Purchasing a trade-in vehicle can be a beneficial monetary choice, particularly if your spending limit is restricted. Notwithstanding, neglecting to get your work done before you make a purchase can place you in an unfavorable or even hazardous circumstance. 

The Better Business Bureau has gotten more than 42,000 registered grievances about trade-in vehicle vendors over the most recent three years. Those incorporate more than 3,400 complaints in Eastern and Southwest Missouri and Southern Illinois, where they received the seventh-highest number of complaints about the industry in 2018. Many of the complaints revolve around the reliability issues of their used vehicle, lemon issues, and vendor refusal in fixing the problem after the sale. It is essential to check any potential trade-in vehicle vendor online before you shop by going to bbb.org to scrutinize their BBB Business Profiles. The BBB shows you a vendor's history of disputes and how they were resolved, audits by past clients, contact data, and their business rating ranging from A+ to F. 

By any chance, you may discover a used vehicle listed with a ridiculous price in an advert, and you would like to take a chance in checking it out in person. You may want to check out the vendor Google map and BBB reviews before making a trip there. Many of these dealers use the "bait and switch" sales tactic to lure you into their shop and pressure you to buy the car. If you didn't do your homework beforehand, you might very well end up buying a lemon.

Many of the issues, as mentioned earlier, can be avoided if the buyer had run a simple VIN check to find out the vehicle history records before buying the car. It may be expensive to buy one, but you can always check your VIN for free on sites such as the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), or VinFreeCheck. NICB only provides theft records for free, but VinFreeCheck offers free VIN check report includes information such as salvage title records, vehicle history records as well as odometer records for free. If there's more problem, you can always buy an actual report from Car fax or Auto check for more comprehensive details.

If you can't get a vehicle history report via online for any reasons, you can always request a report from the dealer during the negotiation. You should always be prepared to walk away from a deal if the dealer failed to provide a vehicle history report is not needed. Chances are, the vehicle may be involved in an accident or was stolen/junked prior. Many of the dealers take a lot of shortcuts when refurbishing cars involved in a collision. A lousy patch job on the frame restoration can cause a lot of vibration issues and unwarranted breakdowns on the road.  The vibration may seem like a none issue at first, but the vibration can cause components to wear and tear faster and results in higher cost of maintenance down the road.

Another thing to watch for, it's the odometer rollback. Odometer rollback is the illegal practice of rolling back the vehicle's odometer to a lower number. The dealer does this quite often when restoring salvage/junked vehicle or any vehicle involved in a collision for that matter, to raise the sticker price of the vehicle. Of course, as mentioned earlier, a simple VIN check could avoid this, but, many of vehicle history reports do not have the most current odometer records available in their database. For instance, the vehicle listed to be on sales with 184,000 mileage, but, in the report, it was reported 180,000 mileage 6 years ago. So, in 6 years, the vehicle drove for 4000 miles only? It does sound a little fishy. It's either the vehicle had some problems that cause it not to be able to travel far, or the dealer had rollback the odometer.

Another caveat with the vehicle history report is that accidents that occurred recently may not show up in the vehicle accident report, as the incident may not be submitted to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMTVIS) database yet. Do consider having a technician you trust to examine the vehicle.  It may costs you a hundred dollar, but hey, considering the saving you get from a reliable used vehicle, it's a good tradeoff.

• Research the business and proprietors cautiously before marking an agreement or paying any cash. Check the organization's BBB Business Profile at bbb.org, where you likewise can discover a rundown of BBB Accredited Businesses. Remember to check their Facebook and google map listing too; unethical dealers may able to manipulate one source of reviews, but not all of them. If you see any negative reviews in their google map or Facebook while their BBB may be glowing with A+ profile, you should be extra cautious in dealing with them.

• Set a financial limit and stick to it. Only consider taking a financial installment/loan that you can afford, never take on any auto loan under the salesperson's pressure. They may convince you that the monthly payment is a few hundred dollars over the course of XX months. If you have done the math, it always ends up with 10-20% extra premium on top of the listed price.  As a rule of thumb, your monthly vehicle installment shouldn't be more than 20 percent of your monthly after-tax salary. On the other hand, if you can pay off the entire vehicle with cash, you should take advantage of their 12 months interest-free financial loan to ease up your cash flow.

• Always check the actual market price of your vehicle online before paying a visit to the dealer. By doing your homework, it will lower your chances of being ripped off by unethical car dealers. By doing this, you can look at other comparable vehicles, giving you alternative options should you need to walk away from a deal. 

• Run your VIN and get a vehicle's history. Never buy a car without one. Always request a vehicle history report from your vendor. Walk if they do not want to provide one. If in doubt, find a local mechanic to inspect the vehicle for any issues in the car. Never buy a vehicle without doing proper checks.