You’ve established you’re going to buy a car – Great! But before you get to the fun part of looking for the car you want to buy, you first need to figure out whether you’ll purchase from a private seller, or from a dealership. This article looks at the pros and cons of both:
Take notes! Although at times pricier, car dealerships offer a range of advantages over private sellers:
- Warranty & Maintenance: Dealerships often offer warranties on their vehicles and have service departments to handle maintenance and repairs.
- Choice: Dealerships typically have a wider selection of vehicles to choose from, making it easier to find the right car for your needs.
- Payment options: Dealerships often have relationships with multiple lending institutions and can offer financing options to help you purchase a vehicle. In each dealership car ad listed on DubiCars.com, you will find the finance calculator which makes the math of calculating monthly payments easier for you.
- Trade-Ins: Dealerships often accept trade-ins, which means you can use your current vehicle as a down payment for a new one.
- Reputation: Dealerships have a reputation to maintain and are more likely to offer fair prices and transparent dealings. And if they are licensed, it’s hands down a more secure buy.
- Paperwork: If you buy a car from a private seller, the responsibility of transferring the paperwork and ownership of the car rests on you or the seller. If you buy from a dealership though, the dealership takes care of the paperwork. Vehicle ownership documents, insurance papers, valuation certificate, etc, are all taken care of by the dealership.
- Safety & Security: Buying from a private seller involves meeting the seller at a location of his/her choosing and this is not always safe. Dealerships have a reputation to maintain and hence a standard of safety and security is always maintained.
That being said, private sellers may have lower prices, and if you’re on the hunt for a car with a very specific budget in mind, a private dealer might be a better choice. So, in summary, it totally depends on your priorities and preferences!
