What to Expect After you’ve Bought your Used Car

Getting into a new car can me a dream come true or it can be a nightmare. With every used car certain expectations need to understood. Where new cars come with warranties that will take you well into 3-5 years, and sometimes more. A used car often comes without a warranty, or if it does, it’s costing you a pretty penny and it’s price is built into the purchase price of the car. This is usually the case with dealers. If you are going to buy a used car on financing from a dealer, you may want to consider looking at a new car. The reason for this is that the loan rates tend to be higher on used cars, and even though the purchase price might be less, the monthly payments might not be that far off for the same car but new. New cars are able to offer you very low interest rates, sometimes as low as 0 percent. We think the best used car to buy is a 4-5 year old model, and either pay for it in cash or get a short low interest loan, otherwise like we said before, it might be best to just go new. Ok, back to what to expect when getting a new car. This means, oil changes (and yes the oil filter too), air filters, cabin air filters, timing belts and other belts, tires, brakes and brake lines, ball joints, bushings, suspension, water pumps, coolant and radiator flush, spark plugs and wires, brake fluid, transmission fluid, and if you it’s a 4x4 you will need to keep an eye on the transfer case fluid, exhaust checks, wipers, and last but not least, keep an eye on the windshield washer fluid. As you can see, it’s a long list of things to keep track off, but remember you saved yourself a lot of money by buying a used car, and this is why. New cars are easy, the dealers look after most of this stuff, but with used cars you need a trustworthy mechanic that also happens to be a great alternative to the dealer that can tell you what you need to keep an eye on and what to expect to have to fix in the next few months. The list above is a good checklist to be mindful of A) when you are buying the car so you know when those items will be due and B) as you are using the car so that you can budget and have be aware of what is coming up. A good used car should last you about 10 years or more if you look after it properly. And when you do the math, it’s still drastically more affordable to do the maintenance on it than buying a new car. If you budget yourself $200 a month (which is much less than a car payment) you should have more than enough money to cover all the suggested service and any repairs that might come up. Do the math, we dare you! You will be pleasantly surprised how much more affordable a used car can be. And don’t forget that it’s not just the monthly payment on a new car, it still needs some service that warranties don’t cover. And before we wrap it up, some other things to expect with your used car are of course insurance payments which should be around $100 a month, fuel costs, license plate sticker renewal $74/year and an E-Test every 2 years which is only around $40 if there’s nothing wrong. As you can see, cars are expensive. But here in London, we really do need them. We’re going to leave you with some final words to remember. Be proactive! Ask about the car before you buy it. And talk to us, your local mechanics and import specialists about your car, we can tell you what to plan for and what is needed. If you are not sure, and it’s too late to ask the previous owner, bring your car and leave it with us, we we can go over it and let you know what it needs. Otherwise, enjoy the  beautiful weather and drive safe. Happy Victoria Day!