esale price. Wholesale is always (significantly) cheaper than retail. If you’re selling it yourself, through a classified ad or by putting a for-sale sign in the window, you’ll get calls from two kinds of people—those who want it for themselves or their children, or someone who’s going to try to resell it at a profit. Before you put your car up for sale, know the lowest price you’ll take for it. The more you can get above this price, the better. Definitely don’t tell anyone who’s interested in buying it from you what this lowest price is

: if you’re selling the car yourself, use your common sense. Don’t arrange to have people come to look at it when you’r

You want to buy a used car cheap. We can help. The first step is to determine how much you can—or want to—spend. You may have an answer to this, but if not, to get a sense of what price of used car you can afford, you need two basic pieces of information:

: How much money can you pay up-front, either in cash, with a trade-in, or both?

: If you plan to borrow money, how much can you afford to pay every month?

There are two things for you to do in this article that will take you past the first step in buying a good used car cheap: figure out how much your vehicle can generate toward your down payment, then how much other money you have to put down up-front and can pay every month for the length of your loan.

How much is that car worth?

The value of a used car depends on its age, mileage, condition, features and the region in which it’s being sold. The same way we advise you to look to different parts of the country to buy your new or used car consider doing the same when you sell it. I encouraged my brother to sell his old Bronco in Colorado rather than in Cleveland where he lived, for example. Bronco’s weren’t in huge demand in northeastern Ohio, but there’s not a college guy in Colorado who doesn’t want one. He got more than twice his Cleveland asking price.

Some things to consider when you want to buy a used car cheap:

: you can see what other people are asking for their cars by checking the classified ads and dealer ads in local classifieds; look for vehicles that are similar to yours in terms of model year, mileage, trim, options and condition

: it’s possible you don’t want the hassle of selling your car yourself. Be very careful selling your car to a dealer. If you want to get your rock-bottom price, make your car presentable and take it to the used-car department of several local dealers. Ask what they would give you in a straight-out sale. Definitely don’t tell your saleperson that you’re going to trade you car in until you’ve negotiated the price you’re going to pay for your new car and the financing. Once you’ve gotten all this in writing, tell them you’d like to trade your old car in. This will prevent the salesperson from giving you a low price on the new car, but make up for it by low-balling you on the trade-in. At some point during the negotiation, you might tell your salesman that you’re ready to buy the car you’ve selected, but need him to do a bit better on the price he’s offering on your trade-in

: different web sites can give you an idea of what your trade-in’s worth. We recommend www.edmunds.com and www.kbb.com

: dealers need to buy your car at a wholesale price. Wholesale is always (significantly) cheaper than retail. If you’re selling it yourself, through a classified ad or by putting a for-sale sign in the window, you’ll get calls from two kinds of people—those who want it for themselves or their children, or someone who’s going to try to resell it at a profit. Before you put your car up for sale, know the lowest price you’ll take for it. The more you can get above this price, the better. Definitely don’t tell anyone who’s interested in buying it from you what this lowest price is

: if you’re selling the car yourself, use your common sense. Don’t arrange to have people come to look at it when you’r

wn up-front and can pay every month for the length of your loan.

How much is that car worth?

The value of a used car depends on its age, mileage, condition, features and the region in which it’s being sold. The same way we advise you to look to different parts of the country to buy your new or used car consider doing the same when you sell it. I encouraged my brother to sell his old Bronco in Colorado rather than in Cleveland where he lived, for example. Bronco’s weren’t in huge demand in northeastern Ohio, but there’s not a college guy in Colorado who doesn’t want one. He got more than twice his Cleveland asking price.

Some things to consider when you want to buy a used car cheap:

: you can see what other people are asking for their cars by checking the classified ads and dealer ads in local classifieds; look for vehicles that are similar to yours in terms of model year, mileage, trim, options and condition

: it’s possible you don’t want the hassle of selling your car yourself. Be very careful selling your car to a dealer. If you want to get your rock-bottom price, make your car presentable and take it to the used-car department of several local dealers. Ask what they would give you in a straight-out sale. Definitely don’t tell your saleperson that you’re going to trade you car in until you’ve negotiated the price you’re going to pay for your new car and the financing. Once you’ve gotten all this in writing, tell them you’d like to trade your old car in. This will prevent the salesperson from giving you a low price on the new car, but make up for it by low-balling you on the trade-in. At some point during the negotiation, you might tell your salesman that you’re ready to buy the car you’ve selected, but need him to do a bit better on the price he’s offering on your trade-in

