Car-buying Part 1: Selecting & Purchasing a Car
hi everyone and welcome to the international
rescue committee's video series on car buying purchasing and owning a car can be an overwhelming
process so we're here to help break down the process of becoming a car owner if you're trying
to decide whether to buy a car on the market to buy one or already own a car and just want to
learn how to best take care of your automobile we will do our best to walk you through all the
phases of car ownership those of you watching may already know some or many of these topics
covered but even for those of us that work in this industry every day it's a good reminder this car
buying series is divided into four different parts part one walks through the process of researching
selecting and purchasing a car as well as negotiating the price part two will go over the
budgeting for car purchases and includes topics such as determining whether to use the money you
have or take out a loan how to find a lender and choose a loan and how to refinance your car loan
among other topics part three covers understanding car insurance and warranties we will also touch
on best practices when selecting and saving on car insurance and lastly part four covers everything
you need to know about maintenance for your car this video series is divided into four
different videos reflecting each part we cover at this time you are welcome to jump to any
part you're interested in learning more about but in this video we will continue on to part one part one of our car buying video series will go
over the process of selecting and purchasing a car in this section we will go over the types of
cars best research and inspection practices as well as how to negotiate the price when
you don't research cars before you go to the dealership you are more likely to be sold
a car that is not the best option for you car dealers care much more about selling you a
car than finding you the car that is actually the best for you and your budget think about
what you'll be using the car for most will it most likely be driving yourself to work then maybe
you just need a small sedan with good gas mileage do you have a big family that goes places
together maybe an suv with lots of seats and storage space is good for you do you haul
things very often maybe a truck would be the best option for you think about what your specific
needs are and find a car that meets those needs remember as the buyer you are the one in control
throughout the entire process do not ever feel pressured to buy a car that a car sales person
is trying to get you to buy you do not have to buy what they are selling you you can just walk
away if you have not signed the purchase papers there are a lot of great websites that will let
you search for cars online you can use those to get an idea of what kinds of cars are in your
budget and they will make it easy to narrow your search exactly how you want so that you can easily
find a kind of car that will be good for you you can use usually search by price car type how
many miles the car has been driven the number of doors color condition and other things
looking through these options can help you decide what is important to you about your car
and what things you don't care about as much when you are considering all of the things you
care about for your car the internet is the best place to start researching these are all good
websites to use when you're doing your research and most of them have apps for your phone as
well i like edmunds.com because it gives a lot of information about the car in a way that is
easy and quick to understand i like cargurus.com because it is the place that many car dealers
list cars they have for sale so that you can see exactly what is available to buy and then you
can go to the dealership to see it and buy it in person cargurus also tells you exactly how good of
a deal they think the price is for that exact car for example they will say if they think the price
is a hundred dollars higher than what they think it should be or if it is a great deal because the
price is 500 less than what they think it is which makes it a really easy way to compare prices there
are two general categories of safety features for cars the first category is safety features that
protect the occupants when there is a crash these kinds of features include airbags side
airbags seat belts and the ways a car is built you can see how safe a car is during
a crash by going to www.nhtsa.gov there you can enter information about the car
you are interested in buying and you can see how the federal highway safety agency rated the
safety of that car if it were to get into a crash other safety features help to prevent crashes
these kinds of features include anti-lock brakes that help you stop fast without
the car sliding out of control back a backup camera so you can see what is behind
you blind spot monitoring which can help you tell if there is a car next to you that me
you might not see collision detection that can do things like apply the brakes if it does not think
you will stop quick enough to avoid an accident and radar cruise control which will help you keep
at a safe distance from other cars and traffic for driving in bad weather or on slippery surfaces
all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive can also be considered as having a positive effect on active
safety snow in the winter makes the roads very slippery all-wheel or four-wheel drive cars will
get you the most traction in the snow the next best is front-wheel drive cars rear-wheel drive
only cars will be the hardest to drive in the snow it is up to you to decide what safety means to
