Popular Mechanics Says This is the Best Website For Buying a Used Car
Andrew Koole
· 3 min read
Buying a
used car
can be tricky. You need to do a lot of research beforehand, and in the hands of a shady dealer, even the most prepared driver can end up with a lemon. And like most things, what the Internet was supposed to make simpler, it actually made more complicated.Vroom plans to change all that. While used cars have been posted online for decades already, this New York-based startup brings the whole shopping experience online, from choosing a model to signing the paperwork. They even deliver your new wheels to your home!
If you love to haggle a
good price
, you might want to find your car some other way. But if you prefer a transaction free of pushy salesmen and guessing games, you might want to try buying a car the way Popular Mechanics
says it "should be" done—on Vroom.
How exactly does Vroom work?
Used cars are commonly sold through a classified ad site or a physical dealer. Often you need to show up knowing as much about the make and model of the vehicle as possible and be prepared to haggle the price down to what you’re willing to pay. It can be stressful.
Vroom aims to take the anxiety out of the equation by making the transaction more comparable to an
Amazon
purchase than a black market trade. The company vets and refurbishes all the vehicles on its site, and then sells them at set prices.Once you pay for the car, it’s sent to your address. And to further calm your nerves, Vroom offers a seven-day money-back guarantee and a 90-day,
bumper-to-bumper warranty
on your purchase. So you actually end up with more time to test it out than in most situations.Where else can I buy a used car online?
Maybe you like negotiating the price of a car, or maybe you can’t find the model you want on Vroom. Fear not—there are plenty of other options for you.
Auction lovers will already know about sites like Craigslist, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace, but there are industry-specific sites that might make you more comfortable buying such a high-priced item online. Autotrader is the most popular, but CarGurus and TrueCar also put their spin on the private seller experience.
If a classic or rare car is what you’re after, you can’t do better than BringATrailer. The site is so popular amongst collectors that experts now watch selling prices on it to predict upcoming trends in the classic car market.
For more refined buying experiences, Popular Mechanics says to check out RelayCars for its virtual test drives or Carvana for its 360-degree views from a "futuristic vending machine."
Can I buy car insurance online?
MORE: How to Get Cheap Car Insurance For a Used Car
If we’ve all learned one thing from the global pandemic, it’s that we can pretty much do anything over the Internet. That includes buying car insurance. There are plenty of sites offering to find you
car insurance quotes online
, but for fast, cheap quotes in real-time, the best choice is Jerry
.Jerry is a personal insurance broker that lives in your pocket. But don’t worry about buying tiny office furniture, Jerry is an app.
Once you download Jerry, just answer a handful of questions that will take you roughly 45 seconds to complete and you’ll immediately get car insurance quotes for coverage similar to your current plan. Jerry customers save an average of $879 a year.
