What You Need to Know About Buying A Used Vehicle

It's a good to buy a used car and to save some money on the depreciation of new cars. But you need to be careful, as it is easy to be taken for a ride by a used car salesman. The advice and strategies here should work whether you buy from a private person, a dealer, from a leasing company, or if you buy rental cars being sold to the public. Please do not buy a used car in hurry. Especially when the sales man is forcing you to buy the car, please take a day or two to get all the background reports and then proceed to buy the car.

Before buying a used car fix your budget. Don't forget that after negotiating the final price of the car, you will need to allow some extra cash to cover tax, title and tag.

Check out The Black Book market value for the car you have decided to buy.
Ask to see a vehicle history report before you buy the used car to see if the car was totaled, salvaged, rebuilt, flooded, failed inspection, stolen, gross polluter, how long the dealer had the car, or if it has odometer fraud.
Have a mechanic put the car up on a lift for inspection and to check for accident damage.
Have your own financing and loan approvals ready before you go shopping, not after.
Avoid high mileage used cars.
Watch out for used car airbag fraud!
"As Is/Warranties On Used Cars" Never sign an "As Is" paper at a used car dealer get at least a 30-90 day warranty included.
Never take delivery of a used car from a seller without the title!
Don't forget about sales tax!
Buy an CAA Membership; this is a lifesaver in case of a breakdown.

1. When you decide to buy a used car, first find out the model, which best suites your wallet. You should also think about what kind of vehicle you would need (Sedan, SUV, Van, etc.) then go shop around for the car and get the make, year of manufacturing and the model #. Log on to The Black Book and find out the market value.

Then check all the used car classifieds and see how much sellers are asking for the car you want to buy. Keep in mind no one ever gets his or her asking price, so take the selling prices with a pinch of salt.

2. A vehicle history report is your best protection against buying a used car with costly, hidden problems. Searches of a nationwide database can provide a detailed report in seconds. Enter the VIN# of the car and you can search over 550 million vehicle records. Even without a VIN# you can search cars in your province that are odometer fraud vehicles, or salvaged. Each year 2.5 million cars are wrecked, and 1 million of them end up back on the road. Chances are that you are buying one of them. Ask your friends if they encountered the same scam.

The Vehicle ID Number (VIN) can be found in the dashboard on a metal strip and title documents. All cars and light trucks built after 1981 have a unique 17-character VIN that contains valuable information about that vehicle's history. You should also be able to find the VIN# inside the driver side door on a factory sticker, the passenger door, the trunk, the hood, and sometimes the engine and other major parts have one, or it's engraved. Walk around the car, check, doors and panels for the VIN#, and making sure all of them match.

3. A mechanic can put the car on a lift and insantly spot previous crash damage, hidden frame damage, corrosion, and fluid leaks. Your mechanic can't tell you if the title is rebuilt, or if it's stolen, or passed through a salvage auction. Most mechanics ignore airbags. Some municipalities don't supply accident report info, that's why you still need to have a mechanic look at it. The vehicle history report is only as accurate as the data from their sources. Why should you spend money on a mechanic? Wouldn't you rather spend a few dollars on a mechanic now, than $3000 on repairs later when the axle falls off?

4. The need to have your own financing and loan approvals ready before buying a car can save money, time and energy. If you don't shop around for the finance options you end up paying more interest. Shop around with 3 different finance companies and get the info ready before you buy the car.

5. Avoid high mileage used cars. The industry standard is 20,000 KM per year. If you go over that, it reduces the used car's value. High mileage reduces the used car value by thousands, no just a few hundred. It is strongly suggested that you not to buy cars with more than 250,000 KM on them. But if you want to buy a car with more than 250,000 KM on it, then make sure you do your reading and fully understand what you are getting into.

Myth about odometer rollback: Many people think digital odometers cannot be rolled back. With digital odometers, the current mileage reading is stored in a flash chip or an EEPROM. It's easy to remove the EEPROM and reprogram it with a lower mileage, leaving no signs of tampering, so you must perform a title check.

6. Watch out for used car airbag fraud! They can be over $800 to replace them. Airbag fraud is a huge and profitable scam. When cars are wrecked, the insurance companies pay for damages including airbag replacement. But many unscrupulous repair people keep the money without replacing the $800 airbag, many companies sell fake airbag covers so that you think you have an airbag but you really don't.

Many people, maybe even you, are driving around in a used car with no airbag, even though you think there is one there. How can you really tell if it's there? You can't see through the airbag cover. That's why you need to know if the car was wrecked. If the car had previous accidents, or other title flaws such as "Junked", "Salvaged", have a mechanic verify that airbags are properly installed in your car. In some provinces, reports can tell you if the airbag was deployed in an accident, if police investigators check it off in the accident report.

7. Unfortunately there are no clear laws if you sign an "As Is" paper. Many used car dealers sell cars with "As Is� or no warranty.

NEVER EVER sign an "As Is" paper at a car dealer. You want at least a 30-90 day warranty or DO NOT buy the car under any circumstances whatsoever! The minute they stick an "As Is" paper in front of you, get up and walk out. Verbal promises mean absolutely nothing. If they claim there is a warranty, get it in writing, and read it.

If you buy from a private seller, it's "As Is", you have no choice, so get an extended warranty.

8. If the seller does not have the title, they are not the owner of the vehicle. NEVER take delivery of a used car from a seller without the title! NO TITLE, NO DEAL! IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

9. Don't Forget About Sales Tax! Check out the laws and procedures of transferring title in your province. Next, fill out the back of the title to register the car in your name with the province.

10. CAA Membership is a real lifesaver. It saved my life so many times I have no count. Just go to their website, key in your zip code and you have the nearest CAA listed. The membership is useful for various other things also. One of such example is CAA does not take service charges when you buy travelers check.

Before you drive away the car, make sure you have the following:

The title
A signed copy of the bill of sale
The maintenance records
Be sure the car has a spare tire and jack

Don't forget to ask if there is a special wheel lug key. Many cars have special locking lug nuts on the wheels that require a unique lug nut key to get them off. Without this key, you cannot change a flat tire, and a repair shop cannot replace your tires. Make sure all brake lights and other lamps work, and check the fuse box for blown fuses, replacing any as necessary. You don't want to get pulled over by the cops for no brake lights on your way home. Ask the seller for receipts for the battery or alternator. Many auto parts stores have lifetime warranties on alternators, or will prorate a failed battery ONLY if you have the original receipt.

About 30 days after you buy your used car, run another vehicle history report to catch any last minute title issues that could have pooped up days before you bought the car. Some provinces can take over a month to propagate their info to their database. The seller could have rebuilt the title a week before you bought it so it might not show up in a title check for a month.