Shopping for new cars for sale is pretty straightforward. You can either go straight to your local branded dealership and take a look at new inventory or build one on the automaker’s website and have it delivered to a dealership. Shopping for used cars for sale is a bit more complicated. Used cars are sold just about everywhere–from dealerships to dedicated online sales portals like CarGur to social media sites like Facebook.
Safest Places to Buy Cars For Sale
The safest places to buy used cars for sale are generally dealerships, whether they’re branded dealerships, independent dealerships, or online-only dealerships like Carvana. Because dealerships are legitimate businesses, you’ll always have recourse if something goes south. Dealerships also give you the opportunity to look at multiple vehicles and even get financing on-site. Most dealerships vet their vehicles to some extent, but you’ll still want to get an independent assessment from a mechanic unless the vehicle is in a certified pre-owned program. When it comes to online sites that aren’t dealerships, it’s generally safer to go with sites like CarGurus, where there’s some amount of vetting on the person selling the vehicle. Many of these places also provide vehicle history reports from CarFax or similar.
Places to Proceed With Caution
Even though many people looking for used cars for sale do visit dealerships, sites like Facebook and Craigs List are still popular places to buy cars. The appeal of these sites is mainly to people looking for a good deal and not wanting to go through a third party. Of the two, Facebook is somewhat better in that you can generally see who the seller is. Craigs List, on the other hand, doesn’t vet sellers or vehicles, so it’s a gamble no matter what. Similar to these sites are eBay and Offer Up. Both of these sites can be good places to find used cars, but there isn’t any vetting process for sellers or vehicles. In other words, you’re taking a chance when you shop at these places. Unless you’re knowledgeable about cars and are willing to do the extra legwork to find a good deal and not get scammed, these online sites are better to avoid.
The Verdict
No matter where you look for cars for sale, it’s always important to do your homework, set a budget, and take a test drive. When it comes to convenience, safety, and reliability, dealerships generally win out. If you’re looking for certified pre-owned cars for sale, then you’ll want to look at branded dealerships that participate in a program. The next safest option is to consider independent dealerships or online dealerships. Unless you’re looking for rare vehicles, collector cars, project cars, or something really cheap, you should generally avoid unvetted sites like Facebook, Craigs List, Offer Up, and the like.
The bottom line is that you can find good deals on good vehicles just about anywhere, but some places require a bit more diligence and work than others.
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