In 2016, global car sales were up 4.8% from the year prior, and those numbers will only grow with time. In Denver, Colorado alone there were 1.62 cars per household. If you’re in the market for a car, it may be tempting to go online and look for a car that is being sold privately. There are many different ways to look for everything from used vans to used SUVs, and everything in between. Most of the cars being advertised individually online are being sold by their owners and would involve, most often, a simple exchange of cash as opposed to financing or auto loans. Why not go with that route? Unfortunately, the pitfalls of buying used cars privately far outweigh the benefits. For that matter, there are many benefits to buying from used car dealerships, which often offer far more options, even when they do specialize in specific types of cars. Certainly, if you have a certain car in mind, like a Ford, you probably won’t have any issue with finding a dealership. Let’s look into some of the benefits of buying your used car from a dealership versus a private seller.
1. The Walk In Factor
There’s a reason why walking in remains the most popular form of contact among over half of all car buyers. For one thing, it can be much easier to tell what kind of car will suit your needs if you can see and compare several in person, as opposed to guessing about it online. Dealerships are usually centrally located, and therefore more convenient to access, while private sellers can be found anywhere. Say you’re looking for used vans, which may be a good fit for your family. Used vans may seem to be a dime a dozen — but finding the right one is another issue entirely. Walking into a dealership, you’ll be able to see all of the available used vans on sight, test drive them, and sometimes even test drive them with your family to see if they’ll really accommodate your needs. Furthermore, those working at the dealership will be well-equipped to answer your questions, both in terms of technicalities and simple details regarding the cars themselves. Of course, used vans are just the examples here — dealerships offer a multitude of different types of cars, and walking in will allow you to access all of them.
2. Finance Options
Buying a car privately may sometimes seem like the cheaper option up front, but that isn’t always the case. Furthermore, buying a car privately means that you can’t finance it, and must pay the total upfront. You may not necessarily be able to afford that immediately if you’re buying a car unexpectedly. A dealership will work with accredited financial institutions in order to give you the best possible terms for your car loan. For that matter, a car dealership is also often able to work with you in negotiating your monthly payment amounts. While it’s not an easy decision to take on a car loan, you may not always have a choice — and even if you do, financing a car that costs more in total may still be the better choice in the long term than buying a cheaper car upfront. Paying off a car loan can help young people build up their positive credit histories. However, that isn’t even the greatest benefit of financing a car through a dealership versus buying a cheaper one upfront…
3. Quality
Perhaps the greatest benefit of working with a car dealership as opposed to buying a car privately is that you are more likely to get the kind of car that you need, as opposed to settling for the cheapest one that fits your requirements. Dealerships carefully inspect, vet, and when necessary, repair the cars that they sell. For that matter, cars are often bought from dealerships with warranties, ensuring that they will be easier to care for and last longer without issue. A car bought from a dealership is a car that’s meant to last!
