subject: Used Cars For Sale Online: Buyer Beware [print this page] When you cant seem to find good but used cars for sale in your town or city, the best place to shop around next is the internet. The internet is a vast marketplace where you can find all manner of things being sold, traded, and even given away (though cars arent likely to be on this list). Modern technology has not only altered the way people acquire their possessions but also how they interact. Closing a deal with the car salesman? Youll have to settle for a virtual handshake.
There are three major sources of used cars in the online marketplace: dealers, private sellers, and online auctions. Cars auctioned online are either from dealers or private sellers. Theyre both convenient but still you have to be cautious when choosing which option to take when getting a pre-owned car.
Dealer or no dealer?
Get yourself a legitimate dealer and youre halfway done. Customers can be confident of getting legal protection and sometimes even insurance discounts. How can you tell if an online dealer is licensed? Complete contact information must be found on the official dealer website, and should contain the dealers permanent office address (or the main office if the dealership has local branches), contact numbers (including fax and mobile), and e-mail address. The website should also have the dealers license or registration information (the licensing office varies per country).
Customer testimonials on the dealers website would be a plus, provided that the comments come from customers themselves (and not from the salespersons posing as satisfied buyers of their used cars for sale. Legitimate dealers usually belong to a network of other dealers; it would be advisable to double-check if the trade network or association is legit as well. A certified association follows a code of ethics and negotiating with a dealer who follows that code would make transactions less dubious and more customer-friendly.
Private Seller, at your serviceor not
A private seller is ideally home-based and should have the right to sell the car youre eyeing. One car put on the market by the seller is believable; five or more should make you doubt. If the seller appears confused about the car youre asking about, he might have the other four cars in mind. This so-called private seller may be a dealer posing as an innocent homebody to avoid licensing requirements and to get rid of defective cars.
Do some research on the private sellers contact information? If the given number appears in several other advertisements (each with different used cars for sale), then it would be wise to avoid that illegal dealer.
It may be difficult to tell the posers from the true-blue private sellers, so a good tip is to ask about the car in detailif the seller is the owner, ask him about his experiences while driving the car and about the cars history. Honest private sellers know the car best, and they are not seeking to earn a commission from selling used cars for sale anyway.
by: Kyoko Nitori
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