Tools of the Trade

vehicle buying tools
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If you GOOGLE ‘’tips on buying a used car’’ it spits out numerous blogs, tips and opinions on what to do before you buy a used car. I have also published a blog with such info. Most of these sites list similar things you MUST do before you start the process of buying a used vehicle.

Here is a list of the top 5 things you need to know before buying a used car.

  1. Determine your budget.

  2. Do your research.

  3. Know what you want.

  4. Take your time, don’t rush the deal.

  5. Get your car inspected.

Now you will ask:
Why should I read this blog?

Well, what I have done, is to do the searching for you. I have researched the best tools you can use for the above-mentioned procedures. Attached is some info and links to the tools to make you search easier.

1. Determine your budget

This is a very personal process where you need to look at your personal finances and determine what you can afford. You’ll need to consider the following:

  • Monthly instalments (if you don’t buy a car cash)
  • Deposit amount
  • Term of payment

Luckily there are some great tools to assist you in determining what you can afford. All the major banks in South Africa offer a Vehicle Finance Calculator, but my favoured and most detailed one is the calculator form Wesbank. It provides you with great information that is easy to uses. Link to this tool.

2. Do your research

Now that you know what your budget, you can start looking at what car you can afford.
It is important to, first determine your budget before you start looking at used vehicles because it will take the emotion out of the equation. You must not get yourself in trouble by buying a used car you can’t afford.This is probably the section that will occupy most of your time, below I have listed a couple of easy steps to help you through this process:

    • Step 1: Most used car sites has the option to select a price range Use it!
    • Step 2: Select the make, model and year range to determine what cars are available in you price range.
    • Step 3: Now you can narrow down your search to a specific make and model you fancy.

3. Know what you want

You have now narrowed your search down to a couple of makes, of cars you want and importantly can afford. The next step is to research the specific make and model you are looking at. This is done by reading reviews, finding trade and retail values and specifications of the car.Review Tool: https://www.autotrader.co.za/car-reviews
Use Car Values Tool: http://book-value.co.za/index.php
Vehicle Specs Tool: http://www.carmag.co.za/prices-and-specs

4. Take your time, don’t rush the deal

Once you decided on what used car you want, you need to find the car. You can now troll through the used car sites with your narrowed-down choices to find the right deal. Here are the sites with the most stock:

All off these sites has a car-comparison option, this a great tool to narrow down your search.

Armed with the knowledge of what you want and prices of the used cars you can now go and view, inspect and test drive a potential car.

5. Get your car inspected

This is an essential part before you buy a used car. Here are a few sites that offer inspection tips:

If you don’t know a lot about the mechanical side of a car, take someone with that know, your dad, friend (preferably a mechanic) to help you with the inspection process.

The best way to do this inspection is to get an expert to help you look for hidden faults. This is where we at Car Inspection can help you! You can request a mechanic to where you are, to inspect the used car with you. The is the ultimate peace-of-mind solution on the market and might save you a lot of money and headache.

Safe Driving

Hanru Reyneke – Founder @Car Inspection

 

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