Selecting a vehicle can be a daunting experience. Whether choosing from the crowd of new vehicle models featured in slick print ads and enticing television commercials or tediously circling dozens of used-car ads in the classified section of the daily paper, the task involves extensive research and a commitment to a rational decision.
Buying a used car takes more time than buying a new car. Both processes begin with a detailed assessment of transportation needs -- how the car will be used, who will drive it and where, what features best suit these needs, and other pieces of information that will help in the purchase of the correct vehicle. This analysis is vital in any vehicle purchase. With a used car, it is a bit more complicated and even more important than with the purchase of a new vehicle.
A vehicle purchase is a major expense to be taken very seriously. Take time with the decision. Be aware of buying anxiety. This term refers to either having a fear of buying or being overly anxious to buy something (often anything). The time spent analyzing vehicle needs not only helps overcome buying anxiety, it creates a decision that can be lived with for the next several years.
Purchasing a used car with the support of the automaker behind it can help expedite the decision-making process. Volvo Certified Pre-Owned Car Program, for instance, offers reconditioned two- to four-year-old Volvos, with under 60,000 miles, which undergo painstakingly thorough inspections and reconditioning. The vehicle then comes with a 24 month/24,000 mile Volvo Certified Limited Warranty with zero deductible; affordable financing options; two seventy-five dollar vouchers for service at a Volvo retailer; 24-hour On-Call Roadside Assistance; and the Tire Protection Plan.
Get a notebook. Label it "Vehicle Notes" and set about gathering information that will help determine the model that fits your lifestyle, the features that are imperative and those that would be nice but are not deal breakers.
Exploring Makes and Models
The first step in choosing the right vehicle type is accurately assessing the vehicle's primary purpose. The mother of an active family probably will look at minivans or sport utility vehicles because of their gear and people-hauling capabilities. People with those needs should try not to allow themselves to be tempted by a late model Corvette in "cherry" condition. Conversely she might contemplate purchasing a station wagon. Though they are not nearly as popular today as sport utility vehicles or even minivans, they can be acquired for a good price because most used-car buyers don't want them. Station wagons haul crowds and carry loads of stuff too.
A hip single woman with an adventurous spirit might consider an off-lease pickup someone else is replacing with a family-sized vehicle. However, consider the daily or common activities the pickup will need to support. Driving a pickup can make a woman feel like the queen of the road, but if one of her subjects is a young niece needing a ride to daycare on a regular basis, a vehicle without a back seat is not a good choice. That near-new pickup will likely have a passenger-side airbag that makes it particularly unsafe for youngsters. Even if it doesn't, the front passenger seat of any vehicle is a poor location for small children and infants. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends placing all children 12 and under in the rear seat of a vehicle. Think seriously about who will be riding in the vehicle as well as driving it before making a purchase.
An easy way to get an idea of the many makes and models available is to visit car lots -- new and used. It's really fun to look at all those different cars and trucks. Remember though, this trip is an informational excursion, not a buying trip. Don't get carried away by good deals or the claims of the salesperson. Consider leaving checkbook and credit cards at home if you are prone to impulse buying.
Following are the types of vehicles on this tour and a brief description of how each suits a particular lifestyle. The list includes cars (sedans and coupes) and light trucks (sport utility vehicles, minivans, pickups). Be sure to take the notebook along on these visits. Keep notes on any serious prospects which may require a return visit. Use this trip to start determining the features desired in the prospective vehicle. Also, take note of wear patterns in certain models and avoid those vehicles. For further information, read the article, "Evaluating A Used Car: Finding A Sound Vehicle."
Cars
Sedan: A four-door car. Sedans are usually chosen by families or by adults who enjoy driving their friends. There are small sedans, mid-sized sedans and large sedans; luxury sedans and near-luxury sedans. Luxury and near-luxury cars, like Volvo , will most likely appear in the pre-owned area of a new car dealership. These are probably off-lease vehicles and, budget permitting, would make an excellent choice for the businesswoman with an image to maintain and clients to transport or the family who enjoys the good life. Volvo is noted for their extremely safe, family sedans.
Coupe: A two-door car. Coupes are usually chosen by single adults or couples. There are small coupes, mid-sized coupes and large coupes, luxury coupes, near-luxury coupes, convertible and hard-top coupes. Coupes are very often an emotional purchase (they look faster and sharper than a sedan), so the used-car lots often have a number to offer traded in by people who had second thoughts. Volvo recently released an up-to-date coupe which takes the edges off the familiar sedan.
