It usually makes more sense to buy a pre-owned car, since new cars lose about 25% of their retail value as soon as you drive out of the showroom. You need to be careful, however, especially when buying a pre-owned vehicle privately. Buying a dud can cost you thousands to repair and can even indirectly costing you more money than you saved.
To spare you from these mishaps, here are 5 mistakes you should avoid when buying a pre-owned car privately.
1. Getting charmed
You are buying a car, not a relationship, so don’t let the seller charm you into buying something you would normally not want to buy. Whether you like the person or not, the most important thing is that the car is in a good condition. Talk casually with the previous owner to get an understanding of how the car has been used. But remember to keep a clear head and not be taken in by charm.
Cars can also charm a person. It’s important to like your car, but remember that, at the end of the day, it is a tool that needs to be reliable. Think about the practical aspects.
2. Only searching for cars in your area
If you live near the city, cars from further away might be a better option for you. They may have a higher figure on the odometer than a car from the city, but they probably haven’t seen as much damaging stop-start traffic. They are also less likely to have been in accidents and are more likely to receive fewer offers than cars sold in the city, so you should be able to negotiate on the cost.
3. Calculating in your head
It’s easy to forget about extra costs when working things out in your head, such as the price of petrol, repairs, new wheels etc, and this can often end up making that second hand car cost more than you expected. Put pen to paper and write down and add up the actual costs. Seemingly small details can turn out to be very important.
4. Not getting the car inspected
As a condition of purchase, organise for the car to get inspected by a mechanic. This can be done by the AA or many other companies that provide it. It may cost you a bit of money, but a lot less than a bad purchase would.
Take not of the above mistakes and make sure to avoid them at all costs.
5. Not insisting on important documents
A car that has been well maintained should have a service and mileage log book to show you if the car has been regularly serviced, how much it has cost, how regularly it has been driven and what the expected fuel consumption is.
And always make sure you get the very best advice from the professionals – so chat to one of our passionate staff today for the greatest used cars in Cape Town deals!