What Are the Benefits of Buying a Used Car?

Anyone who heads to look for used cars for sale in Anchorage, Alaska, knows the horror stories of a friend or family member heading off the lot with a terrible car that they paid way too much for. And there are many stories just like this that happen across the country every day. But buying a used car can be an enjoyable experience, and you can even walk away the victor in the exchange, as long as you know how to haggle and what makes a good used car. Here are just a few benefits of purchasing a used car.

Better Price

The best thing about purchasing a used car is the fact that you will automatically save a ton of money buying a used car vs. a new car. Everyone knows that the minute you drive a new car off the lot, the car depreciates—by more than you’d ever like to know. So, when you buy a used vehicle, you are automatically saving yourself a lot of money. According to cars.com, the price gap between new and used cars is around $20,000, which means you could end up saving yourself quite a bit of money in the long run. The only downside to this is that interest rates for used cars are generally more expensive. But in the long run, you’ll pay a lot less money for a used car than you will a new car.

Depreciation Benefits

Another benefit to purchasing a used car is that you skip the part of your new car depreciating. When you buy a new car, you’ll experience the pain of losing the value of a large part of the car slowly over time. Once a rock hits your windshield, a car bumps you from behind, or a shopping cart slowly rolls towards your right door and leaves a paintless dent, you won’t have to worry about knowing how much your car will depreciate because of a small ding—the bad depreciation is already finished!

No New Car Fees

Another benefit to choosing a used car over a new car is that you won’t have to pay a ton of fees due to the car being new. There are plenty of random fees that will add up to much more than you ever wanted to pay for a car, so be sure to ask about those before deciding whether to buy a new or used car.

Variety

A great benefit to choosing to purchase a used car is that you have your choice of any model of any year that you’d like. If you loved the older version of a Civic more than the newer version, you can find one that fits your budget and your style perfectly.

Certification Programs

Another great option for purchasing a used car is that you can purchase something that is a certified preowned vehicle, which usually means that the dealer guarantees that the vehicle is a good purchase and one worth buying. The benefits of purchasing a certified preowned vehicle are just a few of the following:

• Certified preowned vehicles are usually not older than a couple of years and generally have a low mileage without a history of damage.
• Certified preowned vehicles are always looked over extremely thoroughly beforehand to ensure that they are a good purchase.
• These vehicles are usually covered with a warranty—something that usually only comes with new vehicles and is a great purchase for a used car.
• And the best part is that these vehicles also have a special financing, usually lower than both new and used car financing.  

If you are looking for used cars for sale in Anchorage, Alaska, consider these few things and feel good in your choice to purchase a used car.
Editor's note: Per the OS Style Guide, the title should be in title case. Per The Chicago Manual of Style, "paintless" should not have a hyphen and a state name that follows a city name should have parenthetical commas (a comma before and after the state name). Per Merriam-Webster, "preowned" should not have a hyphen. Make sure that you adjust any capitalization and punctuation errors after adding the linked keyword.

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