How To Buy A Used Car
My oh my, the choices, the options, the decisions that come with buying a used car. In this article, I won’t even get into “HOW” to choose a car, but rather once you’ve limited your search down to a select few, I’ll put out a few questions you should ask yourself, the seller or a mechanic to get you through the purchase relatively unscathed.
Questions to ask before buying a car:
Does it have what you need?
There are “wants” and there are “needs”. You NEED a car that runs trouble-free, has had all the maintenance done on schedule, hasn’t been abused, etc. You may WANT a car with leather, sunroof, navigation, heated seats, convertible, etc. Decide what are WANTS vs NEEDS first to narrow your search down even further to make you decision easier moving onto the next several questions.
How to Get Out of an Upside-Down Car Loan…FAST!
I’ll admit that I’ve lost over $15,000 between 2 different car trade-ins, but it was because I wanted a new car, not because I had to get out of the loan. But if you find yourself in the position of owing more on the car than it’s worth, here are some tips to get rid of that car loan quickly.
1. Get a good estimate on your car is worth
There are a ton of sites out there that tell you what they think your car is worth, but you need to get an evaluation from many sources. I advise doing at least the following:
- Get the True Market Value (TMV) from Edmunds.com. Be honest with the condition of your car because very few cars will really sell for the “Excellent” price. Most cars are Good or Fair. Same goes for
- Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com). Keep in mind though, that these sites are often what vehicles are listing for, not always what they’re selling for. Look at the trade-in and private-party values and know you’ll probably have to settle somewhere in the middle (unless you have a hot car, which depends on the market).
10 of the Biggest Mistakes in Buying a Car
I think about cars daily (hence I have a car blog), and I even had to ease up on my writing because I got so juiced up about buying a car from just reading about them! But there’s some big, big mistakes you and I can definitely make when buying a car that can easily be avoided, such as:
- Thinking only about monthly payments. I used to think like this, and some of my close family members and friends have done so in front of me recently, but it’s the wrong way to think! Think about a) how much the overall cost is, then b) if you can really afford it in the long run (especially if something happens physically or financially) and c) how much will you be spending extra in interest.
- Buying more than you need. Heck, I bought a new car thinking we were going to start a family, but that family never came and we were stuck with a gas-guzzler.
Why You Don’t Need A New Car
The economy has been fluctuating up and down, but you’re either a car geek (like me) or you just don’t like/want your old car. What to do?
While many boomers will say that the golden age of motoring is long gone, I would beg to differ. Speed, gadgets and safety have never been cheaper, as are interest rates, and supplies are staying high on many new vehicles.
So why wouldn’t you buy a new car if you’re looking at one?
Well, I have a few arguments against buying a new car. Some are common sense, some not. And being a car geek myself, I know that many of you will just try to reason yourself out of many of them anyway, but here goes…
Money
The first obvious reason, although maybe it isn’t that obvious to some, is the instant depreciation of your vehicle when it’s signed over into your name and you drive it off the lot. Maybe you negotiated thousands off the price or got a 0% interest rate, but you’ll still lose money on the deal thanks to the taxes you paid and the value lost from the title transfer (you’re now owner #1 and each new owner makes the vehicle lose more value).
Tips for donating your car to charity
Find the charity, don’t let them find you
As with many charities there is a lot of money spent on acquiring donations. In fact, some charities spend the majority of their funds on acquiring more donations – leaving a lot less for the actual charity recipients themselves. This is why some people choose not to give to charities that solicit donations.
With the car donations, it is even worse. There are many For-Profit companies that advertise as a means of donating your car to charity and they leave very little left for the charity. They typically leave the charity 50% to as little as 10% of the value of the car – and keep the rest as their revenue.
The better way to find a place to donate your car
Since the charity car donation thing has gained so much interest, quite a few charities now have this as an option – even though you may never see them advertise it. So, next time I donate a car, I am going to call charities that I am already familiar with and trust and ask them if they accept car donations. Not every charity will accept them, but you might be surprised how many do.
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