Why buy a pre-owned or used car instead of a brand new car?

Purchasing a used vehicle has many advantages over purchasing a brand vehicle that include the following.
-A brand new car depreciates at a far greater rate than a used car. The highest point of depreciation is typically in the first 3 years for most vehicles.
-When a brand new model of vehicle is interduced there are often mechanical or saftey issues that need to be sorted out by the manufacture via recalls or service bulletins. By purchasing a used vehicle the recalls or service bulletins have generally been delt with by the last registered owner and the dealership/manufacturer.
 -Most late model used vehicles have factory warranty remaining and extended warranty plans are available on vehicles as old as 2002 and up to 200,000km

Why buy a brand new car? Buying a used in Calgary? Where should I buy a used car in Calgary? How to buy a used car, truck, van, or suv online.

Below are 10 easy steps to follow when buying a used car

#1 When buying a used vehicle online always make sure that you have the dealership name/sellers full name, a phone number that you have called and actually works, and e-mail address.

#2 Make sure that the photo's or video of the used car you're looking at online is of the actual vehicle (not a file photo or YouTube link  www.youtube.com to a similar vehicle).

#3 Purchasing a pre-owned car from a dealership will eliminate most cases of scams as dealers have a provincial governing body for consumer protection.

#4 Make sure to ask if the used car that your looking at online has been inspected and if so was it also serviced at when work the work done.

#5 Get a vehicle history report on the used car you are looking at. This will give you a good indication if the vehicle has been in an accident, fire, flood, theft damage or anything else that might change the value of a used car. If the dealer or private seller does not want to provided a report then walk away as this is a sign of the seller hiding something.

#6 Have a Lien/Title search done on the vehicle. If the vehicle has any liens or encumbrances (money owing on it) as vehicles do get sold with liens on them and the lien stays with the vehicle not necessarily just the owner.

#7 Always ask for the Internet Sales Manager/Fleet Manager as they are senior staff that has proven the ability to work well with customers. They are also able to do the entire deal over e-mail or phone and can often work out a better deal that just going into a dealership and buying a car the old fashion way.

#8 Ask if the used car your interested in has any know problems as some people/dealers just want to get rid of there problem or lemon.

#9 Verify any options or equipment that you want in the used car you are looking at (ex. V8 enigne, navigation, sunroof) as a lot of dealers & places online use a vin# decoding system that posts equipment/options for vehicles and are not always accurate as well as dealers and private sellers sometimes assume that a vehicle has certain options which it may not have.

#10 Get the in-service date for the vehicle you are looking at as this shows when the vehicle was picked up from the dealership new and is also a warranty start date.