Crack Auto

Archive for the ‘Used Car’ Category

No doubt, sooner or later, you may come across a situation when you start thinking about selling your car. Unlike buying a new car, selling a used car involves a good amount of time and research to market your car well to get a good price. It is important to note that selling your used car on your own can get you a higher price than trading it through a car dealer. In fact, you can actually expect to get or gain more than the wholesale price. Selling your car yourself also takes a lot more work than just driving to the dealership for a trade-in. So if you are one among those who look forward to sell your car then here are few important tips that can help you sell your used car more effectively and earn a good price:

Decide a competitive price of your car

It is very important that you have a good and fair idea of the local or retail asking price of your car. You must always check what a local dealer can offer on a straight-up sale. This might help you get information to price your car well. You must remember that it is always better to price your car a bit higher than the amount you are planning to take for it. This way you can easily play the trick of negotiation and the buyer can also negotiate for a slightly lower price and feel good about it. Just decide a good competitive price and you may have trouble-free used car selling experience.

Advertise your used car effectively

You may never know who is looking for a used car, therefore it is never too late to give yourself the best odds and advertise your car. Today there are numerous ways that can help you advertise your car effectively. Here are some of the effective options that you can work on. Though the cost may vary from free to quite expensive, but the return may help you get a good result. Go with what you think will work.

Word of mouth can be most effective and free of cost procedure that may help you advertise your car easily. You can tell your friends or relatives and anyone else you know that you have a car for sale. If your network of contacts is big and good, the chances are more that you might get surprised at how much interest you generate in your vehicle.

Online classified ads is yet another way to advertise your used car. In fact, in the current scenario it is becoming the most useful way to advertise cars. These days, several websites offer different ad packages at different price ranges and let the seller to place the picture of their car easily and without wasting any time. You may even take the help of online bulletin boards. In fact, these days, many online bulletin boards also have discussions for a particular make and model as well.

Apart from this, you may also make the best use of daily newspaper ads. Moreover, you may also put up ad signs of your car at your nearby local café, car repair shop or grocery store if any of them have a bulletin board. Ads in weekly shoppers and free newspapers can work, but the key point to understand is that at times they may have a lot of competition in pulling the readers’ attention.

Present your used car in the best possible manner

Once you have placed your ads then it is very important that you make sure you keep your car’s specifications and other particulars near to particulars mentioned in an add. Interested buyers will always want to come to see your car, and so have your schedule ready so you can set a day, time and show your car. It takes just few hours to clean the car thoroughly, but it will definitely increase your chances to sell your car well. Wash your car properly and always wax the exterior. If possible make sure you fix the minor paint chips and scratches. Besides this, you may also



Vacuum and thoroughly clean the interior



Clean up all the windows and make them shine



Change the engine oil and top up all the fluids

Always complete your paperwork

You need to understand that the paperwork requirements for selling a car can vary from state to state. In some states, transferring an ownership of a car is as simple as entering the odometer reading and your signature on the back of the certificate of title. But there are many states where you may also require filling out official title-transfer forms.

You need to behave like a good seller

Always anticipate a potential buyer’s questions. Anticipating questions regarding your car is definitely one of the best ways to increase the confidence in your honesty. Every buyer looks for a certain model and so the chances are more that he or she may likely have done some research on the going price of similar cars. As a result, it can helpful if you too do your homework properly. When you do show the car, answer all questions honestly. Besides this, be prepared to provide service receipts and to accompany the buyer on a test drive and to an independent mechanic.

With these few above mentioned tips and the right attitude, you can surely sell your used car in no time and have the money that you are looking for. All you need is to follow the above mentioned tips and the probability is more that you may be well paid on your way to a successful sale of a used car.

Residual Value, Depreciation and Your Used Car

Whether you realize it or not, a vehicle’s residual value should have a large effect on your used car shopping. Everyone knows a brand-new car can lose more than 30 percent of its value in its first year – it’s why smart shoppers buy used – but what about the remaining fraction? What a car retains in worth is called residual value. Understanding how certain factors add or detract from that worth can help you get the absolute most out of your used car both at buying time and when it comes time to send the vehicle on its way.

Residual Value is just the opposite of depreciation. That is, what your car looses in value over time is defined as depreciation and what it retains is called residual value. While these terms are often associated with leasing, they’re just as pivotal to the used-car buying process. So what determines how much a car keeps or looses over time? Loan officers use complex formulas to determine a vehicle’s depreciation based on innumerable factors that decide how much a vehicle looses in a typical year of use. Rather than slog through all of those, let’s take a look at the four most prominent portions of depreciation in no particular order.

Age

Like it or not, every car loses some percentage of its value as time passes. The funny thing is, the amount of that loss changes over time so long as the rest of the factors on our list stay within acceptable parameters. In the first few years, a car stands to lose the largest portion of its value, but by year three the level of depreciation levels off somewhat.

