Used Car Buying Guide - Step Two
How much money will this car cost? That’s a question only you can determine. I can give some ideas about it, from my perspective. Car prices vary from state to state and area to area. Generally, I am talking about a used car you can afford. What can you afford? How much money do you have? That should tell you what price range to look in.
Borrowing money for a car can be a real bad decision, and I know that most people do it, but cars are not investments! Look at this example.
I just did a search online in my area for a 2007 Ford Explorer XLT and found one that had 18,000 miles and was $20,000 at dealer. (this would be less if I could find it from a private sale).
The same car in this years model , a 2008 Ford Explorer XLT costs $30,000 new with the same options as the used one above. This car lost 33% of value in one year at only 18,000 miles. This is very typical. Cars are not investments and the value of a new car goes down faster than anything I know.
In this guide we are talking about saving money. Borrowing money to buy a car is not saving money. I suppose there are always some exceptions though. If you need a car for work or something and have no money, then you may need to borrow some to buy it. 
The price of a used car will depend on many things. Where you buy it, as an example. If you go to a dealer and buy a ‘certified’ used car, you are going to pay plenty. This is not what I am referring to, when I say a used car. I am talking about a car you may find by looking in the classified, or maybe see a for sale sign in the window of a car in the parking lot. These are some of the best buys you are going to find. Private owners’ sales. I will tell you another great place to find very good used cars when we get to the next step.
Try to decide on a range of money that you could afford. Be serious about the maximum, because things get real ugly when you can’t say no to a car that is clearly outside what you can afford. This upper number will help when looking for a car, and will keep you on track to being a happy buyer, once the car is yours. Join me at step three for where to find this car.
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