As I said yesterday – I am in the market to buy a car, and there are several lessons I learned in this process, which I thought I’d share with you in this post about car buying tips
There are a couple of things you should know before you start reading these tips. First is that we are in the market for a used car, and secondly – we don’t have a particular make or brand in mind. We just wanted to check out the options available and then take a decision.
With that in mind, here are some car buying tips you could use.
1. Cars.com is a good resource for checking out car listings online: I have found cars.com to be the best place as far as initial screening is concerned. It is always handy to have an online resource to browse through car listings before you head out to the dealer and in my experience – cars.com is the best place to do that. You can search by make, model, year, location and price – and that gives you a good idea of the nearby options in your price range. It is a good idea to get a sense of the local tax rate and also add about $300 – $400 dealer documentation fee to the price because that is what you will have to pay in addition to the sticker price.
2. Check out the KBB value: I check the KBB value of a car after finding something I like. This usually helps in getting a perspective on how much the dealer is asking for with respect to the fair value, and is a natural next step for me. The thing to keep in mind about KBB values is that there are two types of values – Individual and Retail. Individual prices are lower than retail prices, and based on who you are buying the car from – you should look at individual or dealer KBB values. Another thing to keep in mind is that KBB values for retail cars assume excellent condition. So, if the car you check out is not in great shape – it should be priced lower than the excellent condition price.