Car

Buying a car is a big decision. Cars are so vital to our daily lives. Most people depend on them to get to work, and many workplaces won’t hire you if you don’t have reliable transportation. That means an unreliable vehicle can actively threaten your financial future. Of course, repossession is also incredibly destructive, so you want to make sure you’re not making poor financial choices while attempting to score your next ride.

We want to make sure you have an outstanding car buying experience! That’s why the team here at King of Cars has put together this guide.

How to Get the Best Price when Paying with Cash

If you’re paying cash or have your own financing already make sure you let the dealership know, then make them a fair offer on the car of your choice. We recognize this runs counter to a lot of the information that’s out there, but…hear us out.

Mark-ups on vehicles aren’t as high as they used to be. The Internet puts a whole lot of information at customer’s fingertips, so both parties only have so much negotiation room to begin with.

However, you’re under no obligation to tell us that you have cash or a pre-approval when you come in. You can focus on negotiating the price of the car first and foremost. You can even test drive the car first to make sure that you’re talking about the car you actually want to buy. This is in fact the best way to handle it if you’re afraid that the knowledge you’ve got cash to pay might influence the dealership to charge you more for the car.

Of course, you have to know what “fair” is so make sure you do use the Internet to find out what the average sales price of the vehicle is. Don’t request thousands of dollars off the asking price unless you can back that request up with some solid research from the Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds.com.

What You Should Know About Financing the Car In-house, or Working with a “Buy Here, Pay Here” Dealership

Most dealerships do offer in-house financing. Your first step is to find out the dealership’s finance requirements. In particular, you need to know what documentation the dealership requires, whether they will only finance local customers, and whether or not approvals are based solely on your credit score. This allows you to come prepared when you come to the dealership, and it gives you some sense of how much bargaining power you’ll have when it comes to negotiating the terms of your loan.