How does that effect your used-car buying? While it’s tempting to jump in on a used model from this or last year to get all of the great tech and advancements manufacturers boast about, those vehicles still have a substantial amount of depreciation to go through. That is, their residual value will continue to plummet after you sign the title. Some buyers may see that as the price you pay for the latest and greatest, but if you aren’t careful, you could wind up owing more on your car loan than the vehicle is actually worth. Not a good spot to be in.

Mileage

In general, anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 miles is an acceptable amount of mileage for a vehicle to accrue per year. Anything less than that and whatever vehicle you’re interested in will have likely depreciated less than its higher mileage counterpart. Of course, the flip-side of that coin is cars that have amassed more than 30,000 miles per year will be worth less.

Why does mileage matter so much? Every part on a vehicle has a life expectancy, usually measured in terms of miles. The more time a car or truck has spent on the road, the more of that life expectancy has been used up. Even if a car is relatively new, higher miles mean you can expect to replace more parts of the vehicle sooner than its low-mileage brother.

Vehicle Make

This one has as much to do with individual automakers’ performance in terms of reliability and build quality as it does the public’s perception of those attributes. Typically, Japanese and German makes fare better than their domestic counterparts in returning higher residual value. It’s true that by and large, carmakers like Honda, Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have built their names on high-quality, long-lasting vehicles, and those reputations play a huge role in how much buyers are willing to pay for used versions.

At the same time, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have all made huge advances in terms of quality and reliability. Unfortunately, those companies’ reputation for building vehicles that don’t last as long as their import counterparts still haunts them today, resulting in lower average residual value. That means if you’re careful, you can find great domestic-made used vehicles with plenty of life left in them for far less than a similar import model.

Vehicle Type

Not too long ago, it was nearly impossible to find a good, used SUV for a smart deal. Now, with last summer’s astronomical gas prices and a new focus on green cars and trucks, driving a big body-on-frame SUV is as unpopular as it is impractical. The result is a surplus of used SUVs and truckish people-movers that would have been the envy of the neighborhood not five years ago. Needless to say, those SUV’s have suffered rapid depreciation due to a change in buyer tastes.

It’s important to keep an eye out for these trends when you’re picking up your next used vehicle. It may be tempting to jump into a particular type of car or truck because of a great deal on the window, but doing so could put you into transportation you can’t easily get rid of when it comes time to upgrade in a few years. If a car or truck has depreciated significantly in a short period of time, you may be better off looking for something else.

Used car market in India is growing rapidly with the growth of new car market. In the present era most of the car owners especially young drivers drive a particular car for about three to five years and then exchange their used car for a new car. This has not only given a boom to the new car market but has also fostered the used car market in the country.

When it comes to buying a second hand car in India there are many options open for buyers both in terms of used cars and used car sellers. There are many used cars for sale in India and many dealers that offer the best used cars at a cost-effective price. If anyone wants to buy used car in India then there are certain things one should know to get a perfect pre-owned car.

Here are top 10 tips to buy used car in India:

In the first place you have to decide which car you exactly want and what the price you can pay for it.  The choice of car depends on your needs and requirements. If you are a family of two then a small car like Alto and Spark will be best for you but if you have a huge family of 7 or 8 people then a MUV like Toyota Innova is a good option for you. Analyze your needs before you fix on your used car. Then you have to do a market research on the used car that you decide to buy. You should be well aware of the car’s market value, its resale value, and its reliability as well as demand in the market. After that you need to check the source through which you can buy the second hand car with ease. There are higher chances of getting fleeced when buying a used car and therefore you should be cautious and choose a source that you can rely on. You can select the internet where you can find many Indian car portals that offer a good opportunity to buy used car in India with a hassle free process. Then you have a number of authorized dealer and personal referrals. Many big brands like Maruti, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai also have their used car outlets that offer you warranties, car finance, car insurance, and quality service on used cars. You can judge yourself what is the best option for you. Then you have to think as to whether you are capable to make the entire payment or whether you will take car loan for used car. There are many financing companies so you need to check the interest rate that they offer and choose the best one for yourself. Once you get some of the best sources to check for used cars you can contact them and have a test drive of few of the selected car models. There are many second hand cars in India and you cannot obviously test drive all. So choose few of the models that you desire to own. While testing and verifying the car check the entire history of the car and also evaluate the condition, mileage and performance. Never go for buying a modified car or a repainted car. Then check all the documents of the car that you decide to buy. Check the RTO tax receipt, original registration certificate, insurance papers, original invoice, and the service bills of the car. Don’t forget to tally the VIN number of the car with the one mentioned in the registration certification. This will help to verify whether the car and the seller are authentic. In Indian used car market there are chances of getting cheated so be cautious and don’t end up buying a stolen car. Most of the cars that are stolen in India usually have the odometer tampered. It is a very common malpractice in the used car market. Check the date of tyre manufacturer and the service records to ensure that the odometer is not tampered. If you don’t have much knowledge on cars then ask a mechanic to do so. Have a trusted mechanic look at the car and check the overall condition of the car. Once you are satisfied with the working and condition of the car finalize the deal with the seller.

10. Negotiate to your best to get the best deal and then complete all the paper work and legal formalities.