Hybrids: Prior to the present sport utility craze, station wagons (a form of the sedan) were the choice of families who needed room for kids and space to haul stuff. Station wagons had the comfort of a car and the cargo capacity of a pickup truck. But they didn't have a truck's toughness. Today's consumer wants it all. Enter a new vehicle category known as hybrids. Hybrids are a reaction by automakers to customer demand for the comfort of a car, the appeal of an SUV and the toughness of a truck. Many sport utility vehicles are based on a truck platform and have truck traits like a rough ride and a high climb into the vehicle. Several of the new hybrids are based on car platforms and have car traits like comfortable ride and low step-in height. The Toyota RAV4, for example, is based on the Corolla; the Honda CR-V is spawned from the Civic; the Subaru Forester uses the Legacy platform. Some, such as the Mercedes-Benz ML320, are built on a platform developed specifically for the vehicle. Also included in this category are AWD station wagons for those who still prefer a station wagon, but want the go-anywhere qualities of all-wheel-drive. Examples of these are the AWD versions of the Volvo V70 (called the Cross Country), the Subaru Legacy and Impreza (called the Outback) wagons and the Audi A4 and A6 wagons. Hybrids are a fast-growing category.
Light Trucks
Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV): A few decades ago, this term didn't exist. Today, SUVs are so popular, automakers are closing down production of sedan and coupe manufacturing to build more SUVs. Sport utilities are a good choice for active families. Be sure to buy a four-door and not a two-door version. Two-door SUVs with 4-wheel drive are excellent off-roaders, but difficult for those trying to get in and out of the back seat. As you traverse the lots picking up vehicle information, be aware of the many variations on the sport ute theme.
They come in large-sized, medium-sized (also known as compact) and small-sized (also known as mini). Any used large-sized SUV, such as Lincoln Navigator or Ford Expedition, will be fairly new and likely to appear at dealerships as off-lease vehicles. The medium-sized (Ford Explorer, Jeep Cherokee, Chevrolet Blazer) and small-sized (Toyota RAV4, Kia Sportage, Chevrolet Tracker) can appear most anywhere. Caution: Don't be limited by the vehicles named here. There are many, many SUVs available -- and more are on the way. These examples are some of the more familiar brands and are listed simply to help explain the various size options available.
Drive variations are another SUV variable and decision point -- 4-wheel-drive (4WD), two-wheel-drive (2WD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD). Four-wheel-drive is for the serious off-roader or someone who needs to tow a boat or trailer on a regular basis. Two-wheel-drives look as good in the driveway, serve the same basic function (except heavy towing), handle better, cost less and use less gas than a 4WD. All-wheel-drive combines the two, but don't expect it to perform off-road like a dedicated 4WD.
Another variable to investigate is engine size. SUVs have basically three engines: four-cylinder, six-cylinder and eight-cylinder. The main caution here is to be aware of under-powered vehicles, for example, a 4WD mini-SUV with a four-cylinder engine. An SUV could be on the lot simply because the first buyer didn't do adequate research -- there may not be anything innately wrong with the vehicle. While wandering the used-car lots picking up information, note the variations on the SUV theme -- like Subaru's Outback and Volvo 's AWD station wagon. This type may be a better fit for your lifestyle.
Minivan: There are probably a number of these vehicles available from which to choose in the used-car arena. Many soccer moms are reacting to image and opting for SUVs. If your lifestyle includes kids constantly piling in and out, the minivan, with its sliding door, is still the most convenient vehicle. The newest models have an additional door on the driver's side. Be aware there are a variety of engines for this vehicle. Avoid buying an underpowered minivan. It won't be capable of hauling lots of heavy stuff briskly up a mountain road to go camping.
Pickup Truck: In the automotive industry, compact pickups and small pickups are known as light trucks. The big pickups are just plain trucks. Gone are the days when pickups of any type were used exclusively by workmen. Women now buy nearly 20 percent of pickups sold, for a variety of reasons. Most available used pickups will have two doors, no back seat and are not suitable for family use. One of the biggest selling points of the new pickups is the third door offered on a number of the expanded-cab models. Check the newer used pickups for this feature. It can expand the ability to transport children while not compromising their safety.
