How To Estimate A Used Car’s Value

by: Gregory Ashton
When searching for a used car, one of the most important factors to consider is whether the car you are looking for really is worth its tag price. Even though the car may look like quite a deal, it is possible that you are being ripped off. Here are a few tips to help you make that decision when considering used cars.
1. Do a Little Research
When you find a used car that catches your fancy make sure you do research on that car. Find out how much that car costs if it were brand new. You should also look into whether the car is still in production and if its parts are still available. You could also try a little shop hopping to compare used car prices among cars of the same value and same age.
If a car’s price is too low, that should send you into a state of alarm. It is possible that the car is much more trouble than it is worth.
If it is too expensive, you may want to ask why that is so.
2. The Older the Car the Cheaper is Should Become
Brand new cars typically lose up to 30% in their value in 3 years, and by the time the car is 5 years old, it may have lost up to 65%. If you know the car’s original price, you may want to use this rule of the thumb for your estimation.
3. Use a Third-Party Information Service
Car Fax is a good way to find out about used car histories. They offer a service that will give you a detailed history of the car you are interested in. The information included will typically include accident history and insurance data.
Kelly Blue Book is one of the most comprehensive used car value listings around. It would be a good idea to take a peek into their services for an updated list of hundreds and hundreds of used car values.
4. Take a Mechanic with You
A car’s value is also directly related to its running condition. If you are not that well versed in mechanics and cars, you may want to take a mechanic along so that he or she can evaluate whether the car really is worth the used dealer’s tag price.
Some used car dealers will offer cars that are defective and try to hawk them by sweetening the deal. Beware of these kinds of car dealers.
Try to look for a reputable dealer. The past experience of your acquaintances will be very valuable in evaluating a car dealership.

About The Author
Gregory Ashton, your resident automobile enthusiast, bringing to you over 20 years of vehicular passion, and expertise; presents for your approval his insider secrets on selecting, buying, and maintianing the car that is ideal for you. http://www.best-car-buying-tips.com.

car hybrid

Let me tell you about my experience with cars.
Allmost a year ago I purchased my first used car and i felt so good that it didn't matter that it's not a new car (but that auto purchase wasn't easy). I even got a good price for it, just 2000 Euro. Now that price doesn't seem much to some but for me.... let just say that I hade to take a loan that I will payoff in 7 years. Just for ther record it's Fiat Bravo 1.6 16v (upper left corner of the topic) and you might see why it catched my eye.
But it was unregistrred and with a couple of thinks to take care of, but in the long run it seemed quite a bargain.
Then I realized a tru price of a car (offcourse, this is a Croatian price with a Croatian market). First I had to register and insure it witch costed me allmost half the price of a car(auto cheap insurance my ...), of course that's after it went through mechanical overall witch costed me around 250 Euro (oil, belt's, filter's etc.) not to mention new shocks and (for the lack of an english word) scissors also 250 Euro. But I forgoth about most important auto part which allmost costed me my life......TIRES!!!!

Then this happen'd and it costed me the other half of the price of my car and I lost 15% of my security discount at auto insurance company not to mention the humiliation of being a bad driver at work and a lote of wasted time finding cheap auto parts.
To make the matters worse, the dude that fixed my car did a badly job at repairing it, for example the bodywork was out of line and I allmost racked my machine becose there was no watter in the cooler (my temperature indicator wasn't working right) witch he didn't mention before I drove 20 km overheating the machine.
Can't say that it's not my fault becose it's only my hot head that caused this car accidente so I'm checking that under just another lesson in life.
After that, I did some thinking and figured out that my car has costed me 4500 Euro so far (almost 2 and a half of the car price). And when you ad 100 Euro for gas per month (aproximatly), new tires, new stuff that brake's down on top of regular insurance and tehnical check up each year two things come up my mind.......Drive safely or use public transportation :)