Let's be honest... Car Dealers are a business, and they deserve to make a fair profit for the valuable service they provide.
As consumers, we don't begrudge a business a fair profit do we? No, we just want to make sure that it is, indeed, a FAIR profit, and that we are not being taken advantage of.
To that end, it is in your best interest to be INFORMED when you start looking at cars. Also, to know what the car you are currently driving is worth, whether you are trading it, or selling it yourself.
The best place to start to determine your car's value is Kelly Blue Book.
Kelly Blue Book derives it's values from state REGISTRATION records. This is an accurate way to know what people are PAYING for cars out there... in YOUR area. Remember that a car is worth different amounts in different areas of the country. An example... a convertible is not necessarily a desirable car to have as your main car in Wisconsin... but in Florida will be quite popular. Additionally, you will occasionally find cars up North that don't have air conditioning (generally work vehicles), but that van will be worth almost nothing in Florida as a used vehicle.
Keep in mind that there is a difference between ASKING prices, prices from private sellers, dealers, and SELLING prices.
Craiglist, for example, will give you a good idea of what people are ASKING for cars... however they may drop that number by hundreds, if not thousands, by the time they actually sell it.
PRIVATE SELLERS: It's often thought that you can get a better deal from a private seller and, sometimes, that is true. However it can come with more risk. For example, a private seller may already have bought their next car and the one they are getting rid of is just "taking up space." If they don't owe money on it, they may not care how much they get for it (ask if they have a balance on it). So, you might get an excellent deal from a private seller.
However, there is a bit more risk involved (sometimes) from a private seller. Generally all sales are "as is" and, while the person you are buying the car from may be very honest, they may not know (it may have been a while since they have had their car looked over by a mechanic) that there is an expensive repair about to be required.
It other words... there are both PROS and CONS when it comes to buying from a private seller. Your best bet is to "trust, but verify" and, if you have a mechanic you rely on, have him look it over before buying it. If you are ready to make an offer on the car, ask the owner if they will meet you at your mechanics for the final deal. It can be looked over, and, if you move forward, you can do the paperwork there. If you don't have a mechanic you already work with, we can recommend Vimar Auto, on Forsyth. The owner, Sami, has been our mechanic for over 12 years and is honest and trustworthy.
DEALERS: There are excellent, and shady, dealers out there. The fact you are on our website tells us you are smart enough to do some research first (as we have). At "Find Orlando Cars" we have gone out of our way to ONLY work with dealers whose reputations we have researched (see below), and you can do the same things we did, or you can save time because we already did that work.
Once you know you will be visiting a reputable dealership, you should inquire as to their policies. Do they have a 30 day limited warranty? What are the terms? Generally a limited warranty will cover only certain things found to be wrong on the car in the first 30 days. However this IS some peace of mind and you are going to discover major defects then. So, is the drive train covered? The engine? How about the computer (if it's a newer car)? Does the warranty cover only parts, or only labor, or both? Is there an extended warranty you can purchase for the car? Depending on the cost (and the company offering them), these can be good or bad (more research on how reputable the warranty company is).
A good dealer knows that their reputation is important. To that end, they don't WANT to sell you a bad car. They really don't. Generally speaking they have obtained the car from a source they really don't know... either a trade-in or the auction. However they have often had the car looked over before putting it on their lot, and even invested some money in it to fix obvious items. If they discovered they bought a "lemon," the dealers I know would take it back to the auction and sell it, even at a loss, rather than risk a bad customer interaction which could result in a scathing internet review. Don't get me wrong though, even a dealer can be taken advantage of by a customer.
Warning: story diversion. When I worked at Orange Buick we had a local PASTOR come in and trade in a car. After he left in his new Buick we put his trade in in the shop (the sales manager had only looked it over) and the shop realized that there was no way it had as few miles on it as the odometer
As consumers, we don't begrudge a business a fair profit do we? No, we just want to make sure that it is, indeed, a FAIR profit, and that we are not being taken advantage of.
To that end, it is in your best interest to be INFORMED when you start looking at cars. Also, to know what the car you are currently driving is worth, whether you are trading it, or selling it yourself.
The best place to start to determine your car's value is Kelly Blue Book.
Kelly Blue Book derives it's values from state REGISTRATION records. This is an accurate way to know what people are PAYING for cars out there... in YOUR area. Remember that a car is worth different amounts in different areas of the country. An example... a convertible is not necessarily a desirable car to have as your main car in Wisconsin... but in Florida will be quite popular. Additionally, you will occasionally find cars up North that don't have air conditioning (generally work vehicles), but that van will be worth almost nothing in Florida as a used vehicle.
Keep in mind that there is a difference between ASKING prices, prices from private sellers, dealers, and SELLING prices.
Craiglist, for example, will give you a good idea of what people are ASKING for cars... however they may drop that number by hundreds, if not thousands, by the time they actually sell it.
PRIVATE SELLERS: It's often thought that you can get a better deal from a private seller and, sometimes, that is true. However it can come with more risk. For example, a private seller may already have bought their next car and the one they are getting rid of is just "taking up space." If they don't owe money on it, they may not care how much they get for it (ask if they have a balance on it). So, you might get an excellent deal from a private seller.
However, there is a bit more risk involved (sometimes) from a private seller. Generally all sales are "as is" and, while the person you are buying the car from may be very honest, they may not know (it may have been a while since they have had their car looked over by a mechanic) that there is an expensive repair about to be required.
It other words... there are both PROS and CONS when it comes to buying from a private seller. Your best bet is to "trust, but verify" and, if you have a mechanic you rely on, have him look it over before buying it. If you are ready to make an offer on the car, ask the owner if they will meet you at your mechanics for the final deal. It can be looked over, and, if you move forward, you can do the paperwork there. If you don't have a mechanic you already work with, we can recommend Vimar Auto, on Forsyth. The owner, Sami, has been our mechanic for over 12 years and is honest and trustworthy.
DEALERS: There are excellent, and shady, dealers out there. The fact you are on our website tells us you are smart enough to do some research first (as we have). At "Find Orlando Cars" we have gone out of our way to ONLY work with dealers whose reputations we have researched (see below), and you can do the same things we did, or you can save time because we already did that work.
Once you know you will be visiting a reputable dealership, you should inquire as to their policies. Do they have a 30 day limited warranty? What are the terms? Generally a limited warranty will cover only certain things found to be wrong on the car in the first 30 days. However this IS some peace of mind and you are going to discover major defects then. So, is the drive train covered? The engine? How about the computer (if it's a newer car)? Does the warranty cover only parts, or only labor, or both? Is there an extended warranty you can purchase for the car? Depending on the cost (and the company offering them), these can be good or bad (more research on how reputable the warranty company is).
A good dealer knows that their reputation is important. To that end, they don't WANT to sell you a bad car. They really don't. Generally speaking they have obtained the car from a source they really don't know... either a trade-in or the auction. However they have often had the car looked over before putting it on their lot, and even invested some money in it to fix obvious items. If they discovered they bought a "lemon," the dealers I know would take it back to the auction and sell it, even at a loss, rather than risk a bad customer interaction which could result in a scathing internet review. Don't get me wrong though, even a dealer can be taken advantage of by a customer.
Warning: story diversion. When I worked at Orange Buick we had a local PASTOR come in and trade in a car. After he left in his new Buick we put his trade in in the shop (the sales manager had only looked it over) and the shop realized that there was no way it had as few miles on it as the odometer
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