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How to Buy a Car

Each year, more than 8 million new cars (and about 40 million used cars) are sold in the U.S. If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, how do you know which one is r ight for you? The Business, Science, and Technology Department (BST) has numerous information sources that can help.

This guide will show you how to research 10 important aspects of buying a new or used vehicle:

• Car Shopping Basics
• Finding a Reputable Dealer
• Standard Features and Equipment
• Sticker Price
• Operating Costs
• Drivability
• Safety
• Vehicle History
• Lemon Laws
• Consumer Assistance/Protection
• If you need more help

Car Shopping Basics

Buying a vehicle may be one of the most important investments you make. Before you start to consider certain models, there are some things you may want to think about:

• Your transportation needs and habits
• Trends in the auto industry
• How to negotiate with salespeople
• The benefits and drawbacks to different payment options

At BST, we carry many books to help you with these issues, which you can search for by using our catalog. Two of the best are:

• Don’t Get Taken Every Time: The Ultimate Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car in the Showroom or on the Internet. Remar Sutton. New York: Penguin, 2001. (TL162.S96 2001)
• The Unofficial Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car. Donna Howell. New York: MacMillan, 1998. (TL162.H68 1998)

For quick, reputable advice on the Web, see the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s various informational publications. The Better Business Bureau and the Federal Consumer Information Center offer similar online information.

Finding a Reputable Dealer

Besides your telephone book and your newspaper’s classified section, there are other sources you can use to find a dealer. There are numerous online auto retailers, including Autobytel and CarMax.

But how do you know that you are being treated fairly?

There seems to be no easy answer. Before you visit a dealership:

• Investigate its reputation with your local Better Business Bureau.
• Membership in NADA or NIADA may also be a good sign.
• Most importantly, all the terms in your sales and service contracts (defining both your and the dealer’s rights and responsibilities) should be clear to you.

If you are buying a car from a private party (a person, instead of a business), be aware that in Maryland (and many other states) buying from an unlicensed individual can limit your protection under the law. The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration has an excellent pamphlet regarding Unlicensed Dealers (Curbstoners) linked from its home page.

Standard Features and Optional Equipment

Many automotive associations, magazines, and publishers compile yearly guides to new and used makes and models. Sometimes the printed guides have counterparts on the Web. In addition to listing standard features, options, and the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP), such guides often provide ratings on drivability and safety. Here are some of the guides available at Pratt/SLRC:

• American Automobile Association. AAA New Car and Truck Buying Guide. Heathrow: FL, annual (XTL162.A88Q).
• Lemon Aid Care Guide. Phil Edmonston. New York: Stoddart Publishing, annual (TL162.L44). This guide covers the past 20 years of makes and models. It offers detailed information about maintenance and technical problems experienced with pa rticular models.
• Edmund’s New Cars & Trucks, Prices & Reviews. El Segundo, CA: Edmund Publications Corp., annual (XTL9710.U5E45).
• MSN Carpoint offers side-by-side comparisons of vehicles, a payment calculator, and information on rebate and incentive programs for buyers.
• The Used Car Book, 1992-2001. Jack Gillis. New York: HarperCollins, 2001 (TL162.U75). This guide provides information on complaints, insurance, fuel economy, theft rating, and number of recalls.
• The Periodicals Department of Pratt Library also subscribes to Car & Driver, Motor Trend, and Road & Track magazines, which review new makes and models. All these magazines offer some information on their Web sites.
• Consumer Reports magazine also publishes the results of its auto tests and general articles related to car shopping, though you generally need to be a subscriber of the magazine to acce ss copies online.

Pay careful attention when looking at these guides. Look for the authors’ criteria for ratings, and an explanation of how vehicles were evaluated or tested. Some guides emphasize different aspects of a vehicle’s performance. For instance, some f ocus more on operating costs (IntelliChoice) than on safety (NHTSA’s Web site).

Most reputable printed guides have this kind of information in an "introduction" or "how to use this book" section near the beginning of the book. Trustworthy Web sites also identify authors, criteria, and sources of informat ion.

Sticker Price

New autos have labels attached to the a side window, which tell you the base price of the vehicle, the individual prices for options added to the car, and a "total" (base plus options) price. One sticker is the MSRP (Manufacture's Suggested Retail Price) and is set by the manufacturer. The other sticker is set by the dealer, which generally has a higher price than the MSRP. This price may vary from dealer to dealer, so shop around.

