Blog Category: Used Auto Buying

Many colleges across the United States have already wrapped up the 2013-2014 school year and completed their graduation ceremonies with much pomp and circumstance. Many more will join the ranks of the newly graduated in the weeks ahead. And nearly every college student at some point has dreamed of being handed the keys to a shiny new automobile after several years of hard work to get to this point.

After a dramatic rise in used car prices in recent years, it appears that these prices have now started a slow downward trend, according to a report by NADA.  Over the past three years, used car prices had soared, growing nearly 20% since 2009. The main reason for this run-up was simple supply and demand. Because of poor new car sales due to the economic recession, the demand for used cars increased. But the lack of new car sales also meant fewer trade-ins, thus less used car supply. Less supply + more demand = higher prices.

After a big run-up in used car prices earlier this year, particularly for compact cars, it appears the trend is reversing. Unless it’s not. Yes, it is complicated, and we’ll explain. NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) has released their monthly Guidelines report, and if you are considering buying a used vehicle, or trading one in, there’s important information you should know.

A Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicle is a used vehicle which has been inspected and refurbished to ensure the vehicle measures up to rigorous quality standards. A CPO vehicle is usually backed by a manufacturer’s warranty, often in the form on an extended warranty. CPO cars are not new, they emerged in the early 90s from the luxury car market, with companies like Lexus and Mercedes-Benz releasing used off-lease vehicles that had relatively few miles on the clock.

We often focus on new cars and buying new cars on this blog but today we’re going to take a look at buying a used car. For many of you and for many reasons, a used car makes the most sense. Used cars often make the most practical sense when you need a second car, need a car for your teenagers or a vehicle for city driving. As well, if you make a smart buy, your used car can result in a much better purchase than buying a new car.

Before I give you my full answer, let me provide you some context…

One of my colleagues here at AutoBuying101.com shared an interesting article that got a little attention in the automotive journalist community last month.  The following article suggests how editorial critic car reviews are biased due to numerous circumstances: http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=5141

It’s probably not too surprising to most car shoppers that dealerships selling luxury car brands treat their customers the best, with Mercedes-Benz topping the list for 2011. Pied Piper PSI, a company that monitors consumer satisfaction for the automotive industry, sent more than 3500 mystery shoppers to dealerships across the United States to measure how well people shopping for vehicles were treated by each brand’s staff.

The top five dealerships in the study were:

We’ve been talking a lot about used cars, lately.

The reason is simple:  there are some really great deals to be gotten if you know what to look for and how to spot them.  Our friends at Edmunds have put together their annual Edmunds Used Car Best Bets, which is a great list that will help you in that search. 

The entire AutoBuying101.com team is excited to announce the addition of our own videos on YouTube, where you can find us at www.youtube.com/autobuying101

Along with adding our new vides to YouTube, we will be posting them right here on the Auto Buying Insider Blog and in other areas of our site.

The hardest part about trading in your pre-owned car, is knowing if you are getting a fair value for the car.  There are a number of resources, in print and online that can show you what the presumed value is and you can hope that you are making a good deal.

One of the best is Black Book.  No nonsense and completely independent, Black Book offers accurate and up to date pricing based not only on the condition of the car, but of other external markers that shape both the market and the industry.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does that translate to in the world of buying and selling autos?  According to AutoTrader, it is worth more auto sales to dealers, which can translate nicely into cold, hard cash.

According to AAA, the average national gas price today hit $4.36 a gallon.  With hard working folks still getting back on their feet after the economic impacts of the past few years this is not welcome news for anybody in the US.  The rise in gas prices can mean a direct increase in your monthly expenses, including everything from your weekly fill-up at the gas station to the cost of your groceries (which increase in price due to higher transportation costs).

According to a recent study conducted by the folks at Kelley Blue Book, only 44% of prospective new car buyers plan to get pre-approved for a loan before buying.  While that isn’t overly surprising, it remains a critical mistake…one that can cost the consumer a great deal of money and time.

Earlier this week, AutoTrader.com announced how they recently selected one of the most popular auto industry "chat" providers, Contact At Once as their partner to integrate chat functionality on AutoTrader.com, so on certain vehicles you can instantly chat with the selling dealer.  You can read the full press release here >>.  What's great about this for consume