Car Buying Tips Guide 1

FACTORS AFFECTING USED CAR VALUE There are a number of factors that affect the value of used cars. Obviouslysome will be more im ...

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HISTORY Back in the day, the only history you might find was some maintenancerecords in the glove box. Now there’s CARFAX and Au ...

history report lowers the car’s value between $500-$2,000, with anTIP: A good rule of thumb is that a report of an accident on a ...

15,000 miles per year, but the Blue Books don’t look at it in that linearfashion. The give a bit of cushion up to about 30,000 m ...

Interior color is very personal, and any affect on value is dependent uponthe area where it’s sold (light colors do better in ho ...

People are understandably cautious about accident damage. About theonly sure way to know is to use a paint meter, which reads th ...

TIP: Sharp or jagged edges usually are signs of bodywork. If it isn’t smooth, the chances are very good it was re-sprayed. When ...

Look for evenness in the panel gaps; this is much easier on late modelcars, as their assembly is generally much tighter. But eve ...

Here is a partial list of what you should pay to have this more minor stuffremedied: Bumper re-spray: $300 (including taking the ...

MECHANICAL CONDITION This one is objectively the most important factor in a used-car purchase.Obviously, the newer and lower mil ...

That’s the day the clock started ticking on the warranty. And keep in mindthat most “powertrain” warranties that cover the engin ...

mechanic you already have history with, I’d go with one of the largeinspection-only firms, such as AIM Mobile Inspections, who i ...

The only other thing I want to mention is the classic manual transmission.Outside of sports cars, the stick shift has become a v ...

Note that CPO cars generally command premium prices, as the cost oftheir inspection, the extra reconditioning work and the extra ...

equation and get the car for less.TIP: Sometimes you can drop the service contract from the^ You can use the savings to get a lo ...

Lately, they’ve cut back the number they buy back, as they want to passthe cost of getting these ex-rentals reconditioned for re ...

get market-correct pricing.TIP: Deduct 15-25 cents per mile from the price of demos to^ On higher-end cars like Mercedes, deduct ...

They’ll typically have higher prices not only because they buy nicer vehiclesat auction but also because their fixed costs for e ...

ONLINE Don’t buy a used car sight-unseen over the Internet without a privateinspection. If you are willing to get the car thorou ...