Research Used Cars

The Most Critical Step In Car Buying

Research used cars can be a daunting task! Especially if you have no clue about what you're looking for in a vehicle. I have seen countless people visit showroom and test drive a few cars. And they call it researching vehicles!

To me I believe there's whole lot more in researching than just test driving. Let’s look at some of the key factors separate us to choose certain type of vehicles from others.

Keep in mind that a purchase decision will always be a compromise among many factors. There is NO perfect car with the best of everything, sacrifice something you can bear to get something you absolute can not live without.

SAFETY

When you research used cars, vehicles' safety should be your most important call!

However safety is also a term can be a very broad and general. What does safety means to one person can be quite different than another?

If you are concerned more about a vehicle’s crash test ratings, there are two leading crash test rating system you should be aware of:

1. Insurance Industry Crash Test Ratings (also known as IIHS ratings)

The IIHS scores its frontal-crash results as Good, Acceptable, Marginal, or Poor. You can find ratings for all tested vehicles on the IIHS Web site, at hwysafety.org

2. Government Crash Test Ratings (also known as NHTSA ratings)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) use a five-star rating system to measure full frontal and side impact.. You can check the scores for all crash-tested vehicles online at nhtsa.dot.gov

If you can afford the extra cost, consider upgrade to a vehicle has some or all of the following safety features:

• Antilock brake system
• Electronic stability control system
• Head restraints system
• Rollover resistance
• Safety-belt features
• Child safety features

RELIABILITY

Reliability should be your top priority when you research used cars, besides price you pay for the car. No one wants to “buy someone else’s problems”. How reliable or dependable is the main factor between people choose to buy new verses used cars.

Industry authorities often use rating system to gauge the reliability of those elements:

• Engine and Transmission
• Drive line System
• Steering and Suspension
• Brake System
• Heating and Air Conditioning
• Starting and Charging
• Vehicle accessories

Despite the fact that how used cars been maintained by previous owners, the quality of the repair job etc. In reality, some manufactures and models stand up much better over time than others. Over all, the most reliable vehicles are Japanese imports like Toyota and Honda vehicles.

RESALE VALUE

Even thought you are buying a used car, resale value should be something worth considering. In fact, a vehicle’s resale value are tied to its reliability. The less repair cost the car associated with over the time, plus the higher demand from market will result in higher resale value.

FUEL ECONOMY

Obviously the bigger the engine size, the worse fuel economy it gets. If you are looking for a suv or work truck needs towing capacity, there’s simply no better way around, especially people are talking about “greens” more frequent than ever before! But if you do have a choice, get something smaller. Once again, Japanese imports are hands down the best winner in this department.

AFFORDABILITY

Depends on individual’s budget and desire, we need be comfortable with our purchase. Other than the vehicle cost itself, car insurance, finance charges, repair and maintenance, gas bill etc, all of those expenses have to be weighted accordingly. Add the up and check that figure with your available cash, then you will be set for your budget.

Different Ways to Research Used Cars

Even though we live in a cyber world today, we don't do everything online. In this page we will look at various ways to research used cars both online and offline.

If you like to read information with minimum distraction, a printed Consumer Report Used Car Buying Guide can be a good starting point. After all, there isn’t anything to CLICK while you reading, you won’t be distracted by the banners or flash movies like some of the hideous car website out there.

You can focus more on the written words. This report features reviews, ratings and reliability report on just about every model cars in North America. Books like such are considered as a reference book, they are available in most book stores and magazine racks.

You might want to develop a good relationship with an auto mechanic friend if you have one or two, or the repair shop owner if you know. Those folks can be your best source of information sometimes, and don't be afraid to pick their brains. You will get some REAL WORLD reviews on good and the bad of the cars are looking for.

If your friends and neighbors happened to own the cars you’ve been looking for pay them a visit and let them talk about it, they will tell you the story from the owner side of view.

Research Used Cars Online

Edmunds.com is by far the most auto research website. You can easily spend hours by just watching the videos, you get to see vehicle interior and exterior pictures, technical specification and detailed written reviews and scale rating are also offered.

Be sure to visit their sister site CarSpace.com which is a great social networking sites for car owners, their forum discuss various topics for ownership.

You get to see what's involved after your purchase. While you are at the forum discussion board, you can browse by the vehicle of your choice to see what people are talking about.

They even break down by specific models so you can be more focused on your research. If you don’t seem to get the answers, don’t be afraid to post your questions and ask for some help.

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