Are you tired of owning a car that seems like it needs to be repaired almost every week? Do you want to get a better vehicle but you can't afford one that's completely new? Buying a used vehicle can be a great way to get a better car while on a limited budget. Before you go shopping, however, there are a few things that you should know about the process. Keeping these in mind will help you to find the car that's best for you. Some of these things include:

Avoid private sales

When looking at used cars, private sales can be very tempting. At first glance, a privately sold automobile may seem to be a lower price and a better deal than those available at a used car dealership. A second look reveals that this isn't entirely true. Part of the reason why private sales can afford to be so low is that they have no incentive to make sure that they're correctly representing the vehicle that's for sale. If you get the privately sold car home and find out that it has something seriously wrong, you have very little recourse. On the other hand, most reputable used car dealerships will allow returns for a variety of reasons within a certain number of days.

Never immediately purchase

No matter how appealing you find a particular vehicle, you should never immediately purchase any used cars. Instead, write down as much detail about the vehicle as you can, whether in your phone or on an actual piece of paper, and take multiple pictures of your prospective vehicle. Once you've done that, go home and think about your purchase overnight. After the excitement of finding a good car has died down, you may find out that the drawbacks of that one outweigh the attributes. Perhaps there's not enough room for your child's car seat or perhaps you hate the color and won't be able to stand it. Whatever the reason, going home to reconsider can help prevent you from returning to the dealer later to return the vehicle due to buyer's remorse.

Get another opinion

Although the used cars at a dealership are generally checked over by a mechanic before being put up for sale, it's a good idea to have a mechanic of your own take a look at the car. Mechanics are only human and it's possible that they could have overlooked something or didn't think it needed to be mentioned. For example, perhaps the brakes are still in decent shape but will probably need to be replaced after a month or two of driving. Your mechanic can help you to decide whether you want to take on this additional expense right away or if you should keep looking for a vehicle with newer brake pads.