Find Cheap Used Cars
Cheap used cars are easy to find if you know where to look. If quality does not matter much, simply search out the lowest price without worrying much about other details. If you are like most people, however, you will also need to check the used car’s history report to make sure that it is not only cheap, but safe and operable.
Steps
- Buy from a junkyard. Junkyards and salvage yards frequently receive old "junkers." These cars are usually either in such poor condition that they could not be sold elsewhere, or they are in decent condition but are too old to be traded in. The cars usually get crushed or cannibalized for parts, but sometimes, junkyards have a few cars that have yet to be destroyed.
- Contact nearby junkyards to find out if they sell their "junkers" to the public and, if so, ask to come in and have a look. The junkyard will either show you the cars they have available or allow you to look for yourself. After you find a car that interests you, negotiate for a price. The price will usually be quite low.
- Be prepared to put a lot of work into the car once you purchase it. Cars purchased from junkyards are usually in poor condition and in need of some work.
- Keep your eyes open. You have likely seen, at some point in your life, cars with “For Sale” signs in the window. When you do not need a car, you may not realize how many of these cars there actually are. Watch out for cars driving down the road or sitting in parking lots and driveways that are being advertised for sale. Jot down the number you see on the sign. When you call, ask how much the car is going for and what the car’s history is.
- Be aware of the fact that buying a car from an individual seller does present a risk. It is harder to verify whether or not an individual is being honest about the car’s history, and it is also harder to hold the seller responsible if the car turns out to be a lemon when you bring it home.
- Ask the people you know to look around. Let your relatives, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and neighbors know that you are looking to buy a cheap used car. Ask them to keep their eyes open for cars with “For Sale” signs in the window. A close relative might go so far as to call the number and find out the necessary information for you, but even a casual acquaintance or co-worker whom you get along with will probably be willing to jot down a phone number if he or she sees it.
- Go to a used car lot. This is, perhaps, the most obvious option. A used car lot will offer you a good amount of selection and a decently low price. Even though used car dealers have a notorious reputation for cheating their customers, you can find out if a particular dealer is trustworthy or not by looking the company up on the Better Business Bureau or on local review websites. Regardless of the dealer’s reputation, you should also protect yourself by checking the vehicle history report of any car on a dealer’s lot before you buy it.
- Check the newspaper. Your local newspaper will be able to put you in touch with local individuals who have a used car to sell. Check out the classifieds section to look at the cars for sale, paying attention to price, make, and description. Due to character counts, the descriptions might be fairly scant, so you should be prepared to ask for more details when you contact the seller.
- If you do not receive the newspaper on your doorstep, go to a gas station or drugstore and buy a copy there. If you do not want to buy the paper, ask a neighbor or someone you know to save the classifieds for you.
- Look at free online classifieds. These websites are very similar to newspaper classifieds with the exception that there are no character counts limiting the ads. That means that you should look for an ad that divulges more information rather than less information. Typically speaking, the more informative an ad is, the less the seller feels he needs to hide.
- Gravitate toward ads that also have photographs. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” You cannot know everything there is to know about a car simply from a picture, but you can learn a lot.
- Shop on an online auction website. You can search for a specific make or model when browsing for used cars on an online auction website, or you can just search for used cars by category. You can also specify a minimum and maximum price you are willing to pay. Unless you are also able to specify where the product is being sold from, though, you run the risk of finding a car on the other side of the nation, which may make it unreasonably difficult to get the car shipped to you.
- Visit a website that specializes in the used car trade. A quick Internet search for “used cars” or “buy used cars,” performed using your favorite search engine, will turn up numerous websites that specialize in the trade of used cars. Many of these websites allow sellers to post ads while retaining ownership of the car, but a handful of these websites sell cars that they first purchased used from other sellers.
- Before buying from either type, find out what policies the website has in place to protect the buyer and also look for third-party reviews about the trustworthiness of the website.
- Search using a website that provides vehicle history reports. Aside from being able to look up a specific car on the website, you can usually look up local dealerships and used cars for sale, as well. By searching through a vehicle history report website, you can access the car listing and its history report in a single step instead of two.
Tips
- Have a list of questions ready to ask the seller/dealer. At the very least, ask about the cars accident and repair history.
- Look up the vehicle history report. These reports disclose all of a car's past accidents and major repairs, and can be found by searching the car's VIN on a vehicle history reporting website (such as CarFax). Unlike a seller/dealer, these websites gain no benefit from the sale of the car, so they're more likely to be thorough and honest about the car’s history.
- Older cars (10 years+) in good condition are often sold by retirees or old folks who can no longer drive due to their health. They typically have low mileage, clean interiors, and were well kept. If the price is already quite low, don't try to haggle it lower.
- If you know someone who's good with cars, bring them along! They may notice hidden repairs, defects or other red flags, and can estimate how much you'd need to spend on repairs.
- A small magnet can detect areas of plastic plaster that have been painted over. Hidden repairs may indicate a past accident.
- Before getting your heart set on a certain model, check out reviews from people who actually owned the car. Some models tend to have a reoccurring defect or weak point, such as a door handle that breaks or a window that gets stuck.
- Some makes/models tend to have low resale value, reoccurring defects, expensive maintenance, or hard-to-find spare parts. Do your research beforehand to avoid disappointment.
Related Articles
- Buy a New Car
- Understand the Basics of Car Maintenance
- Retrofit Air Conditioning in Cars to New Refrigerant
- Sell Cars
- Get a Car Dealer License to Sell Cars
