During the economy downturn, you may decide that buying the used car may fit your budget. There are several places that you can find a used car such as:

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• A nearby used car dealer
• Some new car dealer also sells used cars
• Online classifieds such as craiglist.org or you can search by using Google
• Print classifieds in the newspaper or car magazine
• Bulletin board at work, campus, apartment or dormitory
• Ask your friends, family, colleagues or coworkers

No matter where you have found the used car if you want to go ahead and purchase the car, these are the four things that you should do:

    1. Buy any of the used cars guide below which will provide you the pricing information.

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• Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide

• N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide

• Kelley Blue Book Used Car Guide: Consumer Edition

• Edmunds.com Used Cars and Trucks Buyer’s Guide

    2. Checking the car by putting the car up on a lift for a full inspection and to check for damage. You can ask local mechanic to help on this.

    3. Get the Vehicle History Report to get a full history of the car from CARFAX.com. It has the information such as:

• The number of previous owners
• If it was ever recalled, stolen or salvaged
• If someone tried to manipulate a fraudulent odometer reading
• If it ever failed the car inspection

   3. Do not sign an “As Is” statement and “READ BEFORE YOU SIGN” any document. There must be an at least 30 days guarantee period. 

   4. Prepare for the financing or loan approvals before you go buy the car.

   5. Do not forget to buy the car insurance as well.

You can avoid most of the hassles if you follow the above steps. And you can apply those processes toward buying the new car as well.