Anyone who has ever bought a new vehicle and has come to the point of selling it some years later, has probably been in the situation where they’ll ask “Is that all it’s worth, I paid X amount for it only two years ago”. This is because the value of a new vehicle falls dramatically as soon as it is driven out of the showroom.

Furthermore, if value is important to you, finding a bargain of a used car can be very satisfying, and also financially rewarding. There is sometimes the conception that buying a used vehicle can be risky and that it will end up with one problem or another, although, the skills of engineers over the past years has shown to produce cars that are more reliable and more maintenance-free than ever before.

Don't buy a car in the rain, the bodywork always looks better when it's wet, plus, the chances are you will forget to check something by rushing to get out of the rain.

Stand at the front, or the back of the car, and look along the body line. You will be able to see if it has had any body damage as the light reflecting off the side of the car will show the dents or replaced panels.

Even in today’s ultra-competitive new vehicle market where MSRP has been replaced by Invoice as the starting mark for price negotiations, a car still loses 10%-20% or more of its value the moment it hits the street.

Low mile used cars a year or two old can be dramatically less expensive than its brand new counterpart. There are exceptions – Honda, for example, tends to lose less off the top because they rarely have rebates and their reputation is very strong.

If you follow these rules when buying a used car you wont go far wrong. If you can't be bothered to go through the hassle, then buy your car from a trader, he or she will have already done all these checks to cover himself before he or she purchases the car. I would not buy a car without doing these checks first.