: different web sites can give you an idea of what your trade-in’s worth. We recommend www.edmunds.com and www.kbb.com

: dealers need to buy your car at a wholesale price. Wholesale is always (significantly) cheaper than retail. If you’re selling it yourself, through a classified ad or by putting a for-sale sign in the window, you’ll get calls from two kinds of people—those who want it for themselves or their children, or someone who’s going to try to resell it at a profit. Before you put your car up for sale, know the lowest price you’ll take for it. The more you can get above this price, the better. Definitely don’t tell anyone who’s interested in buying it from you what this lowest price is

: if you’re selling the car yourself, use your common sense. Don’t arrange to have people come to look at it when you’r

when you want to buy a used car cheap:

: you can see what other people are asking for their cars by checking the classified ads and dealer ads in local classifieds; look for vehicles that are similar to yours in terms of model year, mileage, trim, options and condition

: it’s possible you don’t want the hassle of selling your car yourself. Be very careful selling your car to a dealer. If you want to get your rock-bottom price, make your car presentable and take it to the used-car department of several local dealers. Ask what they would give you in a straight-out sale. Definitely don’t tell your saleperson that you’re going to trade you car in until you’ve negotiated the price you’re going to pay for your new car and the financing. Once you’ve gotten all this in writing, tell them you’d like to trade your old car in. This will prevent the salesperson from giving you a low price on the new car, but make up for it by low-balling you on the trade-in. At some point during the negotiation, you might tell your salesman that you’re ready to buy the car you’ve selected, but need him to do a bit better on the price he’s offering on your trade-in

: different web sites can give you an idea of what your trade-in’s worth. We recommend www.edmunds.com and www.kbb.com

: dealers need to buy your car at a wholesale price. Wholesale is always (significantly) cheaper than retail. If you’re selling it yourself, through a classified ad or by putting a for-sale sign in the window, you’ll get calls from two kinds of people—those who want it for themselves or their children, or someone who’s going to try to resell it at a profit. Before you put your car up for sale, know the lowest price you’ll take for it. The more you can get above this price, the better. Definitely don’t tell anyone who’s interested in buying it from you what this lowest price is

: if you’re selling the car yourself, use your common sense. Don’t arrange to have people come to look at it when you’r

you’ve negotiated the price you’re going to pay for your new car and the financing. Once you’ve gotten all this in writing, tell them you’d like to trade your old car in. This will prevent the salesperson from giving you a low price on the new car, but make up for it by low-balling you on the trade-in. At some point during the negotiation, you might tell your salesman that you’re ready to buy the car you’ve selected, but need him to do a bit better on the price he’s offering on your trade-in

: different web sites can give you an idea of what your trade-in’s worth. We recommend www.edmunds.com and www.kbb.com

: dealers need to buy your car at a wholesale price. Wholesale is always (significantly) cheaper than retail. If you’re selling it yourself, through a classified ad or by putting a for-sale sign in the window, you’ll get calls from two kinds of people—those who want it for themselves or their children, or someone who’s going to try to resell it at a profit. Before you put your car up for sale, know the lowest price you’ll take for it. The more you can get above this price, the better. Definitely don’t tell anyone who’s interested in buying it from you what this lowest price is

: if you’re selling the car yourself, use your common sense. Don’t arrange to have people come to look at it when you’r

esale price. Wholesale is always (significantly) cheaper than retail. If you’re selling it yourself, through a classified ad or by putting a for-sale sign in the window, you’ll get calls from two kinds of people—those who want it for themselves or their children, or someone who’s going to try to resell it at a profit. Before you put your car up for sale, know the lowest price you’ll take for it. The more you can get above this price, the better. Definitely don’t tell anyone who’s interested in buying it from you what this lowest price is

: if you’re selling the car yourself, use your common sense. Don’t arrange to have people come to look at it when you’re going to be home alone. To maintain a certain amount of security, you can offer to meet a prospective buyer at a neutral location (say, a shopping mall). To buy a used car cheap will take some work and effort but it will be worth the extra effort.