You can find used cars anywhere from for sale signs on vehicles by the side of the road to a corner of the parking lot of the new car dealership. You can also buy a vehicle from dedicated used car dealerships. Here are a few of the benefits of buying from a used car dealership.
It Is a Better Overall Bargain
Buying a used car is almost always a better deal than buying new. This is because cars depreciate far faster than most other assets. They’ll depreciate 10 to 20 percent the moment you drive them off the car lot. A car that’s one to two years old may go down a third in value, but it will be good for another ten years or 100,000 miles.
You Might Get an Extended Warranty from the Manufacturer
This will depend on the car dealership. For example, a new car dealer who has a neighboring used car lot may offer pre-inspected and already repaired vehicles to those priced out of the new car lot. Private buying a used car dealerships in Kalispell, MT. may reduce the risk people take when they buy used by offering a warranty that goes beyond promising the engine won’t die in the next three months.
You Have More Choices
Used car dealerships that aren’t tied to a specific model or brand can offer a much more diverse inventory. For example, they may have exotic vehicles in addition to popular cars a few years old. You can find cars that are trade-ins that are one to three years old and rugged work trucks a decade old that you won’t feel bad about if they’re hit by a trailer. They may have electric cars, hybrid cars, and flex fuel vehicles as well as standard gasoline powered vehicles. They may not have a wide selection of these less common cars, but they’re going to provide a deeper discount on these cars than the branded car lot that specializes in these cars and considers the cheaper used version a favor to customers.
It Is Safer
It is safer to go to a dedicated car dealership than attempt a private sale. There are too many horror stories of someone showing up with cash to buy a car and getting robbed. Or you pay cash for what turns out to be a stolen vehicle. If you’re lucky, you paid for it but get hit with the bill for mechanic liens when you try to register it.
Do not buy a car based on the myth that you can just take over their payments. Someone offering that deal opens you up to potential liability, because they aren’t on your driver’s insurance. The person who merely takes over the payments cannot get insurance for the car in their own name unless they have the title. If the “seller” doesn’t sign over the title, they can in theory take the car back at any time. And they could do so by reporting the car stolen. You can’t just take over someone else’s car loan, unless you are going through a divorce and get it refinanced into your name.
You Have More Control
Going car shopping at a used car lot gives you far more control than hunting for a bargain on the private market. You can show up at the dealership when it suits your schedule, not when the other person is available to meet. You show up at a known location that is there to serve you, the customer. If you don’t like their price, you can negotiate. If you don’t like the dealer financing, you can arrange your own.
