When you’re looking to buy a new car, there are going to be many options you have to consider. You also have to consider how new you want your new car to be. Many people decide that new cars are too expensive or that they depreciate too quickly to be a worthwhile investment. Those people then opt for used cars. A used vehicle can be a great deal if you can find one that fits your needs. However, you do run some risks when you are buying a used car. You need to decide what kind of car you want, and whom you want to buy it from.
When it comes to buying a car, there are two basic options; you can buy from a dealership or you can buy from a private seller. A private seller is likely to offer you an incredibly negotiable price that is lower than a dealership. Sounds like a great deal, right? Well, not necessarily.
Inspections and Damage
Driving a car day after day is going to wear on your car. It’s going to create small areas of damage, which are essentially unavoidable. Most of these tiny nicks and scratches are pretty insignificant; however, some of them are a big deal. They can grow and spread until they’re expensive, debilitating problems. You want to make sure that you can avoid as many of these as possible.
With a private seller, you might not know if a car has the kind of damage that is likely to become a problem in the future. You can typically drive a car around and see if it has any major problems, but you might not know if there are minor problems that have the potential to grow. A faulty belt is somewhat obvious, but a slowly dry-rotting belt is not.
With a dealership, you can be sure that none of these things are going to be an issue. Dealerships have mechanics who inspect all of their cars for sale in Canberra to make sure that you’re getting a quality vehicle. That car is supposed to function like new and provide you with the same opportunities a new car would, but at a lower cost.
Pricing Options
A private seller might offer you a lower up-front cost, but they cannot inspect their cars, and they cannot offer you payment plans. A dealership can offer you the prospect of paying off your car monthly, as well as negotiate the amount of money you have to pay each month.
Moreover, dealerships often take trade-ins. They’ll allow you to trade in your old vehicle for a certain amount of money off the price of your new car. Typically, the trade-in value is lower than the resale value because the dealership needs to be able to sell it at a profit, but the process of trading in a vehicle is much simpler and easier than trying to sell it yourself.
When you’re looking to purchase a new car, buying a used car from a dealership is your best bet.