Buy a car? A few smart moves will save you thousands of money. Here’s everything you need to know to get the best deal on the car and keep it insured less.
For most people, cars are the second largest expenditure after housing. You either like cars or hate cars, but anyway, we spent a lot of money on them.
I’ve compiled this car purchase guide to help you navigate the process of buying (or selling) your next new car. You will learn how to find the best car deals, whether you should buy a new, used, or “certified used car,” how to insure less, how to sell your used car, and more.
So let’s start buy a car!
What’s better than your new whip galloping in the sunset? Of course, I knew you had a good deal when I drove away! In this section, I will show you how to save thousands of dollars on your car purchase through several smart steps.
If you are looking for a TL; DR (too long); You can skip to the bottom of this section and get my final advice on how to buy the best used car at the best price.
Decide how many cars you can afford
Whether you buy a car for the first time or the fiftieth, be sure to make a budget first. A good rule of thumb? The price of the car should be 20% or less of your annual pre tax income.
Before you decide what kind of car you want, consider how much you can afford. From a financial point of view, the less money you spend on the car, the more money you have left. Because it is important to remember that the price of a car is not its price; You also need to pay license fees, registration fees, taxes, fuel, financing, depreciation, routine maintenance, accidental maintenance, parking fees, etc. By multiplying the price of a car by 120%, you can better understand its real cost.
Car is not an investment; They are a rapidly depreciating asset. Buying a new car can be exciting, but in 98% of cases, buying a used car is much more cost-effective.
If you decide to buy a used car or rent one, remember that a good car salesman will guide you to choose the most expensive one. Know your number first so that you won’t overspend in the future.
Should you buy a new one or an old one?
New car, used car or CPO is a long-standing controversial topic in the car buying industry. In 98% of cases, buying second-hand clothes is the best choice, but take a look at this article to see if you meet the 2% situation of buying new clothes.
It is correct to buy a used car 98% of the time, because the new car depreciates faster than the open milk. According to kafax, even the most popular new cars, once you drive them out of the parking lot, their value will drop by 10% and 40% in 12 months.
In addition, if you buy a historically reliable car from Mazda, Toyota or Hyundai, it will still give you a new feeling at 15000 miles, but the price will be 20% – 30% lower.
Now, is it worth spending thousands of dollars on a “certified used car” or CPO?
Is CPO a good deal?
In short, No.
A certified used car is only a used car that has passed some kind of inspection by the manufacturer or dealer and includes an extended warranty period. On average, they cost $1500 to $1600 more than their old counterparts.
Consumers value CPO cars because they trust them more; No one wants a “lemon”, so we are willing to pay a high premium in exchange for inner peace.
But the value of CPO cars does not exist at all. The first half of the CPO value proposition, a two-year factory extended warranty, is worth up to $600 (but more after the warranty period).
The second aspect of CPO’s value proposition is that CPO cars should have higher quality and longer service life. According to the person who sold you the car, this is because they passed the “161 point quality inspection”.
Yes, this is a conflict of interest, and the “quality inspection” made by dealers has problems on many levels. They are vulnerable to human error, standard fluctuations, and many sellers deliberately ignore known design defects. Therefore, the seller’s “quality inspection” value is equivalent to the value of a woven mask during the epidemic.
Unless a CPO car is only $200 more expensive than its used car, you’d better ignore the CPO list completely.
