Do used cars have warranty? Yes, most of our cars come with remainder of factory warranty that goes with the car automatically.
Should I do “Buyer Inspection” on newer cars? Inspection doesn’t hurt, but unnecessary for cars with factory warranty and generally waste of money for following reasons
All of our cars have passed vigorous inspection already, we wouldn’t have bought them if not safe and sound at the first place, both to protect the buyer and to protect our investment in these fine cars.
Modern cars have extensive built-in diagnostics, malfunction will trigger check engine light with specific error code. Inspection cannot see inside of engine/transmission, it relies on the same computer diagnostics.
Typical buyer inspection is similar to the the checklist you’d get with an oil service and road test. You can easily inspect wearable items like tires and brakes yourself. Do you honestly believe 1 hour inspection can cover such complex machines?
Factory warranty is the best protection, what’s working now may not work a month from now, that’s when warranty comes in – it covers the futrue
Do the inspection if it buys peace of mind, it’s your money.
Should you buy a car that has been in an accident? Short answer is “it depends”. 60%+ of cars on the streets has some kind of body repair at some point and vast majority are perfectly fine. We have already done the hard work of screening out lesser cars, so whatever we have in stock are always perfectly safe and in great condition. We have seen clean history cars with major body/structure damage and repairs, and also plenty cars with no paint or repair but have accident history. Typically if there is police report, even the slightest scratch becomes collision in history report. And most insurance don’t report even major damage/repair. See the . Severely damaged cars will have “rebuilt” or “salvage” title, meaning insurance have written them off as total loss.
Why report shows my car has been through “Auction”? Is it normal? Absolutely – wholesale auto auctions are the main distribution channels among manufacturer, bank, financial institution and dealer. All dealers get their cars through wholesale auto auction as well. Don’t confuse these with insurance auction which are primarily for damaged/totaled cars.
Why all the cars priced above/below online price guide like KBB? Online price guides like Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds, NADA Guide etc., are exactly what they claim to be – a guideline and range and should be treated as such. They don’t sell cars, so it’s NOT the definitive value of any car, and can be quite off for certain market. In fact the very same car can have vastly different book values among various price guides. Real Estate is local and seasonal, so is used car market. The best price is the best price you can find in your area at that time.
What are fleet cars? Fleet cars means group of cars owned by the same owner, typically a business.
vehicle that is owned by a company and listed under the company’s name as owner. or owned by a rental agency, or owned by a company but driven by an employee either as a private car or a commercial car, or vehicle owned by a bank or financial institution as part of a lease portfolio, but leased to a private individual, or a vehicle that is part of a dealer’s inventory
It’s perfectly okay to buy newer fleet cars, as fleet cars are well maintained on a fixed schedule, while private owner car’s maintenance can be hit and miss.Most newer used cars on large dealer lots are fleet cars. They are sold as Certified Preowned cars and people are paying premium for them.
Older, high mileage commercial fleets, like 10 year old commercial van or former policy cars, are different story and should stay away from.
Where can I find more information about used car pricing? You should check your local newspapers to see the asking prices for the kind of car you are interested in buying or trading in. The “asking price” is simply the price the seller would like to get for the car and may not reflect the actual value of the car.You can also look for reported prices on websites:
This website provides information on used car values based on the make, model and condition of the car.
This is the website of the National Association of Auto Dealers.
This site shows the prices at which a particular make and model of a car has been sold. You can find the link to “true used car values” under “Auto Research.” The site does not make any guarantees with regard to the data listed and does not recommend the exclusive use of their site or any other tool in determining a car’s fair market value.
Where can I find more information about buying a car?
Various websites provide useful information on what you need to know if you’re looking to buy a car.
You can find buying tips, finance tips and other useful pricing information here. You can click on the “Tips and Advice” button to see some of the tips the site has to offer. On the left side of the page you will also see a box for “Article Keyword Search.” You can type in what you’re looking for and the website will show you the information it has available.
This site has valuable information on how you can get a good deal if you plan to buy a used car. But you will need to look for this information between many ads.
This site provides its services for a fee. You can subscribe to the Consumer Checkbook’s CarDeals newsletter that provides updated information on incentives and rebates. They also operate a car buying service in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.