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Step 1
Before looking for a used car be sure you go the your local Bank and ask them for a AUTO LOAN, they usually have great offers for a used car, and also they give you a better interest rate and save you a lot of money in the long run.
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Step 2
Let an auto mechanic check the problems of the used car before buying it.
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Step 3
Ask the dealer any questions about the repairs needed and for how long you need to bring the used car to the mechanic and more important ASK the them about the (CARFAX VEHICLE HISTORY REPORT) <----- very important*
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Step 4
* Okay, this is the starting point. You first have to have an understanding of what is a "cheap price" to begin with.
Cars are not like clothing or other products that are retail valued at twice their wholesale cost. The average used car profit at a Dealer is right around $2,000. You can probably add another $1,000 to this figure by eliminating avoidable Dealer costs such as sales commissions, advertising costs, rent and other Dealer overhead items.
This is accomplished, of course, by not buying your car from a Dealer.
The wholesale price is a car's trade-in value. That's what cars sell for at Dealer-Only car auctions. For a consumer, this would be a "great price" for a car. In my opinion, getting this price would make a car purchase "cheap".
Getting even a better price than trade-in would be an "outstanding" buy. This also is possible, but again, it will take some work and patience.
So, a somewhat simplistic approach would be to target roughly $3,000 off of the going retail price.
CAR BROKERS: Next, there are Car Brokers. But you should understand what they are capable of and what are their limitations.
Most of them purchase vehicles primarily at Dealer-Only auctions. This means they pay the going "trade-in value" for a car. And then, because brokers should have much lower costs than a traditional Dealership, they can then put a small markup on the car.
The result for the consumer, depending on the actual price paid by the broker, will be a price very near the actual trade-in value for the car.
Using a broker, however, is actually an "easy" method for the car buyer. It takes very little effort because the broker does the work. But if you do the work, there are even better deals.
