Guide to Buying Used Cars from Private Sellers

Purchasing a vehicle? If you choose to go the used route, great! Used cars are often overlooked but a great option to save the costs you might spend on a brand-new vehicle and there’s so many more options. But things get a little more complicated when you opt to go the route of a private seller vs a dealership. If you saw an online listing for a used car, remain cautious!

When it comes to any big purchase, our first and foremost tip is to remain cautious. A car is an expensive asset, one you might keep with you for a couple of years – maybe even a decade or more, depending on its condition and make. Choosing to purchase from a private seller makes it even more imperative that you don’t make an offer immediately. The process of buying a car, whether new or used, does, and should take time, and the risk of trouble with buying a used car from a private seller is significantly more than if you went through a dealership.

What’s the solution? Well, to be informed. Here’s Excalibur’s guide to buying used cars from private sellers, with a couple of tips and tricks to make sure you’re playing it safe.

Verify the vehicle’s identity.

It’s becoming more and more common amongst car thieves to take vehicles and resell them to unsuspecting customers. To prevent this risk, especially when going through a private dealer, do your due diligence and verify the vehicle’s identity. A VIN check will give you basic information on your prospect car, such as the year it was made, its make, model, drivetrain, engine, and where it was manufactured. If what the seller says matches up with the car, great!

VIN checks are extremely easy to do. You can access them online and they’re often free to do if you use Transport Canada or CARFAX. The process takes just a few minutes, and it can protect you from fraud.

You may also want to request verification that the seller is, in fact, the registered owner of the vehicle. Ask for photo ID and see if this lines up with the vehicle’s registration.

You’ll also want to do a lien check to ensure that the title of the vehicle is clean – i.e., there’s no outstanding debts that the seller still owes. If you aren’t taking proper precautions, your new (used) vehicle could be repossessed. You can do a lien check with the vehicle’s VIN through a provincial/territorial personal property security search.

Determine the vehicle’s market price.

Used cars are especially pricey nowadays, but you don’t want to be caught in a rut where the vehicle is sold to you for more than it’s worth – simply because you were pressured to make an offer and buy. What’s a fair price? Really, a lot of variables can go into this question, but let’s focus on what the vehicle’s current market price might be.

The power of the Internet is at our fingertips. There’s a lot of different resources you can utilize online to ensure you’re making a fair offer, including finding average market prices with CARFAX’s Value Range Estimator and the Canadian Black Book. These will give you price ranges for vehicles based upon similar models that have been recently sold in your area. If you come to the seller with the information you need, you can determine if the asking price for the vehicle is fair.

Do a stolen vehicle check.

Cases of fraud are on the rise! If you find an online listing for a vehicle, there’s a good chance it’s not stolen because a virtual listing would be easily traceable by police, but you never know!

If the vehicle price is suspiciously low, don’t be afraid to do an online background check. The government of Canada offers this service and it’s free of cost. If it comes up as stolen, alert the police and do not engage with that seller.

Do a review of the vehicle’s history.

What kind of life has this vehicle lived? Have any parts been replaced or repaired? Maybe the vehicle was once in a terrible accident and underwent extensive repairs. You should know about this – and remember that pretty much every used car in the country will have an accessible history report. Again, make sure these line up with what the seller says!

Vehicle history reports go a step further than VIN check and can give you a written history of service records, accidents, and more. In this report, you’ll also see if there’s any vehicle recall info.

While a private seller can’t offer this service, many dealerships will offer free vehicle history reports. With a private sale, the seller (or buyer) may have to pay a fee to download it. You should ask the seller to be responsible for providing this and, if they refuse, don’t be afraid to walk away.

Also remember that you should check the vehicle’s odometer reading. It can be a good indicator of the vehicle’s wear and tear. For example, 20,000km/year is relatively standard, so a vehicle 5 years of older will have around 100,000 km or upwards. Anything higher than this must be reflected in the asking price. If you feel the odometer reading is too high for the asking price, use it as part of your bargaining when haggling a lower deal.

Look at previous service records.

Make sure to ask that the seller provides any service records regarding the vehicle. While this info may be found in the vehicle’s history report, you can always just request to see a maintenance log. Providing detailed records are typically good indicators that the vehicle owner looked after their car and it’s still in (relatively) good condition. If there’s any existing warranty protection, ask about this too – although with cars 5 years and older, this question is probably irrelevant.

Do your own once-over and take the car for a test-drive.

You don’t have to do the full autobody check, but doing a quick once-over of the prospect vehicle and taking it for a test drive can give you a good idea of the car’s general condition and how you feel about driving it. Look for signs of rust, wear-and-tear, sludge or discoloration in the fluids, if the battery is damaged, scratches, dents, mismatched paint, etc. Check the cabin for strange odours of cigarettes or fast food, check the tires’ condition, and examine the upholstery.

Once you’ve done your check, take the vehicle out for a test drive. Not every vehicle will suit your style of driving. See how it parks, reverse, three-point turns, and more. Is this a vehicle you’ll be able to handle? Will it frustrate you? How will it handle your daily commute?

Also check mirrors, lights, seat belts and adjustments, etc. If you do choose to buy this car, you may need to get a safety inspection and certificate before it can be registered. Most sellers will organize this in advance, but you’ll want to get this done before agreeing to the sale. Also, get a bill of sale from the seller once the sale has been authorized.

Get insured with Excalibur.

Car insurance is mandatory in Ontario, so before you drive that car out of whatever lot it’s parked in make sure to get insured. Excalibur can help you compare the best car insurance rates in the province, so get in touch with a Defender to begin today!