Buying a luxury vehicle that has been used may be a daunting experience because you truly never know how the previous owners treated it. The entire point of a luxury car is to have the best comfort, ride, and amenities that money can buy.
The only way to ensure that you do not end up with a lemon is to follow the tips for getting the best deal on a used luxury vehicle below, and always make sure that the dealer you are going through understands that you are the one in control of the transaction. If they push too hard, walk away and go to the next dealership on your list.
Mechanic – Always take the prospective car to a reputable mechanic you trust. Even if the car lot employees have gone over the car and made a detailed list of things wrong with it, take it to one that will not be biased in any way.
Lease – Find out if the luxury car you are looking at was returned on an expired lease. These are the best cars to purchase used because, during the time of the leasing contract, the people driving the car would have to repair any issues and not go over the set mileage limits without having to pay some serious amounts of cash to cover them. For the most part, a leased car is the best-used car that money can buy.
Certified – Check around for a dealership that offers precertified preowned cars. This means they have personnel on staff that has gone through an extensive checklist to ensure everything that should be working on the car is. This is an excellent way to ensure you access used luxury vehicles in top shape. Even with this, though, always take the car to a mechanic of your own.
Details – Before you go down to the lot, do some research. Go through a site like consumers report and review the options that you have available to you. Find the one that works best for your needs and has good safety ratings. Go through some of the owner reviews and go down to the car lot you plan to buy the luxury car from, armed with the knowledge to get a bargain.
Use Your Mechanics Review – If the mechanic finds any issues that need to be addressed, you can use them to haggle the price. Many times if the problems are documented by another professional in the area, the salespeople will be willing to knock off some of the price they are asking so you can use that money to make the needed repairs.
Negotiate – Have your best negotiating outfit on because when you go to the car lot, the sticker prices in the window are not set in stone. They are the asking price, but you can almost always negotiate with them to get the price down a little. Never pay the sticker price on a car because it is usually an inflated price because they expect people to try and get it lowered.
Buying a used luxury car is not something you should approach lightly because it is an expensive car that you expect to be in good shape. If you go through a reputable car lot, you should not have any problems, but when you are talking about a used version of any type of car, there could be underlying problems, depending on how the previous owners treated it.
A mechanic can find some of the major issues that may be present, but it is always possible for them to miss something that may show up a couple of months after you buy it. Do the research, get the vehicle checked out, and be prepared to make any repairs that may happen to come up.
