Buying a Vehicle

When buying a new or used vehicle, price, while an important point, it should not be the only thing considered.  The service must be considered.  When purchasing new vehicles under warranty the dealer’s service department is very important.  Even the best designed and built machines will fail, a modern car/truck has about 10,000 parts built by humans and subject to fail.  The reason for a warranty is not that the car will never break, but that they will.  In a used car/truck, consider your normal mechanic and/service center.  Do they have the knowledge, facilities or desire to work on your new to you vehicle?  Does the used unit have a favorable history of reliability?  If not, why are you buying it?

Once you settle on a vehicle, new or used, it needs to be at a reputable dealer or trusted individual.  Once it is located, it is important as this is the one you will spend years driving and maintaining, settle in and buy it.

An inspection by a qualified technician is always a good idea.  If you don’t have someone who you know and trust the selection of an inspector has a bit of chance to it.  A thorough inspection may cost upwards or $100.00, depending on location/labor rates.  This is NW Ohio. 

Your time and the salesman time has value.  It’s not a good thing to waste the dealer’s time by not being honest about if you even want their vehicle.  Most people have other things to do, rather than drive around looking at possible purchases.  Some folks seem to revel in jousting, verbally, with their sales representative, mostly its wasting everyone’s time.  Too much time is spent, never to be recovered, by looking past the great in pursuit of the perfect. 

A key to negotiating a price is not to fall in love with the unit.  It is nuts and bolts, has no feelings and there is bound to be others very similar to it available.  Convey this sentiment to the salesman/owner.  Do not be afraid to get up and walk away.  This is why it is always best to buy a car before you need one, and have time on your side.  One of the worst scenarios to be in is to have an accident, your car is a total loss and the insurance company is only paying rental fees for three more days.  Really not enough time to research and then find it’s replacement.