Every year the used car market gets worse as far as quality and honesty. Consumers are getting into auto loans with too high of payments. Consumers are buying vehicles that are not dependable and often the seller knows it beforehand.
The cost of vehicle repair is at an all-time high as well and the majority of 10 year old vehicles have to go to the manufacture dealership for repair due to the technology. We are also seeing a huge spike in pre-owned vehicle prices but at the same time depreciation after the sale is enormous. If the previous mentioned reasons weren’t enough for you to consider a pre-purchase vehicle inspection maybe the following 5 years will be.
Reason 1 – The numbers are staggering and if you believe that dealerships or shops are able to keep up with reconditioning and prep to get a vehicle ready for sale you are crazy. Dealers these days are trying to maximize profits however they can which means a lot of things do not get repaired unless a buyer requires it as part of the deal. According to the Wall Street Journal U.S. auto manufactures set a record high last year in 2015 for selling over 17 million cars and light trucks. This being said that is only the passenger vehicle numbers. Recreational Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Classic Cars and Used Car numbers are not included in that 17 million study which make up about another 15 million vehicles sold just in the used dealer market this also doesn’t include the private seller to private sellers such as Craigslist or eBay.
Reason 2 – The used car market hit an all time high not just in number of vehicles sold
but also the price of the used vehicle is at its highest in all time. According to Edmonds.com the average pre-owned vehicle brought in $18.4K in the 3rd quarter of 2015 at the dealers auction. With pre-owned vehicle prices that high at the auto auction you can expect the used car prices to be about $6,000 over that bringing in around $25K per vehicle on the lot.
Reason 3 – Recently the NAAA (National Auto Auction Association) changed many of their policies for arbitration after the sale of a used vehicle at the auction. Many of these changes no longer require dealers to announce or disclose a vehicle that has had water damage inside the vehicle from things like storms and repaired frame damage from an accident. Some other changes that took place in the new arbitration policy is that fleet vehicles such as government owned, rental vehicles and off-lease vehicles no longer require to be disclosed at the auction. What does this mean to the consumer? This means dealers themselves will actually know less about a used vehicle when they are buying it at the auction and then this lack of knowledge will eventually be passed down to you the consumer during the sale unless you are keen and get a pre-purchase vehicle inspection.
Reason 4 – More Craigslist, eBay and Facebook sales fraud is being reported almost
daily on the news these days but with fraud aside the dangers of violent criminals using these mediums to lure their victims in is out of hand. In May of last year CNN reported that nearly 100 car sellers were duped by buyers on Craigslist. It was an organized scam in the Midwest when the buyer would use a false cashier’s check, so it goes both ways, buyers and sellers getting screwed. Here is a very good article on how not to get screwed when buying a car on Craigslist. With all this being said, taking a pre-purchase vehicle inspector with you or having them go on your behalf has a number of advantages such as making sure the car exist, making sure the seller isn’t a psychopathy and also knowing if the car is worth the asking price.
Reason 5 – Henry Ford said it very clearly, “Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it”. Regardless of who or where you are buying a pre-owned vehicle from negotiation is nearly expected on all accounts. There is no reason why a consumer should ever pay asking price of a pre-owned vehicle. A pre-purchase vehicle inspection provides you with an unbiased report of the vehicle’s true condition and can help you negotiate a fairer price at both the dealership and private seller bargaining table. But this same ideology goes for both the buyer and the seller meaning that if a seller feels the vehicle is worth a certain amount they might not move on the price.
Our whole goal here at Test Drive Technologies is to provide pre-owned vehicle consumers with the power and knowledge of a vehicle’s true overall condition. We do this by providing pre-purchase vehicle inspection services at the dealership or private seller’s location in a mobile format. Our Pre-Purchase Vehicle Inspections include a 400+ checkpoint inspection, 100+ photos and video by request. Francis Bacon was right when it was said “Knowledge is Power”… Let us provide you with both and ensure you are protecting your money at the same time.
