7 Ways to Find Used Cars for Sale in Hobart, Indiana
Aug 31, 2022
The car buying experience is overwhelming. These days, there are so many different options that it’s hard to know where to shop. Fortunately, we’re going to help you narrow down the best places to find used cars for sale. Hobart Indiana has a lot of dealerships around, but you should do a bit of research first before heading out for a test drive.
We’ll go over the pros and cons of each strategy for finding used cars. Afterward, we’ll give you some tips on what to expect when you’re at the dealership for a test drive.
Search For Used Cars Online First
You can’t start any quest without a little preparation beforehand. That’s why you need to take the time to reflect on your needs and then find the cars that suit them best with a little help from Google and other search engines. Then, you can dive deeper into the cars that you like.
Evaluate Your Needs
You’re buying a new car for a reason. Maybe you’re welcoming a new child into the world, or perhaps you just want a change. Either way, you have to find a car that fits your current needs and it should continue to meet them well into the future. You might also consider your financial position. If you have bad credit, you’ll need to find a car dealer that can accommodate you. Otherwise, you might need to trade in your vehicle.
Find Cars
You’ve probably heard of a few cars that are of interest to you. Start by researching those. Type the name of the car that you’re searching for into Google and add terms like “customer reviews”. For example, “Hyundai Elantra Customer Reviews”.
You can also research cars using online platforms like Autotrader. We’ll discuss those in more detail later, but they are useful tools just to help you get an idea of what you want. You can use these search engines to filter for cars with the prices and the features that you want.
Read Reviews
The best part about buying a used car is that you know that it’s proven itself time and time again. The risk of a recall is usually diminished. Not to mention, you can read plenty of customer reviews to see exactly where the car falls short. Every car has its long-standing issues, you need to decide which ones you’re willing to tolerate. Especially if the car comes at a lower price, consider the trade-offs you’re willing to make.
You have the option of reading both professionally-written reviews and customer reviews. The professional reviews will usually come from websites like car and driver. These reviews frequently try to maintain an upbeat tone, but they include consistent criteria. That way, you’ll know what to look for when comparing cars.
Meanwhile, you might find that customer reviews are a little more honest. Avoid the angry rant-like ones, but do read the ones that give the car a 3 or 4-star rating out of 5. When you find a detailed review of this kind, you’ll get a good idea of how people like driving the car.
7 Places Where You Can Find Used Cars For Sale
You can find used cars both from dealerships and from private sellers. Some platforms will show you a mix of both. Only dealers allow you to view cars directly on their platform.
Buying From Car Dealerships
You can reach car dealerships in one of two different ways. The easier way is to look for cars that you want online at an aggregator website. The harder way is usually to look for dealers in your area. Sure, you might find one or two dealers, but it will be challenging to find information as quickly as you would with an aggregator website. This also gives you access to cars that you otherwise wouldn’t have seen because they might come from a different part of the country.
Once you find a car you like on one of the larger websites, you can identify which dealer it is from. At that point, you can begin researching the dealer to see if you trust them.
Go to the Car Dealer
You could start by going to the car dealer’s website. If you find a car that you like, then you can continue by asking them questions and then head to the dealership for a test drive.
Before you deal with a car dealer, check out exactly how long they have been in business. The longer they’ve been around, the more you can trust them. Many dealers open up shop for a few years and then go bust later on because they can’t provide a quality product at an affordable price.
Even if the car dealer has been around for a long time, you should still do your due diligence by reading the buyer reviews. Once again, you can find that a lot of these reviews will tell you whether their promises are realistic. For instance, you can hear about how flexible their financing options really are instead of blindly buying into the promises the car dealer makes.
Autotrader
For many people, searching for cars on Autotrader is a lot more natural. Like we said before, people usually consider the car they want to buy first and then the seller. This might not be the safest way of finding a car, but it can be faster. Make sure to review the seller too. Especially since Autotrader mixes dealerships with private sellers.
One of the troubles you might have with Autotrader is the sheer variety in the selection that it gives you. Luckily, they give you tons of search filters that allow you to sort the cars by model, age, price, and so on.
Autotrader’s greatest feature is its car comparison tool. This allows you to compare cars across a range of features like mileage and price. Therefore, you can make an educated decision when choosing between a few different cars.
Cargurus
CarGurus is an aggregator platform that is similar to Autotrader. Since they’re a search engine, they give you plenty of filters to find your favorite car too.
