Buying a Used Car from a Dealership [First Car Purchase]

[burtonguster]

As indicated in the title, I've had no experience in purchasing cars.

Do I need to get a pre-purchase inspection on a car from a dealership?

Assuming yes.
Say that I am going to arrange a pre-purchase inspection. How does it work? What happens?
Do I arrange the inspection with the dealership prior, OR can I just show up and meet the inspector and go from there?

Or because it's from a dealership, is it "safe" to assume that the car would have had some form of regulated inspection to even been eligible to be sold on the lot... If that makes sense.

:o

[Vtec8U :D]

i personally wouldnt but from a dealership....they ask for prices way to high for most cars. Yes they would/should do an inspection however if it looks like a dodgy dealership they would probably just change the oil and put it in the lot. just make sure you give the car a good look over before buying and dont belive what ever the salesman says....

My 2 cents

BTW do a quick search next time before posting, 99% chance this has already been covered

[Nismo3oi]

Better if you search for the car yourself? E.g Carsales. Take a look at it yourself and get it inspected by NRMA or something. Also do a REVS check and RTA vehicles check.

http://www.mynrma.com.au/motoring/buy-sell/buying-advice/vehicle-inspection.htm

https://online.revs.nsw.gov.au/revs/public.htm

https://myrta.com/VehicleHistoryCheck/

[dougie_504]

Don't buy from a dealership. The huge amount of money you will save on buying privately will probably cover any future problems lol. Inspections are important for private purchase.

Otherwise, if you must, make sure they give you a warranty.

[michaelz]

yes usually buying from a dealer means you're overcharged but at least post up what model, trans, mileage and how much.

[Uproar]

Dont quote me or anything. But im sure dealerships run checks on the cars they bought, and have to give you a mandatory 3 month warranty. jst incase you bought a lemon. But as everyone has said, why you dont you go private?

Dealer
Pros - Trade Ins, warranty
Cons - Charge alot more than private. choices limited, esp if youre after a specific model.

Private
Pros - more choices, and you can bargain alot more, means saving $$$. also you can judge the history of the car by meeting the owner.
Cons - no warranty, even after inspections you might find more issues later on.

But as always, do you're checks beit from private or dealer. as nismoboi pointed out, revs and rta.
Also be careful you might buy a car with a defect notice on it, that you cant check for. i recently bought a car with a defect notice on it. its a hassle.

[whteva]

personally like many people on this forum, I wouldn't pay from a dealership.

However I can see that you want the security of buying from a dealership. You are taking the right steps in actually having the car inspected.

Think about it this way, you are going to have the car inspected regardless of where you buy it from? correct

why not buy it privately and have more options with your price range.

Its always good to have the peace of mind with warranty, but dealership only offer 3 months mandatory warranty.
And with the car inspection you will pick up any immediate issues anyway.

Last advise: NEVER NEVER ASSUME, its your money & thats all they way

[MWAKU]

i learnt the hard way, bought my first car form a dealer, turned out to be the biggest peice of shit

why do you think cars get to the dealers anyway? because the private seller most likely couldn't get any private buyers and sold it to the dealer cause he was desperate, probably either because it was ****ed and everyone could see that.. but yeh otherwise he was just despo but w/e.

bring a mechanic if u really want to get the car from a dealer

i would never buy a car more then 5 years old from a dealer.. thats just me

[steeeven]

personally like many people on this forum, I wouldn't pay from a dealership.

However I can see that you want the security of buying from a dealership. You are taking the right steps in actually having the car inspected.

Think about it this way, you are going to have the car inspected regardless of where you buy it from? correct

why not buy it privately and have more options with your price range.

Its always good to have the peace of mind with warranty, but dealership only offer 3 months mandatory warranty.
And with the car inspection you will pick up any immediate issues anyway.

Last advise: NEVER NEVER ASSUME, its your money & thats all they way

i recently bought a lexus from a used car dealer ( not a lexus dealer ) and they gave me a 1 year warranty so i think it depends on the dealership. But yes if you want to be really sure then do a revs check, it should only take 10minutes or so.

[charliebrown]

The car im driving right now (first car) i bought from a dealership.... could have bought from private for $4000 less! The warranties and shit they give is worth garbage. The amount of shit that comes out of dealers mouths does heads... "YEAH YOU WILL LOOK AWESOME IN THIS CAR" "GET THE LADIES" etc etc

Don't rush, wait for the perfect car to come along for a good price, inspect it carefully and you'll have no regrets.

[Mikecivic78]

Golden Rule: Never buy a car from a dealer, you'll get ripped in some way or another.

Go private sale and get a good mechanic to check it out for you. You'll save a lot of money.

Heed this advice.

[dougie_504]

Golden Rule: Never buy a car from a dealer, you'll get ripped in some way or another.

Go private sale and get a good mechanic to check it out for you. You'll save a lot of money.

Heed this advice.


Agreed.

Ask your trusted mechanic to come with you, or if you can drive it to them during the inspection.

And if you're really worried get an RACV inspection (or state equivalent).

[grifty]

theres no need to do a revs check if you are buying from a dealership, he/she HAS to tell you if its written off, if they dont then you can return the car.

[MWAKU]

......

do the revs check neway, if the KM has been wound back, it will tell you, i think (apparently if the dealer does it, he has to note it down)

[grifty]

yeah it is worth spending the extra money for revs if u reckon the dealer is dodgey (most are anyways lol)

[MWAKU]

nah i meant i think it tells you if the odo has been wound back by the dealer

revs is free btw, unless u want to print out the document

[he-tec]

once a car hits a certain amount of kms eg. 230,000kms+ then the used car dealers have the right to sell without warranty