Grad Student Car Buying Guide

So you have saved up enough money to buy a used car. What next?

1. Find a car
Many such sources:
- Advertisements from fellow students on notice boards.
- Newspaper Ads from private parties.
- www.ebaymotors.com
- Used car lots close to campus.

Usually most Indian graduate students steer towards the Japanese cars because of their good gas mileage, lower rate of depreciation and their reliability late in their lives. Honda, Toyota, Nissan...

2. CARFAX
Every car in the US has a VIN number that uniquely identifies it. CARFAX gives you access to a car's vehicle history report. It will tell you whether a car has been in an accident, how many owners it has had, and other such juicy details. This is a great tool when you are conducting the search, to weed out bad cars. Try to avoid cars with accidents, as they could have higher maintenance costs.

3. Kelley Blue Book
The way to know whether you are getting a good deal is to find the price of a similar car, of the same year, mileage, features at www.kbb.com

3. Get it inspected
If you are buying a relatively expensive used car, get it checked from a mechanic. Since you won't know anyone in town, you can go to some of the renowned chains, such as MEINEKE or MIDAS. For around $50 someone will inspect the car for you.

4. Do the paperwork
If your used car passes the above checks, go ahead and negotiate on the price a little. It doesn't hurt to ask if the price can be lowered. Make a list of all the negatives in the car for the negotiation. If everything works out, go to the DMV to register the car. You will be asked to pay sales tax on the car. So be careful not to spend all your money on the car.

4. Don't drive without insurance
A very important rule. Get car insurance before you drive the car. You probably cannot afford comprehensive and collision insurance. So just get simple liability insurance, which means if you run into another car, the insurance will pay for the other person's damage. Comprehensive and collision will cover your car as well, but costs a little more. AAA and Geico are good companies to get car insurance from.