Owning a vehicle in 2020 is considered a necessity rather than a luxury, which is why a lot of people make this their first larger investment upon becoming financially independent. When you graduate from college and find a job, the first thing that you think about is purchasing a home for yourself, but also finding a reliable first vehicle that will serve you until you can buy something larger or better. It’s quite rare to purchase a brand-new car from a saloon upon graduating, which is why most of us go for used cars instead.
When it comes to used vehicles, it’s important to understand that making the right decision is crucial. This decision will decide whether you will be using your car for a long time without any care in the world, or you will be frequently visiting car shops and making repairs on the regular, eventually spending more money than you would have spent if you purchased a brand-new car.
So, with all of this being said, it’s time to take a look at these seven tips for finding the right car dealership company in 2020. This advice applies for all living areas, so it doesn’t really matter where you live if you use these steps. Let’s take a look at what you need to know.
1. Researching the background
First of all you should start by researching the background of a car dealership company. After all, purchasing a vehicle is not a small investment, and it can sometimes cost a few thousand dollars, which is hard-earned money that you’ve been collecting in the course of a few months, or sometimes even years. So, simply doing a Google search on a car dealership company that you discovered will tell you more than enough on whether they are reliable and worthy of your time and money. You can do a list and start by shortlisting with this method. When only a few choices are left on the list, you can move on to the other tips.
2. Car model availability
When you finally have a list of companies with a healthy background and history, it’s time to check whether they have the car model that you want available-for-sale. Larger car dealership companies will usually have more models available, but their customer service and overall user experience won’t be of such high quality as what some smaller dealership companies offer. But, if you cannot find your desired car model anywhere else, you are left without many options. Thankfully, we have the Internet to help us out, so doing a quick Google search will give you amazing results in just a few seconds. Richard Chevrolet for example is a website where you can take a look at many great used Chevrolet models.
3. Checking out user reviews
The reviews of other users who used the service of a certain car dealership company will give you the most insight into how the company operates and whether they are worthy of your attention or not. User reviews are usually very honest because if someone is frustrated with the service they received, they will make sure to let other people know about it. The same thing goes about people who were overly satisfied with what their money got them from a certain dealership company. But, we always recommend that you don’t check the reviews left on the official site of the dealership company that you are researching. Instead, use a third-party website for reviews. This is because most website owners will only leave the positive reviews on their website, excluding everything that seems negative for their reputation.
4. Prices and other expenses
The fourth most important thing are prices for the initial purchase, as well as other expenses that might come up in the process. Some companies tend to price their vehicles however, while at the same time you can find the same model at a different company but for a less expensive price tag. This will always depend on a lot of factors, such as the popularity and the reputation of the company, but sometimes it can be a typical overpricing without a good reason. This is why we recommend that you check the market for your desired car model, and then compare prices and choose the company based on that.
5. Condition of the vehicles
Are the vehicles that the car dealership company sells all in a good condition? If they are not, are they priced fairly depending on the condition? Answering these questions will give you an insight on whether the car dealership company you chose is fair with the pricings. If you notice that the vehicles are in a bad condition, but for some reason the price tag is still high, then you probably have better choices to make.
6. Are test drives allowed?
It’s quite rare for a company to not allow a test drive before purchasing, but it’s still something that you want to know before heading over and getting disappointed. According to many car experts, one of the best ways to know whether a car is suitable for you or not is by taking it on a test drive. Looks don’t matter much when you are purchasing a functional and practical vehicle. Leave that for exotic cars instead. Some companies will offer a longer test drive in different areas and terrain, so that you can get a clear insight on how the vehicle handles and operates in different conditions. But, some companies simply have a very strict policy and they don’t allow test drives at all.
7. Do they offer repairs or refunds?
Last but not least, we feel like this is the most important factor that you have to consider when choosing the right car dealership company. If you purchase a vehicle, and you find out that it’s not in such a good condition like it was presented to you, then you’ve basically been robbed from your hard-earned money. In such a situation, you should be granted a free repair or even a refund. But, this won’t happen if you choose a company that operates a bit shady and with a very strict policy that always favors the sellers instead of the customers.