In addition to touring used-car lots and dealerships, classified ads are a good and convenient research tool. They're everywhere -- the daily paper, magazines, and on the Internet. Peruse as many as you can. Think about how each vehicle fits your lifestyle. Who will ride in the vehicle? Who will drive it? Where will it be driven? How often? Can you do your own maintenance? Buying the correct used vehicle can be a most difficult decision. Good preparation is the best defense against buying the wrong car.
Consider Various Available Features
When buying new, the customer has the opportunity to determine how the car will be equipped. When buying used, someone has already made that decision. So it's absolutely essential to be clear about which features are imperative and which are less important. A session with the notebook prioritizing vehicle needs is critical to ensure the candidate used car is right for your situation and has all the most important desired features. Think about features like air conditioning or power doors and windows. Power windows may be a necessity when using parking lots or access locations requiring a card or code for entry. Other power features may also be important to you. Take a look at the window sticker on some new cars when visiting dealerships to get an idea of which features are considered optional and which are standard. Warning: this will vary from model to model. This suggestion is merely to help understand what a feature is and encourage giving each one thorough consideration.
Some features just are not found on the models that are available and affordable. Some of the most interesting features were not available on cars as recently as three or four years ago. If remote keyless entry or global positioning are very important, it is possible to add them later. Call a same-automaker dealership to ascertain the charge for those systems.
Safety Features
Features affecting safety are the most important considerations in any vehicle choice. In used cars, they are even more important because the option to custom order safety features has passed. What you see is what you get, and the older the car, the less modern safety features will be included. A reality point about safety features concerns the media's play with the various features. For example, the 5-mile-per-hour bumper demonstration doesn't mean much when involved in a 65-mile-per-hour crash. Five-mile-per-hour bumpers are about tapping another car in a parking lot, not a severe crash. Be realistic in assessing safety features and choose on the basis of real-world accident results compiled by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at http://www.hwysafety.org. Regard the attention-getting scare tactics from advocacy groups with a grain of salt. Verify the facts.
WARNING: Truck safety standards are not the same as those for passenger cars. This is changing, finally, but when shopping for a used light truck including SUVs and compact pickups, be aware of this fact. SUVs are four times more likely to roll over than passenger cars, because they are designed to be driven at slow speeds for work and hauling. This is the case for all trucks. SUVs are also six times more likely to kill the occupants of a passenger car if you hit one during an accident -- especially if you hit the passenger car from the side.
Seat Belts
Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov) was established in 1970 to carry out safety programs established by the government, they didn't begin mandating features like airbags or requiring side-impact standards until the mid-1990s. One of the earliest safety features was the seat belt. Automobile manufacturers began installing seat belts in their cars in the 1950s, but it wasn't until 1983, when NHTSA began tracking seat-belt use, that anybody paid much attention. Today, 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all the U.S. Territories have seat-belt laws. New Hampshire is the only exception, requiring seat belt use up to only age 12. Older cars may have inferior seat belts (like one-size-fits-all -- wrong! -- or those horrible door-mounted shoulder belts and separately-operated lap belts). There may be no belts at all in the back seat. More crash test data is available from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It is important to visit both NHTSA and IIHS web sites during the research process.
NOTE: Not all seat belts are the same. In recent years automakers have begun to install seat-belt pretensioners. These are devices that retract the belt on impact to pull the driver and passengers back toward the seat while they are being projected forward. This picks up some of the slack and stretch in the belt giving more space for the airbag to deploy. This is an important example of how seat belts and airbags work in concert. When researching car options, the manufacturer's specifications present information about whether or not pretensioners were standard on a prospective vehicle.
A NEW CAR BUYING GUIDE reader discovered the hard way that many older cars do not have the rear shoulder belts necessary to accommodate child seats designed for use in the back seat of a vehicle. The reader, the mother of a three-year-old girl, drives a 1987 station wagon. When she purchased the vehicle, her daughter was a baby and the lap belt worked fine with her car seat. However, now that the child is older and over 40 pounds, the car seat she needs requires a rear shoulder harness belt to ensure a safe ride for the little girl. And the station wagon does not have one.
Because the vehicle complied with 1987 safety standards and no injury resulted from the omission of rear shoulder belts, the vehicle's maker is not responsible for the part necessary to make her daughter's child seat effective. However, adding the needed seat belt an insignificant expense for a parent to absorb to protect a child. The situation can be avoided in the future by rejecting vehicles without rear shoulder belts for families with small children.
