Buying a Used Car Online - Shopping the New Way

<b>How to Buy a Cheap Used Car</b>


Many of us dream of buying a cheap used car. Well, let抯 amend that a bit. Many people dream of buying a cheap, good, used car. Unfortunately it抯 all too easy to get a cheap used car that抯, well, cheap. You抳e probably already got one of those, though. Here is how you can get one of the cheap, good used cars.

There are several things to consider. The first thing to think about when you抮e looking for a used car is what your requirements are in a vehicle. If you need to drive yourself 40 miles a day to work, a Chevy Suburban is probably not your best choice. Conversely, if you take your family of 7 on trips while towing your boat, a Suburban would be a great vehicle for you. You can save quite a bit of money by getting only what you really need in a vehicle. While that may not be very exciting, the money you save will be.

Once you抳e decided what type of vehicle suits your needs the best, narrow down which vehicles in that category will be the most desirable. The less picky you are when it comes to things such as colors, brand, and features, the easier it will be to get a great used car, cheap. A few features you shouldn抰 overlook are safety and reliability. After all you, and possibly your family, will depend on this car, and if you think about it, your lives are at stake every time you ride in it. Check Consumer Reports and MSN autos for reliability figures. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does some very good tests to determine the vehicle safety in a variety of different collision situations. Check them out as well.

Once you抳e narrowed down the field a bit, it抯 time to start looking for your new, used car (isn抰 that an oxymoron?). Look for some of the less popular, but still functional, reliable, and safe brands. You抣l save some money for example, by foregoing a Honda for a Nissan, or skipping a Toyota and landing in the driver抯 seat of a Mazda. One other point to consider is that today抯 vehicles hold up remarkably well with far beyond 100,000 miles showing on the odometer. In fact, they can still look and run almost new at this figure. So, don抰 let a few miles scare you. You抮e buying the car for what it has left, not what it has.

Once you found a car that seems to fit your requirements, there are some things you should check to make sure you are in fact getting a good, cheap car, not just a cheap car. Locating one that has been well taken care of is vital. While today抯 vehicles are remarkably robust, they do require regular maintenance to ensure they will provide the years of service of which they are capable.

They may run like Swiss watches, with the highly engineered, internal parts spinning about in a fine, choreographed ballet, but that example of modern engineering could turn into a pile of very expensive junk if it doesn抰 get the care it feels it deserves. The subsystems for modern vehicles are very expensive. It抯 not uncommon for a transmission to cost between $3,000 and $6,000. An engine may set you back almost $10,000. The moral here is that a bit of careful investigation could save you a big headache later. You need to act like a horse trader in the old west. Look at the old girl to be sure you really want to take her home.

When you抮e out shopping, you should definitely check the vehicle抯 history. You may discover all manner of horrors hiding in it抯 sordid past. Carfax works very well for this. Bring a laptop or mobile device to access the web while you抮e shopping. You can get unlimited uses for a month for a pretty reasonable price, so you can check out a large number of prospective vehicles as you抮e shopping.

When you抮e actually looking at the car, kneel down and sight down the car抯 body lines. If they are wavy or you can see obvious imperfections in the paint, chances are the car has been damaged and repaired at some point. Another trick is to bring a small magnet with you. If the car has metal body that抯 been repaired with body filler putty, the magnet will not adhere to the repair as well as it does to the other parts of the body. Crawl under the car and check the frame or unibody members for any signs of bending, corrosion or other damage. See if it looks like the car抯 underside has been places you wouldn抰 take a car you loved.

Pop open the hood. Pull out the dipstick to check the oil. See if the oil is between the 揳dd