For Automakers, car dealers, banks, and insurance companies this info isn’t shocking. In fact, it’s daily knowledge. For someone like me who is currently shopping for a “used” vehicle it’s all in the definition.
So maybe I’m browsing dealerships and see a car I really like. It has 1000 miles on it and is listed under the “new” vehicles. But..but it has a thousand miles on it…isn’t it used? Actually as I found out, a car can actually have up to 10K miles on it and still be categorized as “new”. How?, you might ask. The term “new” basically means the car was never titled to anyone else (this includes being titled to a rental car company or used as a business vehicle). This car could have been used as a demo car or a test vehicle by the automaker or dealership.
If you find a car like this there’s a lot of benefits to buying it.
- price is less than buying the same vehicle fresh off the assembly line.
- Quite often it’s still covered under factory warranty but, always check the terms
- The dreaded “new car depreciation” already happened.
- still plenty of life and mileage to go through
- may qualify for dealer incentives
- You’re the first titled owner so if you sell it you can list it as “one owner”
There are also Certified pre-owned vehicles that can also be a good deal. They are used vehicles that have been inspected, refurbished, and certified by a manufacturer or entity authorized to certify a vehicle. They can include extended warranties, special financing, and possibly other incentives to buy.
