What should you do before buying a used vehicle?

What can you afford to pay every month?

First, if you are financing or paying someone else to own the vehicle, you need to find out what you can really afford to make in payments every month for years.  If you miss a payment, you are in default of the contract (you broke the contract), and the lender could speed up the payments and take back the vehicle.

How does the vehicle drive?

Second, you MUST test-drive the vehicle on different road conditions. Drive around a large area, test it on a highway, on neighborhood roads. If you are purchasing a used vehicle, you purchase the vehicle “as is” without any warranties. This means whatever is good and BAD about the vehicle you are buying it knowing this and agreeing to buy the vehicle in this shape. If the dealer orally promises to repair the vehicle or cancel the sale if you are not satisfied, make sure the promise is WRITTEN on the Buyers Guide. Every deal you make about this vehicle should be in writing.

What does the vehicle cost?

Third, determine if the value of the vehicle is close to the selling price.  You can find values for vehicles on the National Automobile Dealers Association's (NADA) Guides, Kelley Blue Book, and Consumer Reports. By knowing the vehicle’s value and what you are paying for it, can help you get a fair price, help with your insurance, and help you say no if the price is not to your liking.

What is the vehicle’s history?

Fourth, you should search the car's history by its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). You can search online for companies that sell vehicle history reports. The information in the reports may not be complete, so you may want to get a second report from a different reporting company. Some dealer websites have links to free reports. You want to know the vehicle’s history because it will tell you if it has been totaled (this will weaken the body of the vehicle possibly making it unsafe), or if it was flooded (this could damage parts under the hood), or if it does not have a proper title (this will cost you money and time to get the title and you may still lose the vehicle), or many other pieces of information that could help you.

The most common location for the VIN is on the dashboard of the driver’s side. It will be written low on the windshield very close to where the windshield and the dashboard meet and will be written so that looking at the VIN from the outside of the vehicle, through the window, and on the dashboard will give the best view.

What is the vehicle’s real condition?

Last, you should hire a mechanic you trust to look at the condition of the car to ensure that it is in good working shape. It should be a mechanic not connected to the place where you are buying the vehicle.

AUTHOR: CECILLE DOAN, STAFF ATTORNEY FOR THE CENTER FOR ARKANSAS LEGAL SERVICES

A quick reference sheet to use when buying a used car.
Created by Evan Corbin for the Center for Arkansas Legal Services.