Used Car Dealers

On this page we’re going to give you information that some people in the car business don’t want you to know. This information comes directly from a former used car manager who has worked for several car dealerships over many years – a true industry insider. He is no longer in the industry and has no bias. Our goal with this page is to help you find a great used car dealer, and weed out the shady ones.

Buying a quality used car can be a challenge, but you don’t need to be an expert to find a great used car or dealer. We’ll start by exposing some of the dirty little secrets in the industry. Then, we’ll show you how to use this information to help you find the best used car dealers in your area.

Some Used Car Dealers Don’t Want You to Know…

Used Car Secret #1

Used cars that you find at dealers who only sell used cars tend to have lower quality cars than those who also sell new cars. So, if you’re at an official Ford dealership for example, the cars on their used car lot will generally be higher quality than ones at Uncle Bob’s Used Cars. We don’t mean to make a general statement about this, but life is about stacking the odds in your favor. In this case, the odds are stacked against you when you’re at Uncle Bob’s.

There are several reasons for this:

- First, new car dealers are generally more willing to spend the money it takes to get higher quality used cars to offer their customers. They have deeper pockets and bigger credit accounts for purchasing used cars than Uncle Bob has.

- Second, new car dealers tend to have more concern over their reputation than used car dealers. They know that customers who buy high mileage or broken down old cars will tell ALL their friends about the piece of junk the local Ford dealer sold them. Even though the car had 180,000 miles on it and only cost $1000, people will blame the dealer when that old clunker breaks down. New car dealers do not like that type of talk spreading around town. So, they often don’t retail these types of cars.

A lot of small, used car dealers are fly by night operations, looking to hit it big for a few years, then move on. Many of them are more interested in making money right now than they are in their long term reputation.

- Third, a lot of used cars you’ll find on the lots of used car (only) dealers were sold to them by new car dealers who didn’t want the car on their used car lot. This generally includes high mileage used cars, old cars, cars that have been in major accidents, salvage title cars, cars that don’t do well on Carfax reports, and others in this category.

These cars have to go somewhere right? Where do they go? They go to Uncle Bob’s. To get rid of the old clunkers they don’t want, new car dealers wholesale their cars. Sometimes these cars are sold directly to Uncle Bob, sometimes they are sent to auction where Uncle Bob or Uncle Bill will buy the car to put on their little used car lot.

- Fourth, new car dealers have trained, certified mechanics. While some dealers do a better job of inspecting and fixing their used car inventory than others do, we go back to the odds discussion. The odds are better that a new car dealer will perform more thorough inspections and mechanical fixes than Uncle Bob will do. I know Uncle Bob has been around cars for 40 years, but how many times has he changed the transmission on that European import you’re looking at? How many times has he fixed the electrical system? At a new car dealer, a car with an electrical problem will typically be fixed by a guy who’s been trained to fix electrical systems and does it for a living every single day.

- Fifth, new car dealers are under a lot more pressure to sell quality cars than dealers who only sell used cars. Most manufacturers have ‘certified’ programs nowadays, meaning that certified cars have to go through a number of inspections in order to pass certification. When a car is certified, customers can generally feel more confident that the car they’re about to buy is a quality used car.

On the other hand, Uncle Bob told you his car was good right? Uncle Bob has no certification process he has to put his cars through, and nobody to tell him that he can’t put that lemon on his used car lot.

Used Car Secret #2

Some dealers do funny little things to make a car look good. When we say ‘funny’, we mean ‘low quality’. For example, if the vinyl dashboard or door panels are fading and losing color, there are people out there who can fix this…temporarily. You will often see car doctors on used car lots doing a variety of things like this, all to make a used car show better. To give you an idea of how popular this is, most car dealers use a car doctor to touch up their used cars. Some of the cheap fixes they perform include:

- Vinyl coloring. This is usually done with a special paint made for vinyl, sprayed on with an airbrush. This type of work does not last long, meaning your great looking car is going to age quicker than you might expect.

- Windshield/glass repair. Instead of replacing windshields that have bulls eye’s, they use repair kits to fill the holes. They are high pressure systems that fill holes with a clear, glass-like substance – a more affordable way to make a windshield look good than replacement. While these systems are okay, they cannot compare to the strength of a new windshield. These repairs are generally not going to last nearly as long as a new windshield would.

- Chrome painting. Chrome is not paint, yet chrome paint is used by car doctors to improve the look of faded or rusty old chrome parts. The lifespan of this paint is very limited, but it sure makes a car look better when it’s just been performed on a car.