1.  As Is

The simplest type of warranty is no warranty at all.  If this is described in the buyers guide, then the dealer will not do anything further to repair the car or take it back after the sales transaction is completed.  The dealer or seller may state that he or she guarantees to pay for repairs or refund the buyer, but this will need an additional contract that you have to get in writing for it to bear fruit.  If you live in one of the following states: Vermont, Maryland, Maine,  Massachusetts, Connecticut, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia, then the state prohibits the seller from using this type of warranty!  In a few other states, New Hampshire, Louisiana, and Washington, an “as is” warranty requires full disclosure, otherwise it is not valid.

2.  Implied Warranties

For the states which don’t allow implied “as is” warranties, stricter laws are assumed to be the default condition when someone buys from a dealer.  Such laws are called “implied warranties” because by default, if the car fails a minimum level of quality, consumer protection laws kick in with which the vendor must comply.  Again, if there is a contract in writing prior to purchase the “implied warranty” can be cancelled out at the signature of both parties.  State laws hold dealers responsible if cars they sell don’t meet reasonable quality standards.

3.  Warranty of Merchantability

This third type of warranty is the most common, and in this the car seller guarantees that the car they sell will do as it was advertised.  For example, if the dealer can guarantee in the buyers guide that a car goes then it needs to go otherwise the warranty kicks in and the dealer has to fix it.  Not all things are covered, for example a nail that drains the air out of a tire is certainly not a defect didn’t come with the sale.  These things are not covered by warranty.  If it comes down to it (and hope it doesn’t), a judge may have to rule on what is or is not covered by the warranty of merchantibility.

4.  Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose

This is a complicated one and applies to vehicles which were promised to perform for a specific purpose that’s not common to most cars.  An RV hauler is one such example.  If the dealer or seller claims that a particular car is able to handle a task like hauling a Winnebago, and it doesn’t, then the dealer is liable for repairs or refund.  Such warranties may not be in the written contract, but fortunately may be part of the “implied warranties” which are assumed automatically on point of purchase.  For competitive reasons, some dealers offer full warranties on the vehicle’s components and subsystems.

Sometimes a written warranty will state that another party can be responsible for fulfilling the dealer’s promises.  In these cases, you’re responsible for checking out the third party, like satisfaction of customers (check BBB or your attorney general) or the state of their insurance.

5.  Unexpired Manufacturer’s Warranties

There’s a small chance the original manufacturer is still covering the warranty on a car if its less than 3 years old (5 or 10 years for other cars like Hyundais).  You’re going to have to get the warranty documents, like dated receipts that show the period of warranty coverage, the mileage or other documents which are needed to make good on the warranty benefits.

6.  Service Contracts

This is almost like a warranty, but must be purchased separately because it’s not a clause like a warranty that accompanies a sale.  If you decide to take up on this offer, make sure it’s not duplicating the warranty; if it is, you should clearly negotiate down the price as it’s extra.  Check whether the service will cover all broken down items and whether you really need this extra cost for repairs you may not need for a long time.

The leader in the field is CARFAX.  If you check out their website, there’s a free service to alert you whether or not a report is available.  Of course, if it’s available, you’ll have to pay a small charge (about $25) to get a copy of it.  Not expensive.  Better yet, if you’re checking out lots of used cars in Mesa Az, check them all at once for a bulk discount on the CARFAX reports.  Finally, the pricing plan used to have an unlimited usage option for about $35 you can check as many as possible during a certain time period.  If you’re buying one or more used cars in Mesa Az, this is highly advised.  Once you get the report, what can you find out?  If the car has been in an accident and has received a report from the insurance company or other party, you can find out:

• Involvement in an accident
• Salvage status
• Flood damage
• Whether it’s in a lien (i.e. about to be repossessed by a creditor)
• Vehicle use, mileage and odometer consistency, inspection results.

Before you hit the site, make sure you have the VIN ready.  (Get it when you examine the car at the dealer or with the private seller). This information is on the windshield on a little tag, or near the fender, or on the vehicle title.  The VIN is special because it really is a ‘unique’ identifier There are a few other companies that provide vehicle history reports.  This information is probably free somewhere, but it takes the resources and dedication of a private company to pull it all together and offer it to us for convenient use.  Experian auto is amongst these companies.  Incidentally, Experian is also a credit check company who provides credit reports to common consumers who want to know what’s holding back their credit ceiling.  Good thing about Experian (aka Autochecker) they are a bit cheaper than CARFAX.

It’s sad, but many cars which went through Hurricanes Ike or Katrina were severely damaged and can be placed back on the market with some cosmetic changes.  These cars should really be donated to charity and written off as a loss rather than fixed up for the secondary market.

Tips.

1.  Most important tip - Get the opinion of an independent mechanic.  But not only that, get the opinion of a mechanic you trust.  Don’t have one?  Find a friend who knows a mechanic he or she trusts.  Can’t think of one?   Ask around.  You’re bound to find one person amongst your friends who goes to a mechanic regularly and gets a good vibe from them.  After all, a third party mechanic is a disinterested person who can give an honest opinion if you can put up with a little fee for checking out the used car Mesa.

2.  Do a physical check on the outside of the car, looking at the paint, rust.  Check the tires and make sure they’re firm, level.

3.  Check the driver and passenger interior, looking for irregularities, tears, rips or stains in the mats, seats.  The stains in the seats will be hard to remove, a good point for you to use to negotiate down the price.