you and how much you are willing to pay for it the quality of a car can be seen as how many
miles the car can be expected to drive over its lifetime before it's broken down some cars might
expect to only last for a hundred thousand miles and some will likely drive well when they had 300 000 miles on them having an idea of how many
miles the car might drive will help you figure out what the limit is for how many miles you are
willing to have on a used car that you want to buy quality can also mean the condition of the
car if it is scratched or torn or if it is in like new condition for other people quality
might depend on how much power the car has how fast it can go or what extra features it has
like a good sound system power windows power locks or other things that are more of a luxury item
one way of comparing quality is to look at jd power quality ratings that give awards to
the highest quality for the price of cars jd power also has a lot of other information
like safety ratings and owner reviews of cars when you find a couple of cars that you like
you can look up expert opinions on them you can do this on many websites including edmonds.com
kelly blue book and consumerreports.org many of these websites will let you compare cars to each
other by listing all of their features next to each other so you can see how they can compare it
is important to think about fuel efficiency also known as mpg which stands for miles per gallon
if a car does not have many miles per gallon it will cost a lot of money to drive if a car gets
more miles per gallon it will cost less to drive for example if you live in 10 miles from your
work you will probably drive at least 20 miles per day about 5 days per week that is 100 miles
per week just driving to and from work that does not include any other driving for this example we
will say that gas costs three dollars per gallon if you have a car that gets 10 miles per
gallon you will spend 30 dollars per week getting to and from work that is 120
dollars per month and 1 40 per year if you get a car that gets 20 miles per gallon you
will spend fifteen dollars per week driving to and from work that would be sixty dollars per month
and seven hundred and twenty dollars per year that means that you would save at least 720 dollars
per year if you bought a car that gets 20 miles per gallon instead of a car that gets 10 miles per
gallon so you can see that miles per gallon will have a big impact on your budget but maybe you
care more about extra seats or how the car looks it's up to you to decide what is more important
and what is less important to you about your car moving from your seat in front of the computer
screen to the seat behind the wheel of your next new car is the most exciting part of the buy-in
experience you can now get ready to negotiate and purchase your vehicle with confidence the
traditional way of picking a dealer has evolved today there are many options to approaching retail
car purchases if you have a good relationship with a trusted local dealer that offers the brand
you're looking for you have a great place to start if not online car listings can help
remember that a person who is not licensed a licensed car dealer is called a private party
which might be a riskier option once you have a few cars that you want to see you can contact the
dealer to see if it is available or you can just go to the dealership selling the car so you've
done your online research and located a dealer now you're ready to experience the vehicle in
person if you're a serious shopper the dealer will work closely with you and should give full access
to the vehicle for inspection and test driving if you are planning to test drive a few different
vehicles let the salesperson know that you are a serious shopper but are still gathering
information to make your final decision bring along a trusted friend or family
member to test drive and lift the car over it's always helpful to get a second pair of eyes a
good salesperson will be very knowledgeable about the vehicle's finer points and make you aware of
additional features you didn't notice while doing your online research it is really important to get
up close and personal with your prospective new vehicle how's the overall appearance are there
any problems that you did not notice online is the trunk and cargo area spacious enough for your
needs is the driver's seat comfortable and easy to adjust are the controls easy to understand and use
are there enough seat seatbelts for your family check out the vehicle characteristics
that are most important to you if music is your thing make sure the quality
of the sound system is to your satisfaction if you plan to have frequent passengers in
the back seat climb in the back and buckle the seat belt to see how comfortable it is make
sure the heating and air conditioning work well now that you've completed a thorough walk around
you can concentrate on the driving experience the test drive should help you make your final
decision when you drive the vehicle take your time be sure to drive on both city streets and
the highway and never feel like you have to rush the process usually a car salesperson will go with
you on the test drive to answer questions and tell you where to go an optional step to inspecting
your car would be to check its history report this report will show the history of body damage
to the car but usually not a record of mechanical problems a physical assessment of the vehicle
is very important before you buy a car take your time and be thorough a dealer might not let
you take the car to a mechanic or might only let you take it to their mechanic so it is important
