Car Loans - Important Final Questions to Ask Before Buying
A few things to ask before you start signing loan papers
Before you start to sign the papers for your car loan, make sure to ask some key important questions. The number one question might be, "Have I been charge only for the items I specifically wanted, with no extras?" Another good question would be, "Did we talk about all the possible buyer's discounts?" Often, there are new buyer discounts, or there are factory cash discounts, etc. The sales people and sales managers should be more than happy to answer any and all of your questions.
When you are looking at vehicles, and feel forced to consider buying, ask if they can do anything to make the price more palatable. Don't be overly pushy, but it doesn't hurt to ask, especially if it is a little out of your range you were going to be looking at. Once in a while they might throw in something of value. Its not unheard of for them to offer some kind of upgrade or perhaps a complimentary service on your first service visit, etc. Especially if you are getting your loan through the dealership, they should be more than happy to entertain any and all questions you might have.
Find out all you can before you sign.
Ask the person that will be doing the financing, or writing up, to write all the things down for you. You want to see figures on paper and have someone willing to explain each thing to you in detail if necessary. You are fully in the know, this way and there won't be any surprises.
This point kind of goes back to the first one, but ask if there are any things added automatically that the dealership thinks buyers need on their car, but that you might not have known about. They might say it is standard, but it may or may not be absolutely necessary.
Ask about the cars possible history that you wouldn't know about. In some states, there are laws where a person can return a "lemon" to the dealership if they have a lot of problems. There sometimes are cars known as "flood cars" where the was water damaged and rebuilt and offered for sale again as a new car. Hard to believe you would have to ask about this, and I hope they would just present such a car in that light and be honest. Sometimes they have been in an accident and been fixed up. You want to know about these things.
In general, you can ask if there is anything about the car that you should know about, so that you can make the most informed decision you can. Surely an honest dealership will have workers that want to answer that honestly.
How about any possible recalls on this type of car, and what type exactly were recalled if any?
How long is the car guaranteed for and what does that include?
Some last questions to ask before signing and buying
Does the dealership ever provide loaner cars should this car need repairs that are covered?
Is it possible that this car has ever been registered before if it seems brand new?
You will want to double check that all that was "included" is indeed included, that you discussed.
Double check the numbers if you get the chance, anyone can make a mistake, though this is their business and they shouldn't.
Will there be any fees tacked on that you don't know about?
You don't ever want to get paranoid or be overly suspicious, but it is good to have an idea of at least some of the questions that you are thinking about. You can reword them in your own way, and hopefully they will ask you if you have any more questions anyway, before you proceed with your loan or financing portion of the sale.
