Just helped my kid get his first used car.

by GrreatTeacher 13 Replies latest social family

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  Simon

  Even if you are not mechanically minded, you can save some money by learning how to do the basic maintenance yourself - change spark plugs, swap air-filters, replace bulbs and so on. Anything that you don't need special equipment and can be done after watching a YouTube video.

  This applies to so many things - replacing a dishwasher? Furnace making a noise? Learn how they work and how to do it and you realize it often isn't that difficult at all and you can turn a $300-400 charge into a $15 part and 10 minutes of effort.

  Again, do all the low-hanging fruit yourself, the easy stuff - only pay for an expert when you actually need one.
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  GrreatTeacher

  Oh, one more thought, you'll get a title with a lien on it. The bank will hold the lien, so when you finish paying off the loan you have to take the proof to the DMV where you will get a lien release. Ideally you should do it right away, but it definitely needs to be done before selling the car.

  Oh, also, get copies of everything you sign! Our dealership gave us a flash drive with everything on it. That was a first for me.
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  GrreatTeacher

  So true, Simon, our truck had trouble with the key turning in the ignition. It would stick, then nothing would go in. Watched a you tube video and got that ignition key working again!

  Started happening again. After fiddling around with it we somehow fixed it so that any old key in the world would turn over. The Toyota key, the Subaru key, the key from an old Volkswagen from 25 years ago. Yup, just grab any random key and she would start and go. Worth fixing it? Nah. We run em till they're dead. If they're running, they're running.
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  stan livedeath

  years ago...a chap i knew was driving a smart vw golf gti--i thought he must be doing ok--till i saw the screw driver in the ignition. STOLEN !