Airbags
Another safety feature that needs close study in a previously-owned vehicle is the airbag(s). The federal government now requires both driver and passenger-side airbags in all 1998 model cars. However, most manufacturers were ahead of the game and nearly all 1996 model cars, light trucks, and vans were equipped with driver airbags. Many also have passenger-side airbags. A call to the automaker's customer service line will tell if the vehicle under consideration has passenger-side air bags, a shut-off feature, such as in the Ford Ranger pickup, and other information.
As a result of some consumer opposition to the passenger-side airbag, NHTSA is allowing the bags to be disabled under special circumstances. Information is available on the NHTSA site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/airbags. As the potential buyer of a used car with a passenger-side airbag, it is necessary to know whether or not the airbag has been deactivated. Also, try to find out if either airbag has ever been deployed, and if so, when was it replaced and by whom? The seller has no legal obligation to provide this information, but, hopefully, the seller will be responsible and willingly provide the status of the vehicle's airbag. For more information on airbags, read Air Bag Update: Children Belong in the Back Seat by Joanne Brickman.
Antilock Brake Systems
Another contemporary safety feature is the antilock braking system (ABS). Many newer car models have ABS. There are a couple different ways to find out whether the target car has ABS: check the instrument panel for an amber ABS indicator light when the ignition is turned on; read the owner's manual (hopefully it is in the glovebox); read make and model specifications online; or simply ask the seller. ABS is often misunderstood as a safety feature. If the car has ABS, take time to understand how it works because when they are in use, they feel very different from the older standard style of brake. If the car has no owner's manual for reference, check with the dealer or call the automaker to order one. If all else fails, call the police station. They can refer you to a department driving instructor who can explain the system. Aftermarket repair manuals -- such as Chilton's -- can be found at most major bookstores and might be handy to have in lieu of the manual.
A safe car should be the most important consideration when looking for a used car. The "Buying a Safer Car" web page at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/NCAP is loaded with safety information, including links to other helpful sites such as The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety web site. Most of this information applies to new cars, but offers an additional resource for gathering knowledge about particular makes and models -- especially when purchasing a late model used car.
Evaluating The Information
Now, go back to the question: "Where will the vehicle be driven and how often?" Enter the answer in the notebook. If the vehicle is primarily for short trips to the fitness center, don't worry about getting efficient gas mileage. That big gas-guzzler may not give off your desired image in the parking lot, but there will be money left over to buy some great new workout clothes.
If freeway driving and hill climbing are not regular activities, a small four-cylinder engine may suffice. Buying a small car can cut down costs, including gas, and enable you to slip into those tiny parking spots at the shopping center. Here's a tip when shopping for a four-cylinder vehicle: if possible, buy one with a manual transmission. When properly driven and kept in the best gear for acceleration, it will provide more zip merging on to the freeway.
A cold and snowy climate may dictate the need for a vehicle with front-wheel drive to provide better traction and safer driving on icy roads. Front-wheel drive is very important during inclement winter weather. While there are only a handful of rear-wheel drive cars left on new car lots, used lots have many. Pay attention to this detail if climate is a factor in how the prospective car will be driven.
Who will drive the "new" used car is an important question to revisit. When purchasing a car for a teenager to drive to and from college, smaller is not automatically better. She'll need room to pack her computer and TV. A strong, responsive engine will keep her out of trouble on the busy highway. Be sure this vehicle has good seat belts and ample safety features.
Projecting the kind of wear and tear the vehicle will have to endure can save trouble down the road. Consumer Report's Buying Guide and annual April issue have "frequency of repair" charts that can provide a fairly good idea of where trouble might occur in prospective cars. These publications also offer overall reliability summaries of 277 models going back eight model years. Use them to do a quick check on those cars you circled in the classifieds of the daily paper. Most all Consumer Report articles and products are available for a fee from the their Web Site at http://www.consumerreports.org. Remember, however, this research is only a portion of what it is necessary to know before committing to buy a used car. Again, the starting point is to evaluate the various factors that determine how this vehicle will be used.
Before signing off on the evaluation of your transportation needs, look ahead for a moment. Is a move from hot Phoenix to cold Chicago in the cards? That small, light-weight car that's easy to keep cool and cheap to drive in dry Phoenix may slide dangerously on icy Chicago streets and have a heater-defroster that kicks out more cold air than hot. Plan ahead.
Actually, "planning" is the key word for the entire process of selecting a good make and model. Fill that notebook with honest answers regarding your personal vehicle needs. Then carry it along while searching for a car that fits the bill.