that you look at things carefully for yourself an honest dealer should stand behind every used
car he or she sells and there are plenty of good dealers out there look for the following warning
signs when you're inspecting your prospective car a car title is a document that says what a car is
and who it belongs to it is important to ask what kind of title the car has there are a few kinds
of titles the vest is called a clean title this means that the car has not been badly damaged or
that the damage was not reported to an insurance agency a salvaged title is something to be very
careful about salvage title means that the car was damaged so badly that the insurance company
decided it would cost more money to fix the car than the car could be sold for while it might be
okay for someone who has a lot of experience with car repair to buy a car with a salvage title i
would not recommend for you to buy a salvage car for yourself signs of poor alignment such as
uneven tire wear you can see uneven tire wear when the tread depth is thicker on one side of the
tire and shallower non-existent on the other area bad alignment is expensive to fix it will require
new tires and can be and could be caused by broken parts while you're looking at the tires ask the
salesperson if they are all season tires and how they handle in the snow look for evidence of body
damage like areas where the paint is a different color or seems very similar but not quite the same
look to see if everything lines up correctly for example do each of the headlights look like they
are tilted the same way does the door have the same gap all the way around between the edge of
the door and the rest of the car it looks good and sounds fine so now it's time for the all-important
test drive this gives you the opportunity to gauge a vehicle's driving characteristics and also it
minimizes the chance of future buyers remorse things to notice before your test drive
is the driver's seat comfortable for you is the steering wheel too high or
too close to the instrument panel most of the time the steering wheel can be
adjusted in and out as well as vertically can you see all of the dashboards clearly
look at the layout of the radio and heater controls can they be easily adjusted without
taking your eyes off the road look over your shoulder are there any blind spots that you
cannot compensate for by using your mirrors climb into all of the seats and check the
head and leg room for future passengers do the headrests come up far enough to be safe
for you they should be able to reach the back of your head are there child seat anchors two
car seats for your kids fit the seats well once the car is running look to see
if there are any warning lights on such as the check engine low tire pressure or
abs light also known as anti-lock brake system if a light comes on and you do not know what it
means ask the salesperson upon first starting the engine listen for any tapping ticking or whining
sounds a prolonged tapping could be valves needing adjustment or a bad hydraulic lifter turn the
wheel from side to side and listen for belt squeal pump the brake pedal a few times
and then press hard with your foot if it slowly sinks all the way to the
floor there is a problem with the brakes shift into gear if the car is automatic the
transmission should engage immediately and as you drive shifts should be crisp firm and quick
there should be no grinding or grounding sound of any kind from the transmission when you select
gears with your foot firmly on the brake shift from driver drive to reverse clunks or grinding
noises should indicate something is broken if you drive along does the steering wheel shaker
vibrate it shouldn't if it does there is a problem if it feels like you have to hold on to
the steering wheel in one direction or the other to go straight the alignment could
be off which would need to be repaired cars with abs or anti-lock brake system will have
a slight pulsating action in the pedal when the brake is applied with great force cars without
abs should not have pulsating brake pedals under any circumstances the car should also continue
in a straight line when the brakes are applied if the car pulls noticeably to the left or right
something needs to be fixed a dealership might not allow you to take the car to a mechanic for
inspection but it cannot hurt to ask them if it would be all right remember if you choose to do
this it will cost you money and you will need to schedule a time for the inspection it is up to you
to decide if it is worth it to you to do it or not some dealerships offer certified pre-owned
cars this means that the dealership checked everything on a list and decided that
everything was good enough for them or fixed it so that it was good enough once
you know the car you want and select the model options maximum mileage and other details that
are important to you it's time to get serious about price this is when it is really important to
keep your budget and other financial goals in mind you should know exactly the maximum amount you
will pay for a car this is sometimes called the out the door price if the salesperson asks you how
much you are looking to spend you can tell them what your maximum amount is and that that amount
must include all fees and taxes keep in mind that costs of a vehicle at the dealership will include
several things beyond the purchase price of a car which we will go over in part two another strategy
is to tell the salesperson an amount that is a couple thousand dollars less than what you really
want to spend make sure it is very clear that what all you want your top payment amount to include
