Private Party Car Buying
You are looking to buy a Used Car and you want to bypass the dealer. Many people take the Private Party Seller route in their quest to get a good used car or truck at a good price without dealer tricks and markups. You can start looking for ads in the local paper, or go online to AutoTrader.com. (mostly dealers are on AutoTrader, but they do have some private party ads) When buying a used car from a private party it is a good idea to buy from someone that lives close to you. There is a better chance that it is just a used car that they owned and want to sell, but did not like the numbers they got from the dealer for a trade-in. You can download a copy of our Used Car Buying Checklist. Then you can
print it out and take it with you to look at the vehicle.
When you are talking to the seller to set up a time to look
at the used car try to get as much information as possible.
Get all the information that you will need to go
to Yahoo!
Autos and get a pricing report. Then you will
have all the values to help you evaluate the vehicle. You
will also want to make sure you get a Vehicle History
Report at AutoCheck®
Here are some questions you will want to ask the private seller before going too far. Then move ahead through the Used Car Checklist if their answers satisfy you.
Why are you selling the car? How long have you had the car? Do you have the title? Are they any problems with the car? Have you had to do any major repairs on the car?
Let’s assume the answers were acceptable and your Used Car Checklist Inspection went well. Let the private seller know you are interested but you would like your mechanic to look at it.
Note: Some people will buy used cars from dealers that would normally go to auction and resell them as if they were their car. Be very cautious of this seller. I am not saying they are bad or crooks, I am just saying beware. The Vehicle History Report should show you what you need to know.
Joe Slick |
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