Tips for Buying a Car Online

www.Vroom-Vroom.com

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

Q: Dear April Masini,

My husband absolutely insists that we use the Internet to buy our next car. I'm really skittish about the idea of doing such a large transaction online. He's totally nonchalant about it. It looks like he's going to win, so what can I do to safeguard the purchase?

Sincerely,

Wheeler Dealer 

A:

Dear Wheeler Dealer,

Technology has made it so that you can buy anything -- and I mean ANYTHING on the internet. But despite the newness of technology, the old caveat, Buyer beware!, still remains in effect.

When purchasing a car on the internet here are some tips to make your transaction successful:

*Get as much information as possible. Ask every question imaginable. If the seller won't answer, don't buy.

*Never buy a car without seeing it in person. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but that's not as long as the lawsuit you're going to have to file if you get something you didn't bargain for because you read and didn't look and touch. Use the internet to find the car, but test drive it and let a mechanic examine it for a professional opinion before you consider buying it.

*Never buy something from another country where you have to wire money before you get the item for purchase. It is illegal for wire companies to allow you to wire money if you don't know the person you're wiring it to, and that's for good reason. Scams abound and international lawsuits are difficult and costly to pursue. Buy from nearby.

*Have an out clause in your agreement top purchase that says if you want, you have 30 days -- or some reasonable number of days -- to change your mind and return the purchase as long as you have not damaged it.

 

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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