Tips on buying used cars from car dealers

Let's start by covering car dealers.

Again, it is helpful if you have a relationship with somebody at a dealership. Let me sidetrack for a minute and explain relationships with people in the car industry. You may be lucky enough to have a friend or relative in the business. If you don’t, you should make the effort and put in the time to develop a relationship with someone at a new and used car dealer. You should make the time to develop a relationship with a mechanical repair shop and a collision repair shop. If you already have a relationship with just one of these businesses, ask them for a referral of who they would recommend for the other two businesses you are looking for.

I will give you a great example. I have a client who knows the my birthday and the birthday of every one of my employees. On every birthday, she shows up with cupcakes, brownies and other goodies. I can tell you that when she needs anything from my shop, she gets special treatment and ALL my employees know her by her first name!!! So, if you have a relationship with a new car dealer you can give them information on the vehicle you are looking for and they can help you find it.

The dealer, if he doesn’t have the car you are looking for on his lot, can search for the car you are looking for and help you find the vehicle. Another word of caution if you are going to be picky looking for a specific vehicle with specific options in your specific color, it will make this process a little more costly. You will be better off shopping with the bigger picture in mind. Do you need a vehicle that is fuel efficient, has four-wheel drive, can carry six passengers, certain amount of miles or is a convertible? This will make it easier for the dealer to help you in your search.

Here’s another great tip when buying a used car when a dealer can be a great asset for you. There are times when someone will buy a new car and decide that they don’t like the car. They trade it back in to the dealer with very low miles on the car. You can buy this vehicle at a great savings and still have the manufacturers warranty in place. Speaking of warranties, most dealers will offer some sort of warranty on used cars that still have low miles on them. As you can see, it will be to your advantage to know somebody at a car dealership when you are in the market for a car.