Buying a used vehicle:
The steps towards buying a used vehicle should begin by identifying your needs and your budget. It is easy to get carried away with the desire for the slightly older more equipped model for only $500 more. Afterwards, research the type of vehicle you are interested in concerning reliability, safety and ownership costs for example. You can find this precious information in magazines such as Protégez-Vous, the Lemonaid book or on reputable websites.
Once the selection is made, the question is where to look. It is always tough to say where you will find the perfect car and if it even exists. It is possible to find the best car at the worst place or the worst car at the best place. It is important to be patient; a rushed purchase can quickly turn into huge headaches. You look in all newspaper classified ads. You can also surf the Internet and look for websites such as auto123.com where you will be able to compare models side by side, read reviews by owners and professionals. Sites such as this normally have a listing of used cars for sale. You will be able to browse this inventory to get an idea of what the average selling price may be for the vehicle that interests you. After you have increased your level of knowledge on the vehicles, make an appointment to go see the car. Remember that by buying from a private individual will allow you to save on taxes but will not permit you to purchase an extended warranty. By purchasing a car from a dealer, you will have access to an extended warranty (not always the best idea though) however, you may find that you will spend a little more money and will have to pay both taxes.
Let us now imagine that the car that fits all your criteria has been found, what should you do next? The first and cheapest thing is to do is to take the car for a test drive. Most people have a general idea of how a car should behave. If something feels or sounds wrong to you, this is usually a good indication that you should walk away. If the vehicle seems fine, take down the VIN (vehicle identification number) that you will find at the bottom of the windshield or in the door jam. With this number in hand, you can get the vehicle history report from the SAAQ for $8 (in Québec). This will tell you the number of owners that car has had and how long it has been registered in Quebec. If you are lucky, it may even indicate the mileage that it had at the time of the last transaction. You can also call a dealer of the make or the manufacturer to find out about maintenance (if possible) and repairs done under warranty. If none of the above-mentioned avenues work out, a VIN history search can be done at carfax (www.carfax.com) for 19.99$ US.
Now, if everything seems to check out and none of these steps indicate that you should stay away from this car, there is one final crucial step that must be taken: the vehicle MUST be inspected by an independent party. Just before you make an appointment, you can negotiate a price with the seller that will be subject to the result of said inspection. If, for any reason, the dealer has any reserves about the fact that you want to have the car inspected or that they say that they have done their own inspection, do not buy the car. If you do not know of a good garage or that they do not do body inspections (they are often overlooked), you can call (in the Greater Montreal area) the APA's accredited mobile inspector, Andrew Bleakley, at 514-890-5000. In the Toronto area, contact Priority Plus inspection center at 905-264-1142. You can also click here (http://www.apa.ca/documents/verification_english.pdf) to get a copy of the APA's inspection form or visit their website at www.apa.ca.
The steps towards buying a used vehicle should begin by identifying your needs and your budget. It is easy to get carried away with the desire for the slightly older more equipped model for only $500 more. Afterwards, research the type of vehicle you are interested in concerning reliability, safety and ownership costs for example. You can find this precious information in magazines such as Protégez-Vous, the Lemonaid book or on reputable websites.
Once the selection is made, the question is where to look. It is always tough to say where you will find the perfect car and if it even exists. It is possible to find the best car at the worst place or the worst car at the best place. It is important to be patient; a rushed purchase can quickly turn into huge headaches. You look in all newspaper classified ads. You can also surf the Internet and look for websites such as auto123.com where you will be able to compare models side by side, read reviews by owners and professionals. Sites such as this normally have a listing of used cars for sale. You will be able to browse this inventory to get an idea of what the average selling price may be for the vehicle that interests you. After you have increased your level of knowledge on the vehicles, make an appointment to go see the car. Remember that by buying from a private individual will allow you to save on taxes but will not permit you to purchase an extended warranty. By purchasing a car from a dealer, you will have access to an extended warranty (not always the best idea though) however, you may find that you will spend a little more money and will have to pay both taxes.
Let us now imagine that the car that fits all your criteria has been found, what should you do next? The first and cheapest thing is to do is to take the car for a test drive. Most people have a general idea of how a car should behave. If something feels or sounds wrong to you, this is usually a good indication that you should walk away. If the vehicle seems fine, take down the VIN (vehicle identification number) that you will find at the bottom of the windshield or in the door jam. With this number in hand, you can get the vehicle history report from the SAAQ for $8 (in Québec). This will tell you the number of owners that car has had and how long it has been registered in Quebec. If you are lucky, it may even indicate the mileage that it had at the time of the last transaction. You can also call a dealer of the make or the manufacturer to find out about maintenance (if possible) and repairs done under warranty. If none of the above-mentioned avenues work out, a VIN history search can be done at carfax (www.carfax.com) for 19.99$ US.
Now, if everything seems to check out and none of these steps indicate that you should stay away from this car, there is one final crucial step that must be taken: the vehicle MUST be inspected by an independent party. Just before you make an appointment, you can negotiate a price with the seller that will be subject to the result of said inspection. If, for any reason, the dealer has any reserves about the fact that you want to have the car inspected or that they say that they have done their own inspection, do not buy the car. If you do not know of a good garage or that they do not do body inspections (they are often overlooked), you can call (in the Greater Montreal area) the APA's accredited mobile inspector, Andrew Bleakley, at 514-890-5000. In the Toronto area, contact Priority Plus inspection center at 905-264-1142. You can also click here (http://www.apa.ca/documents/verification_english.pdf) to get a copy of the APA's inspection form or visit their website at www.apa.ca.