(engine roaring)
(car crashing)
- Buying a car.
It's almost as bad as (clears throat) selling one.
It's like a right of passage.
It's like the ending of a movie.
It's something that takes a little bit of finesse,
if you will.
If you're new to buying cars and you just want to
learn some simple mistakes that are typically made,
you've come to the right place.
With me, today.
We're gonna be talking about some rookie mistakes
that you'll probably make when buying a car.
- Let me talk to you.
Sam, your first echelon of freedom awaits
underneath one of those hoods.
- By the way, if you're looking for
wheels, tires, suspension, fitmentindustries.com.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries.
Alex.fi on the cool stuff and @fitmentindustries
on Instagram, go give it a follow
'cause we want more people.
Now, when building a car there are typically two options.
Buying from a dealership or buying from a private party.
With that being said, most of the rookie mistakes
actually apply to both so we're gonna delve
(bell ringing) into both.
It's a bit of like a stuck between a rock and a hard place
situation when you're looking at which one you want to do.
So step one, you're gonna go over, get in the closet,
put on your big boy pants because this is gonna be
a roller coaster of emotions and a lot of them
are not going to be very good.
They're gonna suck, to be completely honest.
No, I don't think I've ever had just a
fantastical experience buying a car.
So, first we're gonna go talk about the issue
that's gonna hit home for a lot of us and probably you.
We've all been there, there's an older car
that you've always dreamt of.
Or there's an older Evo, a Termi, what have you
and you just don't have the cash for it
but, if you just get financed for it it'd be golden.
This is where we run into the issue because
banks and other financial institutions
are looking out for themselves and not you.
And they're gonna be looking at the KBB
and the value of the car.
And the issue is that sometimes the enthusiasts demand
is sometimes a much different price point a.k.a. bro tax,
they're not actually gonna give you the full amount
of the loan that you need to buy the car.
A tip from an ex loan officer, which is me,
go to a credit union because they're usually
gonna be more lenient than your big banks.
And if you've got a healthy relationship with them
they'll often go above the vehicle's value to help you out.
Some even use NADAguides versus Kelley Blue Book
which is easier on used vehicles.
This actually helps a ton on older cars.
Another one of the most important rookie mistakes
that a ton of people make is not doing enough research.
There's a lot of people out there think that there's
just a certain type of car, and want a certain type of car
for no specific reason whatsoever, doesn't matter.
And that's fine, they just like it.
But you're gonna just end up disappointing yourself
because just like any other big purchase it's important
to do your research and find some resources that you can
help find out what some of the common issues are, right?
Like what people like about it.
What is the aftermarket potential?
What can you expect in the long run?
What is the maintenance?
How does it perform?
Most of these questions can be answered by checking out
the good ol' world wide web but you can also use
resources like friends and family that might
have experience with those vehicles as well.
The bottom line, is that you don't want to end up
in a car that is giving you a hard time
or isn't what you expected it to be
which happens a lot more often than what
a lot of people would think.
- Aw, don't be like that.
If I had a rock I'd bust yo head.
- It's just disappointing.
Like, there's no other way about it.
Like, you're gonna get the car, it's gonna be great
and then something's gonna go wrong and you're gonna be like
wow, I didn't know that this was gonna happen.
You're gonna type it into Google
and it's gonna be the first thing that pops up
and guess who's gonna feel like a dumb (bleep).
Ya.
So the pro tip here is to always, and I mean always
type in that one sentence that you want to avoid in Google.
Find your iPhone because you like to party
and you're not 90 years old like I am and type in
the year, the make, the model, trim
and then finalize it with that one last word, problems.
You're gonna get hit with a novel of issues that
the vehicle has and whether you want to admit it or not
it's good to know.
Don't hide from those searches as well because those
are the ones that you're often gonna find
the most common and valuable information with
the problems of the car.
It's better to know what you're looking for and at least
accept the fact that you're gonna have the issue
or you can check to see if it's
been repaired before you buy it.
The internet, it's a marvelous thing.
Numero three, do not, and I repeat do not
only shop at one place for a vehicle
especially when dealing with dealerships.
So, different people and different dealerships
are gonna give you all sorts of different deals
which means you could get the same vehicle
for cheaper somewhere else.
It all depends on how much the person or dealer
has stuck into the car and how much
they're willing to drop in price.
For example, if you had two people get into
the car at the same exact price and then
they go to trade them in, two different
dealers may offer two different prices
which means their investment
into the car is two different amounts.
Which means one will be able to lower the price
a little bit more and still make a profit versus the other.
If you find a car at a dealer that's not willing to drop
you're gonna wanna take your business elsewhere.
Or at least threaten that and sometimes it
kicks their (bleep) into gear and it works
and sometimes it doesn't.
I have to do it with my internet company like every,
every year I have to turn into and angry man.
So, pro tip here is to get two purchase agreements
from the two competing dealerships.
Allow each dealership to see the final offer
and it just makes it very cut and dry
and it's either gonna be a yes or a no
on whether the dealership that is at a higher price point,
the one that you may want more,
would be willing to drop the price.
It's also a great way to get a time commitment from the
dealerships that you're purchasing from
because purchase agreements aren't necessarily the
easiest to draft.
Especially when you're making as many as you are
in the ol' dealership or stealership as they say.