4.  Check the trunk for problems such as stains, rust, or evidence of water having flooded the trunk interior.

5.  Check under the hood to make sure the engine looks good on the exterior.  Take a look at the oil cap and make sure the gasket (the rubber seal) isn’t leaking.  Check out the engine oil and ensure that it’s a healthy brown color. Make sure hoses are not cracked.

6.  Look at the fenders, ensure they are tightly on the car.  Look for the vehicle identification number (VIN) to ensure that the fenders were never replaced.  Compare it to the VIN on the side of the rear door (when it’s opened) or the front windshield.

7.  Divide the number of miles on the odometer by the car age.  You should retrieve a value between 7000-12000.  Much over that or under that indicates the car was driven too much or not enough, both of which can potentially signify a problem.  Why is low mileage a problem?  Well, not generally, but a very old car with low mileage isn’t necessarily a good buy either.

8.  Ask for the service history of the vehicle, i.e. when brought into the shop, what sorts of repairs were done to it.  You can obtain this from the shop.  If the owner doesn’t have any service records, you’re taking a risk then.

9.  Transmission fluid (see on the dipstick) should be a healthy pinkish color, whereas old fluid is usually very dark brown with speckles.  Check the engine belts, which should not be cracked or stiff from age.  This can be high priced.

10.  Get a CarFax.com report, for free if possible.  This dealer or seller has to shown other buyers anyway.  Try to get it from them for free.  The accident history should be helpful in deciding to hold off on buying.

11. Consider buying a certified pre-owned vehicle.  Certainly not worth it if the car is very new,  1 year old cars of certain makes can cost almost as much as new ones.  Consider buying

When you go searching for a car, don’t confine yourself to just your local city.  Take a look at ads in other nearby cities.  Look at the “How-to” guide to help you decide whether there’s used cars Mesa Az that’s a bit farther away in Phoenix but is priced “just right” according to your research.  If it’s worth it, then get a ride out there to look at the car because it may be well worth you time.  Take a look at Craigslist ads for the Phoenix region, there are usually a few people who are trying to sell their cars directly person-to-person.  In this case, you may find it hard to trust an individual, but guess what?  The alternative is to trust a used car company which we know can be a real crap shoot anyway.  So use your gut when you find these deals that are floating around on the internet.  Another place to look is your local supermarket where people post a lot of stuff on bulletin boards trying to unload stuff.  You can sometimes find absolutely great deals because much fewer people are looking at these ads and it’ll be easier negotiating with this type of old-school advertising.

After finding a few targets, you’ll have to get out there and look at the car, give it a kick in the tires, and drive around a bit hopefully.  You’ll be able to take a look at the interior, exterior, and get a feeling for whether this thing is going to fit you or whether it’s just sort of sucks.  This test drive is absolutely important because you don’t have the same information about used cars as you would about a new car.  New cars are all the same, and no used car is alike!  When you’re driving the car around, you can really get an idea of whether the engine is running smoothly or if it sounds like it’s going to conk out.  Remember, if your feelings go negative on you, you have to give it some credence!  Whereas if you’re simply on the fence about a used car, it may be that you need to take a look at more but keep it in mind for  future consideration.  Finding used cars Mesa Az can be an educational, eye-opening experience.

What this means is simply that information is not available.  And without that information, it becomes very difficult for a consumer to determine whether the price-tag on a used vehicle is justifiable by the market rates or exorbitantly priced.  Consider a typical second-hand vehicle - you can see the mileage, and the year of the make.  Beyond that, can you tell if repaired parts were factory original or cheap generics?  Or how many times has the car been involved in an accident?  Is that paint job going to look good for the next 5 years or just the following three months?  Did it really pass the Mesa, Arizona emissions test or were the testers habitually paid off?  The variability in buying this kind of product, which is a sizeable investment, is huge.  This uncertainty is what I call the “fog of information” when buying a used vehicle.  Worse still, the car dealer is the one who knows most about the car history.  Such a situation is what I’d like to call “total asymmetric information distribution.”  Basically, one side knows about all the nitty-gritty and the other knows nothing.

How can anyone walk out with a winning deal from a dealer?  The way I see it, I think you can strongly stack the odds in your favor to minimize the “fog of information” or the “asymmetric information”.  There are two things you will need to do:

1) First you should note 3 models of cars you’re interested in, and note the color, the mileage limits you’re willing to tolerate.  The year of the make is important but we’ll tackle it in the procedure below.

2) Next you must invest time looking online at a used car site, and note down all the used cars on sale which fulfill the criteria you noted in 1.

3) Then fire up Excel, and start going through each listing, nothing down the price offered by the dealer.  You will notice that for any car of a particular year has a very wide range of prices.  But most importantly, this procedure will yield a “price range chart” for each vehicle.

At the dealer, use your knowledge of these price ranges to gauge whether there’s a scam going on.  Once you’ve picked out a few contenders based on their qualities and your tolerance specifications from 1-3, go home, and do more investiation.  At this point, you should have honed in one particular vehicles, and taking the time to note the VIN (vehicle identification number).  We will need the number below.

4) At home, fire up carfax.com and do a vehicle search for each one you’re interested in, using the VIN .  This will reveal any hidden history of the cars.

With this kind of information, you’ll be in a much better position to barter for the used car.