3 ways to save money when buying a second hand car

It is very easy to save money simply by buying a used car rather than a new one. One of the most astounding things about buying a new car is that as soon as you sign, and drive it off the showroom floor, you immediately lose money, simply because the car is no longer "new". Every year, depreciation costs from the new car will set you back. This costs may not be obvious, because they don't really fit under the category of normal car costs (like fuel etc), but I am sure that once you come to sell the car, you will realise. Here are 3 tips to allow you to save money on your second hand car:

1. Do your research. Find a car that is reliable, has a good reputation, and is fairly economical. This is the most important step, because if you buy a second hand car which has a reputation for breaking down, then the problems will only get worse in it's old age. Find out exactly what can go wrong with the car, and when you inspect the car, look for those problems.

2.Negotiate a better deal. When buying a second hand car, always try and knock a little bit off the cost. Point out that slight defect and talk about how you will have to pay to fix it, and that you feel some off the costs for that should come off the price of the car. Remember, if you can save $500 here, that's $500 that can go towards fuel or insurance costs, which means $500 you don't have to spend later.

3. Take it for a test drive, and make the owner drive it in front of you aswell. This one may seem a little strange, but watching how the owner drives will really give you an idea of how healthy the car is. For example, an owner who drives with his or her foot on the clutch the whole time indicates that you are most likely going to have wearing problems in the clutch mechanism. An owner that accelerates excessively towards a red light, and brakes hard, indicates that you will probably have to replace the brakes eventually, unless of course they have already been done. There are plenty of great resources that will tell you exactly what to look for, and if you follow the instructions, you could save yourself a lot of money on the possible repair costs. I wil include a link here to a great site which goes into a lot of detail for car inspections.

Hopefully these tips are useful, I am sure they will allow you to save a lot of money, as I know they have worked for many of my relatives.