8 Incredible Benefits of Buying a Used Car That Smart Shoppers Can’t Ignore
Attention all shoppers: People in America are buying cars at record-setting paces. If you’d like to join the masses and pick up a vehicle of your own, there has never been a better time.
Today, cars are offering more in the way of features, fuel economy and other great perks. In addition to that, thanks to staggering competition, car prices are insanely affordable.
This is especially true if you opt for a used car.
Buying a used car has always had a little bit of a stink to it… After all, nobody wants somebody else’s discarded property, right?
Wrong!
The benefits of buying a used car are too numerous to ignore and below, our team is going to break each one of them down for you!
1. You Save Money
One of the most obvious benefits of buying a used car is that you’re going to pay less for it. You probably knew that though.
If you have a new 2019 vehicle with 20 miles on it, you’re going to pay thousands more than if you bought a used version of the same car with 12,000 miles on it.
Given how similar those two vehicles are and the steep savings that a used car offers, buying a car used is a much better value.
2. More Retained Value
The moment that you drive a new car off of a lot, it depreciates astronomically.
Don’t believe us? Try and buy a new car and then resell it a week later. You’ll get offered thousands less than what you bought it for.
Why?
Because the word “new” is where a lot of a new car’s value lies. Its inflated price has nothing to do with the value of the car, just the positive connotations of being a vehicle’s only owner.
On the other hand, if you get a good deal on a used car, it’ll resell for close to what you bought it for or perhaps more if you tried to get rid of it post-purchase.
3. Room to Negotiate
Not everybody feels comfortable negotiating. If you’re one of the few people that do though, you can get a great deal on a car.
That is, of course, if you buy used.
Sure, you can bring down the cost of a new car by negotiating some. The fact is though that the MSRP and incentive discounts for new cars are well-documented. It’s not hard to find out what the lowest price is that you can get on a new car since dealerships won’t sell a new car at a loss in most cases.
With used cars though, there’s a lot more wiggle room.
Depending on how good of a deal the dealership got when acquiring their used vehicle, you can really work their price down if you pull the right levers.
4. Interesting Modifications
Getting things like backup cameras or touch screens in your car cost hundreds of dollars. When you buy used, you might get lucky and find a car that comes with upgrades that dealerships have not factored into their pricing.
Talk about a come up!
5. Aggressive Warranties
One of the primary reasons why people don’t buy used is that they worry their car will come apart at the seems the moment that they drive it off of the lot. Here’s something that a lot of dealerships won’t tell you though…
Most used cars are still carrying their manufacturer warranty since most manufacturers allow warranty transfers.
You’ll still want to learn more about what to look for when test driving a used car but it’s important to know that you’re probably protected against big issues.
6. Cheaper Insurance
The cheaper your car is, the less of a risk insurance providers will see when covering you. Lower risk means lower insurance premiums.
Cha-ching!
7. Environmentally Friendly
As demand for new vehicles has gone up, so too has the work that factories have had to do to keep up.
As more cars get produced, more raw materials are used and more damage is done to the planet. Buying used allows you to slow that trend by asking manufacturers to make one less car.
It might not seem like much but the impact of you taking ownership of something that’s already out there can have a profound impact on the world around you.
8. Lower Registration Fees
This isn’t true of all states but in a number of places, your local DMV will actually ask that you pay them less money each year if you buy a used car.
Again, laws vary but in our experience, if your car is more than 5 years old, the DMV will give you somewhere in the vicinity of a 30% discount on your annual registration.
The higher registration on new cars is somewhat of a tax that states impose on new vehicle owners. We suppose that they figure if someone can afford a new car, they can probably afford to contribute a little extra to the government.
Wrapping Up the Benefits of Buying a Used Car
We hope that we’ve made crystal clear the benefits of buying a used car and have inspired you to opt to go used rather than picking up a new vehicle.
Believe us when we say that you can find a used vehicle that’s every bit as nice as its new iteration at a fraction of the price.
Need more guidance for buying your next car? Our team has your back!
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