Our next rookie mistake might actually be pretty surprising
because, while you would think this one's pretty obvious,
but I don't know if you've been on the internet
but obvious just seems to go right out the window.
Take your car through a test drive,
or even just take it on a test drive in general
and drive it like you would want to drive it.
You wouldn't buy a house without walking through it
so why would you buy a car without driving it?
And a lot of times this is a common mistake for
a lot of people that are buying something
from across the state or country.
Car might look perfect on the outside and aesthetically
but, once it drives there could be all sorts
of issues that you weren't able to see.
Whether it be a blown shock, an issue with alignment,
a misfire, a boost leak, you name it.
That's all the things you'd be able to catch.
There are also things that you wouldn't notice,
and I mean really wouldn't notice if
you don't actually drive the car hard.
Now this could be awkward because private sellers
and dealers typically don't want you beating
the piss out of their car and it makes sense.
Especially if you don't own it yet.
But that's why it's always best to get
their permission first and it's important to get an idea
on how the car is gonna react to your driving habits
so drive it like you own it.
Also make sure that you're driving it conservatively
when it's cold but then when it warms up
giving it a little bit more so that you can
actually feel what the car is going to behave like.
But don't crash it, because you know,
that's a problem here.
Here's a pro tip, if you don't feel comfortable
let the other person slam through the gears for you
while you're in the passenger seat but let that
get enough action so you can actually see the car work,
cold start attempt, and on the road.
Along with the actual test drive it's important
to look over, thorough, just like basic things.
Like tires, brakes, oil change, all that sort of stuff.
Because those are all residual costs that come
after the fact that actually add up quite a bit.
No one wants to end up with a pile of junk and
a lot of sellers do a great job at
hiding issues that the car might have because
honestly, let's be real, they just want to
get it out of their hands.
Now, this next one is especially true with used cars
so it's always important to get a
used vehicle report if possible.
There are things like the CARFAX and,
the CARFAX, that's...
Awfully open competitive market there.
Usually dealerships will have that readily available
but a lot of private sellers can get one for you as well.
The report shows when the vehicle was serviced,
what was done, if it had been in any accidents.
But keep in mind that more than likely not everything
is gonna be reported because you don't have to report it.
There might be a few service issues or things that
fell through the cracks but the receipts that you get
at time of purchase are meant to cover the difference.
Now, you may buy a car that doesn't have every single
oil change receipt and that's okay because the
CARFAX paired with the major repair sheets that
they're going to keep is what's gonna make the difference
whether the car's been properly serviced or not.
If you don't see a novel of information in their
service report, don't automatically freak out,
take a look at the CARFAX or the other
history reports that they have.
A lot of times older manuals
will have that information as well.
And you might be rest assured that actually
they just didn't need to keep the $70 oil change
but they did keep the $3,000 repair
they did at 60,000 miles.
- Hey Manny, get your clown cousin
to get some hammers and come bang this stuff out, baby.
(laughing)
- Now moving on, when you're looking for a car
it's easy to fall in love with one that might seem perfect.
It's the right color.
It's that basalt black.
It has all the right options like the sunroof,
the manual transmission, the black leather interior,
it's perfect price, it's everything that you want
so you stop looking at other cars 'cause this is the one.
This is like, if the deal falls through,
or there's something wrong, you're gonna cry.
And guess what?
That happens a lot.
Stop looking for other cars the moment you find
the one you really like because if you do
you're probably gonna miss out on other, better deals.
Because guess what, they're cars homie.
There's a lot of them out there.
So you just finding the one you really wanted,
more than likely there's gonna be others
the farther you look out.
There's more likely to be a better deal,
a better car waiting around the corner.
And don't get stuck on one because
you really just don't want to.
You're gonna hurt your heart.
Now you can actually use different used vehicles
as leverage to get the price down
on the car that you want to buy.
So pro tip here is to never fall in love
until you sign that title.
It'll save your heart, trust me.
It's too often that people find a car on Craigslist,
set up the appointment to go check it out,
go fall in love, turn it into their
wallpaper on their phone,
and then realize it's a salvage title with three gears
and one and a half seats.
It's super disappointing.
Now, when buying a car it's important to
figure out monthly payments and such but,
what a lot of people forget about is insurance,
costs associated with it, because God knows
that you need insurance because you're probably
18 years old and you're a male
and insurance companies judge you.
You're gonna have to insure and it's just an adult thing.
So, don't be that person running around with no insurance
because nobody likes that and it's illegal.
But sports cars, some more than others, are gonna cost
more for insurance because the type of car that's involved
in more accidents and stuff, and what young kids buy.
That's why WRX's and STI's have higher insurance
rates because the demographic for buying these cars
because they crash them quiet a bit more than
something like a Toyota Corolla.
But that's just the nature of it.
You kind of have to be okay with people judging you.
Buying a car, especially for an enthusiast,
is a very important time in your life.
It's like a right of passage.
It makes you feel like you're an adult.
It's gonna be an expression of you and your hobby.
You want to be absolutely happy with your purchase
and this isn't something that should be regretted at all.
So do your research,
look over the car well, and just be smart.
We're sure you'll make a good choice, probably.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries.
Don't forget to subscribe, hit the bell button
so we can keep making awesome videos like this
and if you're looking for wheels, tires, suspension
fitmentindustries.com.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries,
we will see you later.
Peace.
(soft electronic music)