it is very common for a sales person to try to get you to spend more than what you tell them
you want to spend usually they will try to get you to buy a car that costs as much as you want to
spend then add other costs on top of that amount they want to sell you a more expensive car
because they will make more money that way you are responsible for your money and how you
spend it do not feel like you have to buy a car because the salesperson wants you to the msrp also
known as manufacturer's suggested retail price is the suggested sales price of a car by law
this price is displayed on every vehicle sold in america car dealers can lower this price if
they want to most of the time you can try and negotiate with them to lower this price sometimes
they will lower it and sometimes they will not sometimes they will try to give you extra things
like the first tank of gas for free or free oil changes for a year instead of changing the price
updated weekly the fair purchase price is the industry's most reliable new vehicle pricing tool
the price you receive online specifically reflects the price consumers are paying for new vehicles on
a current market basis down to the specific make and model fair purchase price pricing reports
offer a new new car's typical selling price its typical range of selling prices and the market
conditions affecting those sales the fair purchase price is not a number influenced by dealers or
manufacturers it is an actual transaction data representing a range of what people actually paid
for specific vehicles this pricey knowledge will benefit you greatly as you decide what you
are comfortable paying for for your next car cardgrows.com can be a good tool to use to see
how a car price compares to what the fair purchase price is since they will not list how far off the
asking price or msrp is from the fair purchase price the same type of car can cost more or less
based on the features that are in a specific car these are usually identified by a trim package
such as ex lx or sx for example every company will have its own way of differentiating the model
levels it is important to pay attention to these model levels sometimes called trim packages and
not just the make and model of the car because the trim package can have a large impact on the
price of a car car prices change very consistently based on things like how many people are buying
cars at that time or how soon a car dealer wants to make a sale or get rid of a vehicle there
are strategies to get the best price on a car in general the more pressure a car dealer is under
to sell the car the better the deal you can get for example if there were lots of people buying
cars which is what usually happens in the spring the car dealer might now be willing to lower their
price because they think that if you don't buy the car for the price they want to sell it for
they will likely have someone else come in soon enough to buy the car at the price the dealer
wants to sell it at some general strategies to get a better deal on a car is buy out of season
vehicles like in convertible and cold weather or in the winter season fire around the last day
of the month dealers have monthly sales quotas by at the end of the year some dealers will clear
out inventory for tax reasons the research you've done so far will give you a comfort comfort level
on what the right price of your next vehicle should be a knowledgeable and reputable dealer
will be able to negotiate a fair deal with you and try his or her best to convert you into a
loyal return customer it is your responsibility to know at least some basic information before
approaching a car dealership to buy your car in the united states people don't negotiate for most
things but everyone negotiates the price of a car it's important to be ready to negotiate when you
go to dealerships being pre-approved for a loan can give you a better bargaining position that
way you're negotiating the price of a car not the monthly payment information is power make sure you
know the market value of the car from cargurus kbb or edmunds.com research online also make sure
you do a thorough inspection so you know the mechanical condition anything that is wrong with
a car can help your negotiation never reveal your true degree of interest in a particular car if you
show that you're really excited about this one car the salesperson will be more confident trying
to get you to pay more for it don't say too much and always look like you're ready to walk
away and go to a different dealership only give a general range of money you want to
spend and make sure it is below your maximum be confident about your position and lead the
negotiation the dealer or sales person is not your friend and wants to get as much money from
you as possible they won't sell a car if it won't earn them a profit but they will pretend to
be your friend during the search for a car so that you feel less comfortable negotiating
with them lastly remember that it isn't over until you sign the contract and walk away get any
promises in writing and signed off by the manager ensure all fees are included in the quote there
shouldn't be any blank spaces left on an invoice thank you for watching part one of the
international rescue committee's car buying video series we hope you will join us for part
two of the series budgeting for car purchase to receive additional support in your
car purchase please get in touch with your local irc office to connect with a
financial coach for free one-on-one coaching if you would like to access
financial coaching in dari or pashto please email safeproject rescue.org
to connect with a financial coach
