What is a Good Deal when Buying a Used Car? (How to Buy a Used Car) - YouTube

Hey guys! ChrisFix here, and today I'm gonna show you how to buy a used car.

If you haven't seen the first video on how to buy a used car, go watch that now, ...

... because in that video I show you how to inspect a car without the owner around.

Like if you just saw it on the side of the road, with the "for sale" sign in the window.

You could find a link to that video in the description.

In this video right now, I'm gonna show you what question you wanna ask the owner, ...

... when you give him a call on the phone;

I'm gonna show you how to look up th value of the car, ...

... so you know what price you wanna negotiate down to, and if you're getting a good deal or not;

I'm gonna show you how to check the VIN number for free;

And also gonna go over a couple other tips that should be helpful, when buying a used car.

So lets begin by calling the owner.

[ringback tone]

(Owner - Hello?)

Chris - Hey, how is it going? I'm calling about the Jaguar. I have a couple of questions

(Owner - Alright, Great.)

I know we just started, but I wanna stop the call real quick, because I actually made a mistake here.

When the car is on the side of a road like this, the first thing you wanna say is:

"Hello? I'm calling about the car for sale."

You don't wanna name a specific car! Just ask about a car for sale.

That way, if the person sells used cars on the side, or they're a dealer, they are gonna respond:

... "Which one?", since they sell multiple cars.

If it's a private owner, they won't ask wich one, because they're selling just that car.

And then knowing, if it's a private owner, vs. a dealer is important, becase it helps you understand...

... why the car is beeing sold, and it tells you if the guy selling that car does this profesionally or not.

Ok, so lets go back to the call.

(Owner - Alright, Great.)

Chris - Could you tell me a little bit about the car, like, how many miles? Does everything work in it?

Chris - Does it need anything?

(Owner - Oh, yes. Umm... It's a 2004 Jaguar X-type...)

(Owner - Umm... All wheel drive, it's great for the snow.)

(Owner - There's a sunroof... Uhh... Navigation system...)

(Owner - Basically all the luxury options that come with a Jaguar.)

(Owner - Uh... Everything seems to work well...)

(Owner - The car doesn't really need any work, uhh... might need some front brakes soon.)

(Owner - My wife just used it to take the kids to school and the soccer practise, ...)

(Owner - ... but other than that it runs great.)

Chris - Ok, could you tell me why are you selling it?

(Owner - I need a bigger car... Umm...)

(Owner - Taking the soccer practise just doesn't really work in this car, so I'm getting a SUV.)

Chris - [laugh] Gotcha. (Owner - Taking the soccer practise just doesn't really work in this car, so I'm getting a SUV.)

(Owner - Taking the soccer practise just doesn't really work in this car, so I'm getting a SUV.)

Chris - Gotcha. Ok, um... are there any "check engine" lights?

(Owner - Uh... No, not at all.)

(Owner - There was one, uh... while back an oxygen sensor I had to replace, and never show up ever since.)

Chris - And I noticed the front bumper has a crack on it. Do you know what that's from?

(Owner - Yeah, last year I was parked on a street and uh.. snowstorm uh.. Plow hit it, the front...)

(Owner - Uh... Tried to use some epoxy, glue it back together, just so it was driveable.)

(Owner - It doesn't look great, but it works... um... still together a year after.)

(Owner - I'm sure you can replace it with a... part from the junkyard... It shouldn't cost too much.)

Chris - And how much are you asking?

(Owner - Uh... $3000.)

Chris - Awesome. Ok, great.

Chris - Well, the souds nice... I'm looking at it right now, actually, in the parking lot.

Chris - And I'm looking for a Jaguar...

Chris - Could we go for a test drive sometime, are you free this week?

(Owner - Uh... Not this week, but I can do it, um... How's next Friday?)

Chris - Yeah, next Friday works. Does around three work for you?

(Owner - Um... A little later...)

Chris - Ok, as long as we can get the test drive in before the sun goes down, 'cause I wanna see the car with the sun still up.

Chris - So like four o'clock or something like that?

(Owner - Yeah, four'll work fine.)

Chris - Ok, great. Friday at four, I'll shoot you a text in the morning.

Chris - Thanks a lot man, what's your name by the way?

(Owner - Frank)

Chris - Ok, Frank, thanks a lot. I'm Chris and I'll see you next week.

(Frank - Great.)

Alright, a week later we're meeting up with the owner a little bit earlier than we talked on the phone, ...

... just because I need to film.

But I have a couple of things that I wanna go over and wanna show you before we meet with him.

So, the first thing I wanna go over is my updated check list.

This is gonna help you guys tremedously.

You can download this and print it out for free, with the link in the description.

I'm really proud of this checklist, and I think it's a great tool. It's what I use everytime I look at a car.

The first thing we have here are questions you could ask the owner.

These are just basic of the questions that I definitely want to ask the owner when I meet him.

But make sure that you also ask him any questions you have and you could think of.

Next on my checklist, I have things that you wanna bring.

The first thing you wanna bring is an OBD2 scanner, something to plug in to the computer...

...so you can read the cars computer.

You also wanna make sure that you bring one of these fridge-type magnets, ...

...they're weak, but for testing to see, if there's any Bondo™ or bodyfiller used over the bodywork.

Good idea to bring a flashlight, because if you can't see some certain spots in the engine compartment, ...

...a flashlight will help you light that up.

Bring a paper towel. Depending what vehicle you're looking at, you migth be able to check the tranmission fluid, ...

...the oil, the brake fluid and the powersteering fluid.

And finally, bring a pen, so that you can check off different things on your checklist...

To make it easier to make sure you didn't miss anything.

The next thing on the list; After you go see the car initially, you get home...