If you are considering a used vehicle, you should investigate what your make and model typically sells for. The sources we use for this are:

• National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA)
• Kelley’s Blue Book
• Old Cars Price Guide (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, bi-monthly), which lists prices for classic cars.

Figures in NADA and Kelley’s are based on actual used vehicle sales, and typically factor in mileage, condition, and geographic location.

Operating Costs

In addition to the sticker price, consider:

• The added expenses of gas
• Routine maintenance and repairs
• Insurance
• Fees
• Taxes

You can find auto insurance quotes on numerous Web sites. In addition to the sites of individual insurance companies, there are meta-sources that allow you to compare the rates and performance of many insurance companies. Phillip Moeller’s online Insure.com is one place to start.

Nearly all states charge sales tax when you purchase a vehicle. Some states also include vehicles ownership when calculating property tax. Curious about taxes in your state? One excellent source is CCH’s annual State Tax Handbook (Chicago : Commerce Clearinghouse, annual). BST has an online subscription to this and other CCH tax-related publications. We will gladly search them for you.

Drivability

Many general auto-buying guides provide opinions about maneuverability, engine power, and roominess.

• Consumer Guide Magazine includes ratings for used cars, with some model coverage going back to the early 1990s.
• Consumer Guide’s printed Auto Series comes out 12 times per year (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Ltd).
• MotorWeek, Maryland Public Television/PBS’s TV program, gives you the opportunity to see specific makes and models in action. A typical episode shows road tests and comments on various fea tures. The program’s Web site gives results of road tests on selected models back to 1996.

Safety

Since Ralph Nader’s landmark book Unsafe At Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile (New York: Grossman, 1965. TL240.N3), Americans have been increasingly concerned with vehicle safety.

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sets and enforces safety performance standards for motor vehicles. They provide useful information on their Web page, including:
  • Buying a Safer Car, which provides crash test results of individual models of cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs going back to the early 1990s.
  • Safety Problems and Issues page and telephone hotline (1-888-DASH-2-DOT), which provides updates on auto recalls, technical service bulletins, and customer complaints.
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety provides:
  • Detailed crash test results, showing photographs and ratings for head, chest, and leg injury potential.
    
• Center for Auto Safety, founded by Ralph Nader and the Consumers Union provides:
  • Auto defect packages for numerous makes and models. Information in these packages is based on customer complaints and data from NHTSA going back to the early 1990s.
  • The Ultimate Car Book. Jack Gillis. (New York: HarperResource, annual. XTL163.U47Q 2002). Available at BST and other libraries.

Vehicle History

If you are considering a particular used vehicle, you may want to know its history.

• Was it a rental car?
• Has it been involved in any accidents?
• Was it once sold in a salvage auction?

Carfax uses a car’s registration and title history to help you answer these questions. To use Carfax, you must know your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The VIN is a unique 17-digit code ass igned to each car and light truck built after 1981, and typically appears on registration and title documents. Users should note that Carfax charges a fee for its services.

Lemon Laws

There are numerous federal and state laws that protect consumers:

• Uniform Commercial Code, the federal law that governs the sale of movable goods, has been adopted by every state except Louisiana and is available at Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute Sales Law page.
• The Center for Auto Safety has an excellent list of state Lemon Laws, as well as advice and links to lawyers.

Consumer Assistance/Protection

The U.S. and state governments typically have agencies or offices that enforce consumer protection laws and assist the public.

• Federal Trade Commission, an independent agency of the U.S. government, protects consumers from deceptive trade practices.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation is responsible for reducing injuries and economic losses from vehicular accidents.
• Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration can answer questions about vehicle registration and titling.
• Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland State Attorney General’s Office can help you resolve a dispute with a Maryland car dealership or other business. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office offers a list of other Helpful Websites for consumers from its home page.

If you need more help

This guide should enable you to find all the answers you need for buying a vehicle that’s right for you. If you do not live close to the Pratt Library, a public library near you should have some, if not all, of the resources we’ve mentioned. If you hav e no library access, or you’ve tried these sources and still can’t find what you’re looking for, please e-mail us, call (410) 396-5317, or contact us by mail at:

Business, Science, and Technology Department
Enoch Pratt Free Library
State Library Resource Center
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201