Buying a pre-owned vehicle in today’s climate can be an exciting, but scary process. Therefore, understanding a vehicle’s ownerships history is a key step in the purchasing process. What is uncommon knowledge is that a significant number of pre-owned vehicles that are sold at auto dealer auctions come from rental car companies and other fleet rental companies (such as Hertz, Enterprise, etc). As such, the majority of these vehicles are 1 to 2 years old and may have anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 miles on them, for example a 2008 model may have 45,000 miles registering on the odometer.
At first glance, a pre-owned vehicle of this caliber may appear to have excessive usage for its age, due to the number of miles accumulated over such a short period of time. But one thing to consider is that these vehicles are initially owned by large publically traded companies who maintain rigorous maintenance routines on their vehicles. So, these vehicles are typically serviced every 3,000 to 4,000 miles according to the vehicles manufacturers recommendations, which may suggested that the vehicles mechanical systems are functioning without any problems. Keep in mind that with most vehicles original manufactures’ warranty now extending out as far as 60,000 miles that these pre-owned vehicles still have a good portion of its original warranty remaining. Additionally, with the emergence of extended warranty products, someone can now purchase extended warranty coverage that can extend a pre-owned vehicles total warranty coverage beyond 100,000 miles.
Nonetheless, to get the right pre-owned vehicle at the best price you need to do your research by obtaining the vehicles history report (Auto Check or Car Fax) as well as other due diligence procedures. For further guidance on collecting information on a vehicles history and analyzing the related results consult with one of our Members Auto Choice (MAC) sales consultants.