...you wanna make sure you check the value of the car. I'm gonna show you how to do that in a second.

You wanna check the VIN, so make sure you record the VIN number. I'll also show you ho to do that.

And there's 3 VIN checks, I have the links right on the paper.

And you wanna write down any major problems from your reserch, that the car might have.

In this case, I did a bunch of reserch on Jaguar X-types, to see what common problems they have, ...

...and I listed them all in this section.

So let me show you how to find the value of the car.

So there are 2 different sources I like to go off of to find the value of the car.

NADA and KBB

They're just 2 different companies I use.

The first thing we'll look at is the NADA value...

You plug in all the information about the car:

the year, the mileage, the options it has...

In this case, we have a rough to average condition car.

And when you're negotiating, you wanna try to get as close to the trade-in value as you can.

The trade-in value is how much a dealership is gonna give you for the car, if you decide to trade it in.

So in this case, if the dealership is gonna get around $2000, that's what you wanna try to get it for.

The trade-in value is the value that I go off of, to find a good deal.

If you can get it anywhere near that value, you got yourself a good deal.

Now if we look at the KBB pricing, the trade-in is significantly lower than what the guy's asking.

The guy is asking $3000, and the trade-in value is around a $1000.

Even if you know what the value of the car should be, don't expect somebody to drop that much, ...

...just because you tell them that's what it's worth.

So from all this information we have a good idea.

We wanna be betwen $1000 and $2000.

I'll leave links to the sites in the description, so that you can easily find them...

...and check the value of the used car you're looking at as well.

The next thing I have are 2 different sites, that are free, to check the VIN.

You could use a paid service, but realise, even the paid services aren't gonna tell you the whole story all the time

It only tells you reported problems!

And a lot of timest people won't report accidents to their insurence company, ...

...so there's not gonna be a record of that accident.

So even if you pay for the report, you won't know for sure if there's been an accident or not.

Real quick, if you don' know where to find the VIN number, there's a VIN number located at the drivers side...

...where the windshield meets the hood, right here.

I always write that down, or take a picture with my phone so I can look it up later.

You could actually search a VIN number in a Google search and sometimes you'll be surprised at the info you might find.

But I have 2 good sources that you could use, that are free, that'll check the VIN.

I put these link right on our sheet, so you could easly find them...

...and the first one is gonna be NICB.

You put in your VIN number and it tells you if there's a theft record, ...

...and it tells you if there's a total loss or salvage record.

In this case, this Jaguar came clean.

The next link is just gonna if there's any recalls for the vehicle, 'cause you wanna make sure that recall work has been done.

Again, you put in your VIN and it gives you any information about that.

And one really important thing that I found out by putting in the VIN number...

...is the actual year of the car.

The owner says it's a 2004, but in reality, this is a 2003 Jaguar.

So that changes the value of the car and how I'm gonna negotiate that value.

So even though there's no problems or anything with the car, ...

...I got a valuable information about the correct year.

So we haven't even gone on a test drive yet, and we got so much valuable information.

And the other thing I wanna say, before we go meet the owner...

The owner is really nice, he's letting me film...

He asked me not to include him, as much as possible, I'll blur out his face...

He's not gonna be too involved, except for the actual test drive part...

...and obviously meeting him and negotiating.

But I told him "Don't worry", you know, "I'm gonna try to go as quick as possible."

And the whole idea is to teach you guys, what I do when I go look at a used car.

So enough of this chit-chat, let's go drive over there and check out the car.

So I'm just waiting for the owner, he'll be here in a few minutes.

And one thing i wanna mention is: meet in a safe location!

We're in a parking lot, you can see it's super busy, there are tons of people, it's a public place... Very important.

Also, make sure you don't have your money on your person!

You wanna have it in your car!

So put the money in the glove box, so that, you know, if somebody tries to jump you or something...

...they don't have any money to get.

And then finally, don't get emotional. That's super important.

And there's the car. Ok, good, so he's here

Don't get emotional. Don't think about buying the car today, ...

...because 9 times out of 10 you're gonna be walking away.

And the other thing is: don't be afraid to walk away.

You don't wanna get caught up thinking "I really need this car" or "I really want this car."

Because then it's a lot easier to make bad decisions and overpay.

And that's definitely not what you want.

So with everything that we just went over, let's go and say hello to the owner and check out this car.

Chris - How are you doing? Chris.

(Frank - How's it goin'? Frank.)

Chris - Nice to meet you, Frank. (Frank - Nice to meet.)

Chris - Alright, here she is.

Chris - So as you know I'm filming.

(Frank - Yes.) Chris - So as you know I'm filming.

Chris - I wanna film this, so that people could know how to buy a used car.

Chris - This might take a little while, but I'm a serious buyer, so...

(Frank - Take all the time you need.)

Chris - If I could get the keys and check stuff out that'd be great.

(Frank - Oh, yeah, absolutely.) Chris - If I could get the keys and check stuff out that'd be great.

Chris - Are there any other keys besides this one?

(Frank - No, unforunately that's the only one.)

Chris - Ok, that's good to know.

Chris - Ok, let's go check out this car.

So in the next video, which you could easly get to by clicking on the screen or finding the link in the description...

In that video, we're gonna go over everything you should look at when ispecting a used car.

From inspecting the interior,...

...checking under the hood,...

...showing you how to test drive the car,..

...and then negotiating on a price.

And then maybe coming home with the car.

As always, Hopefully the video was helpful.

And if you're not subscribed, consider subscribing.

And if you have any tips or tricks that I didn't cover, and you wanna share them, feel free to comment below.

Because that's not only gonna help other viewers,...

...but it's also gonna help me, because I learn a bunch of new tips & tricks from you guys all the time.