Aside from these basic features, CarGurus offers in-depth reviews of each car. That makes it extremely easy for you to do the required research. Of course, you should still try to corroborate your findings with other reviews, but it’s always helpful.
If you’re looking for a good deal, CarGurus provides instant analysis to help you see if you’re getting the most out of your budget. Since it’s hard to tell exactly whether you’re getting a good deal or not just from looking at the price, many buyers appreciate this guiding hand.
CarfaX
With many of the cars that you purchase, you might want to get an independent inspection. Carfax is one of the best means of doing this. Indeed, many reliable dealers will have already conducted a Carfax report for you. That’s a good way of knowing that a dealer is trustworthy.
All you need to do to get a Carfax report for your vehicle is to pay and submit a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). You can check multiple vehicles with this by paying for the cheaper $40 bundle of 3 rather than paying $35 for a single one.
The Carfax report helps you understand a vehicle’s history and protects you from any misleading actions on the part of the seller. Sometimes, even the seller doesn’t know the true history. For instance, a car could have once been used as a rental or a taxi. In some cases, the seller might try to manipulate the car’s mileage to command a higher price.
Here is a list of vehicle history items that you should be aware of:
Damage
Accidents
Thefts
Maintenance
Inspections
Open recalls
Change of ownership
Importing information
All the relevant info lies in the Carfax database.
Buying From A Private Seller
Private sellers are a bit of a mixed bag. Most that you meet in real life are well-intentioned. The only issue is that the rather malicious sellers tend to flood various platforms with fake or misleading advertisements. The only cars you should purchase from these sites are ones from buyers that you can verify.
The other issue with private sellers is that finding financing options from them is next to impossible. You’ll usually need to purchase the car outright. Typically, people who make a car purchase from a private seller are looking for a good deal. For sellers of more beaten-up cars, this makes using one of the marketplaces below more advantageous for them. This is because aggregators like Autotrader charge sellers a hefty fee for every listing.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook created its marketplace to make communication between buyers and sellers as seamless as possible. That said, people find that there are a lot of communication issues (read: scams) on this platform anyways. One common narrative that you’ll read from sellers is that their cousin or other family member has been out of town and hasn’t used the vehicle. This justifies an absurdly low mileage that they probably manipulated to get a good price out of the car.
Another common issue is that people list at a lower price initially and then ask for a higher price on the listing.
Whatever car you view on these platforms, your best bet is to get a Carfax report before you commit to purchasing one. Then, you can drive off with confidence.
Ebay motors
EBay is of course famous for allowing you to buy and sell used goods. To buy and sell used cars, you’ll need to go through eBay Motors. You get all the standard eBay functionality, including bidding, that might help you find a steal on your next car purchase.
While eBay Motors does include things like seller ratings to make the platform feel safer, they still offer a bunch of recommendations to minimize risk. For example, they advise you to always meet during daylight and never share personal information.
You can only use Paypal to purchase a car on this platform, which is a bit inconvenient for some. Furthermore, the prices are a bit misleading since they don’t include the taxes that you need to pay on top of them.
Craigslist
On Craigslist, you can normally find both dealers and private sellers. However, buying a used car from Craigslist is not for the faint of heart. You’ll probably get a good deal from here if you know what you’re doing. Otherwise, it’s too risky.
Buying used cars from Craigslist is a lot of work. You need to haggle, pay for an inspection, and then meet the buyer in person to test the car and pay them. You’ll need to arrange payment yourself, moving around the large sums of money required to buy a car isn’t easy either. However, you might still find that at the end of the day you can get a cheaper price than if you bought the used car from the dealership. The only question is, was all that extra work worth the savings?
Preparing To Buy A Used Car
Once you’ve found a few used cars that you’d be willing to buy, you should evaluate each model. Then, narrow your list down to 1-3 cars that you can find at a local dealership. It usually works better if they’re all available at the same dealer, but it’s not required.
Many people question exactly how long you should spend at a dealership. In general, you can expect to spend 2 to 4 hours total. That might sound like a while, but consider that you need to go for a test drive and maybe check out different models. Plus, there’s always a ton of paperwork involved. There could even be someone else in line ahead of you.
Consider Vehicle History And Mileage
These two factors are often the biggest determinants of the price of a used vehicle. If you’re looking for a steep discount, then you need to tolerate having a vehicle with lofty mileage. This isn’t ideal if you plan on using the car a lot yourself. Make sure that the dealer includes a Carfax report or something similar so that you’re confident in its history.
