1) All that glitters is not gold 🏆
When you search for a vehicle online, you are able to define exactly what you want in terms of; make, model, YOM (Year Of Manufacture), price range, colour etc. Our friend the internet then gives us an array of options and to your surprise, you might find exactly what you are looking for! Have you ever thought about what happens then? You get EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED to that vehicle without even seeing what's under the hood or how well the mechanical parts of the car have been maintained. This should ideally raise RED FLAG in your mind to tell you, "Hey, I know you like this, but do not get emotional with the vehicle as you might overlook some serious aspects with regard to the running condition of the car, which will eventually lead to a lot of trouble and not to mention the stress, waste of time and effort and everything else a poorly maintained car will bring!."
2) Go see it for yourself 👀
You are spending your hard-earned money on this purchase and you are more than entitled to check out the car physically before making your decision. If you aren't mechanically thorough (Like me) make sure you get the help of friends or your mechanic to join you and inspect the car and how it runs. These initial checks can be done in a few ways;
1) Go visit the seller and request for the car to be put on a hoist so that you could check for any rust related problems, oil leaks, or twisted metal parts on the underneath of the car. This is VERY IMPORTANT.
2) Request for a test drive and take a friend or mechanic with you as well. This will help you determine quite a few things. Test the acceleration, transmission, suspension, braking, tyres, and all other indicators to see if they are working fine. Don't forget to check the state of the interior also!
3) Most importantly, the power plant under your hood! Yeah right, let me cut to the chase. I mean the engine! Start the car up, put it on Neutral, and rev the engine a bit, let it run. Engine noise can say a lot about the car and the engine's condition. Like I said, someone experienced would be able to gauge that in seconds.
4) Request for service records. If the owner does not have them, it's not a good sign, but if they have all records on them, there's nothing to worry about! Unless of course, the documents aren't genuine!
3) Legal Aspects 👮
Now that you have checked the vehicle and you are happy with it (best case scenario) don't just pay the cash and come back home with your precious little car. There's MORE to do!
1) Certificate of Registration (Book) - This is very important. This document has all the owner's history in it as well as details of your car. Again, get the help of a friend who knows about these things to assess the authenticity of this CR. Not everyone is a scammer, but PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!
2)Transferring of Ownership and handing over cash - ensure you take someone with you for the transaction and do your homework on what kind of documents you need to take, what are the documents that should be signed by the owner, what are the documents you should fill etc. You can contact the National Registration of Motor Traffic (RMV) to obtain more info or just call up a good friend who recently bought a USED car.
4) Questions to ask from the Seller 👨
Note that you should do your own research on the vehicle you plan to buy. Just "Google it" and also search for "common problems" with that specific car and Google will help you with all of that. To be honest, your friends who know a thing or two about used cars will be able to help you better sometimes and I am talking with experience! Now that you know the pros and cons of the car. These are some questions to consider asking the seller;
1) Mileage?
2) Accidents? (has the car been through any)
3) What's the reason for the sale?
4) What's the best price? (ALWAYS NEGOTIATE)
5) Did you have any running repairs? If so, what were they?
You may be able to assess how genuine the seller is also.. The world is not always a bad place and good people still exist! Buying a car off a genuine person is one of the best deals you could get!
This is a very basic guide to any of you planning to buy a used vehicle. Oh, and you can get a lot more info from YouTube as well. All the info you need is at your fingertips now - you just got to go that extra mile! ALL THE BEST & feel free to consult me for any used car-related matters and I will help you the way I can👊
You might also like >> Expressing Yourself With Your Car | Part 1
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