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Buying a Used Car

A tongue in cheek guide for the frugal on how to buy a used car

Buying a Used Car

You walk into the car dealer, the salespersons not sitting at his desk, but the mandatory framed picture of him and the kids is placed on his desk.

You don't go by the photo, it was probably taken when he went to impress the in-laws at a christening 10 years ago.

Ah, you breath a sigh of relief - he's a good decent family man with conscience, pride and a dutiful husband and parent.

Maybe is, and I apologise to those who are!

Be Prepared!

Go prepared, sandwiches for lunch and a book to read whilst he goes out the back to "speak with the Manager". If it's a decent Dealer, they'll have coffee on tap, so the Thermos isn't really necessary.

You look round and finally come to the car you really like. Let the bargaining begin!

Then it's not "How much do you want to pay"?, but "How much can you afford a month"?
Maybe a sensible and reasonable price is established on the purchase, but then you come to introduce your old car to him.

"I could do more if it were black, if it had 200 miles less on the clock, had a rear seat ashtray, on-board plasma/DVD player" etc.

Thing is, he's doing his job, but you are the customer and you want the best deal possible. For them, to sell the car at an acceptable profit for their company is OK. For you, what you pay is what you can afford, what you ideally want etc.

Remember - YOU ARE IN THE DRIVING SEAT - don't budge and when he says "final deal", and you still don't like it, close the bargaining down and say you'll have to go and think about it. He knows that, should you leave on that sentence, the chances of coming back are almost zero.

So it's a waiting game and one pack of sandwiches may not be enough.

If you finally get WHAT YOU WANT and are happy, watch out for the payment schemes . Any scheme they offer will be on a commission basis (fair enough) and regardless of the much better deal the Bank gave you yesterday - his will have some trimming and be so much better in the long run. Yes, if you believe that I have some wonderful deals just for you!

Study car loans carefully and then spend as much as you have available in cash.

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