Search For Financing Options
Some dealerships won’t show you exactly how much each car costs. However, they usually give you the ability to contact them to learn the price. You should do this before you head to the dealership.
If you find that the price they quote is rather unaffordable, then ask about financing options. Nearly every dealership has them, but your rates will depend on your financial position. The worse your credit, the more difficult it will be to get a good rate. Otherwise, you might need to try and get financing from the bank, which is no easy task.
During The Test Drive
One of your main considerations at the dealership is the test drive. Don’t just drive around aimlessly, do a little bit of planning.
Before the drive, check on things like the brake lights, air conditioning, and other electronics in the car. It doesn’t make sense to buy a car if none of these things function properly.
Bring a partner
A partner will help you conduct several of these inspections. Instead of relying on yourself to identify every little problem, your car buying strategy will be a lot more robust with a partner. For instance, they can stand behind the car as you check things like turn signals and brake lights to confirm that they’re in working order.
Having a partner helps you be extra vigilant. During your test drive, you’ll be focused on the road more than anything. Your partner will provide an extra set of eyes and ears sensitive to any issues throughout the drive. In some cases, the partner is your spouse, who might drive the car on occasion themselves, so they want to get a feel for the car too.
Finally, bringing a partner will decrease the chances that a dealership can take advantage of you. Like most people, you might get a little too excited after your test drive and want to jump right into buying. A partner can help calm you down to ensure that you take a realistic view of the car.
Drive On Several Routes
Use the routes that you would use normally use. If the dealership is too far from where you usually drive, then try to get a preview of the area beforehand to select a good spot for your test drive. It’s always easy to find a nearby highway, but finding a gravel road to test an SUV’s capabilities might be a little harder. Look at maps of the area to plan your route. And make sure you change things up by driving on several different streets.
Check the brakes
Test drives are meant for you to test features. Don’t feel guilty if you jam the brakes once in a while, as long as you aren’t doing this in an unsafe way. If you brake hard, make sure that you don’t feel any vibrations afterward.
Look For Other Common Issues With Your Car
When you read the reviews for your car, it’s common to notice a few ongoing problems or inconveniences. The only way to determine the magnitude of these problems is to see the car for yourself. Everybody has different preferences, so you shouldn’t rule a car that you like out until you’ve felt what it’s like to drive it. Maybe the roof wasn’t tall enough for that one guy, but since you have experience driving small cars, it’s easier for you to overlook it after actually driving the car yourself.
Eagle Motorsport – The Best Car Dealership In Hobart
When you’re in the business of buying and selling used cars, your reputation is everything. At Eagle Motorsport, we’ve crafted a one-of-a-kind buying experience for all of our customers to benefit from. This is the type of experience you can only craft after decades of work in the auto industry. We’ve already sold thousands of cars to thousands of happy customers. Many of whom are repeat buyers.
Used Cars For Sale in Hobart Indiana - Quality And Reliable Cars.
Eagle Motorsport offers Quality and Reliable Used Cars For Sale in Hobart Indiana
Used Cars At A Great Price
Our goal is to provide high-quality used cars at the most affordable prices possible. Some dealers might try to advantage of their buyers just to make a quick buck, but this isn’t even sustainable in the long run. Sooner or later, these tricks catch up to you.
Credit history is also a big factor in preventing buyers from getting the car they want. Not at Eagle Motorsport. Our accounting team will work hard to ensure that you’re getting the car you need at the price you can afford. We will make sure that you can purchase your dream car with little money down and low monthly payments. That way, you can walk out of the lot with a big win.
Respectful Customer Service
Whatever your budget, we treat you with the care and respect you deserve. We’ve worked with buyers in the Hobart area for many years and we understand exactly how people like their cars, and their customer service.
Furthermore, our sales team is trained to be as helpful as possible. They’re not just there to sell you a car, they’re there to help you find the right car. That’s why they’re always available to answer any questions you might have. They’ll even help you find the best financing options available to you.
Buying a used car is a big decision. You need to do your research and make sure that you’re getting the best deal possible. With the help of this guide, you should be well on your way to finding the perfect car for your needs. And if you’re in the Hobart area, be sure to check out Eagle Motorsport for the best selection of used cars and top-notch customer service.
