What are some concerns when buying a used car from a private party?
Buying a used car from a private party has it's disadvantages. In that while you are getting probably the lowest price because you're able to personally negotiate with the person, you're not negotiating with a dealership or a company. You are taking on additional risk in exchange for that lower price. You're buying the vehicle as is. You're not going to be able to go back and knock on the person's door six months later and say, "Hey, you didn't tell me that the stereo didn't work." It's too late. So you are taking on additional risk there. You're not sure how the person has maintained the vehicle. You're not sure how the person has driven the vehicle. Have they driven it like a race car driver. So you need to make sure that you're setting some money aside in your budget for purchasing the vehicle for things that could go wrong in the very near future. There's often many people who are selling a used car, they know that they're going to sell it maybe six months before they actually put it for sale. They've already started to disassociate themselves from that vehicle. And so they might start letting oil changes slip or "I'm not going to replace the tires now or the brakes. I'll just shine it up, make sure it looks good so the person who buys it after me, I'll give them a good price, but then they're going to have to deal with it." So while buying used has some good points, you do need to make sure you set additional budget aside because there could be some things that come out after you've already purchased the car.
