7 Things You Should Always Buy From a Car Dealer

Sounds crazy but yes, a licensed car dealership is without question the best place to buy a car. There are new car dealers, used car dealers and even cars sold on marketplaces such as eBay Motors or Costco Autos, and most are sold or processed through licensed dealers. Exceptions to this rule include car brands that don’t have traditional dealers, such as Tesla, Rivian or Lucid, and purchases between friends and relatives. 

The top reason to work with a car dealership lies in the security of the sale: you have recourse if things go wrong, you’re getting the right information about the car, you are buying a car with a clean history and accurate warranty information. It’s still up to you to thoroughly prepare for your purchase and do all your homework to ensure you’re getting a fair deal, but a licensed car dealership is the first place to start.

Read: Why Car Safety Features Are the No. 1 Reason to Buy a New (or Newish) Car

As with new cars, branded dealerships can offer certified pre-owned models that will give you a greater sense of confidence. CPOs, as they’re called, are only awarded certification by the car maker after a thorough inspection and with a clean maintenance record. They come with an extended warranty and have undergone any necessary maintenance or repairs including tires, brakes and critical systems.

CPOs can be more expensive, however, so shop around. The general rule is that CPOs are a great idea for cars with a reputation for being finicky as the mileage gets higher, but not for brands that are known for reliability.

Read: 11 Tips for Buying a Used Car

If your car’s warranty is still active, take it to a branded franchise dealer for service, maintenance or repair. You don’t need to take it to the dealer you bought it from but you do need to stay with the same branded dealer; for instance, any Chevrolet dealership can service or repair any Chevrolet. 

The car dealer may charge a higher price for things like oil changes or basic maintenance because they pay higher rates to their service technicians, however, those techs are trained to work on that dealership’s brands, to use the right tools and parts and they have access to the brand’s engineers for further advice and troubleshooting. 

Maintenance and repairs made by unauthorized shops or techs using non-branded parts or tools may actually void the car’s warranty. Another good reason to make sure you’re staying in the brand family while your car is under warranty.

Many cars can be outfitted with accessories made by the brand. When it comes to accessories that are expected to perform under specific conditions, those accessories should be factory built and dealer installed if the car is under warranty. Think of things like suspension or trailering accessories for Toyota made by Toyota. Many dealer-installed parts are covered by the manufacturers’s warranty, whereas third party accessories installed by independent shop will only carry the warranty of those parts and that shop, not the brand. And, installation of third party accessories may actually void the vehicle’s warranty. 

Once a car is out of warranty, though, finding smart modifiers and cool accessories be a great way to keep a car updated with features that weren’t available when it was new.  

Some recalls involve critical systems while others are simple fixes, and often, it can be a months-long wait for the part to come in or to get an appointment for the repair. You might be tempted to have a local mechanic do the repair with a cheaper part, but be careful. The dealership will use the authorized factory part, the recall repair will be warrantied and while your car is at the dealership, they can search for other recalls, too.

Car dealerships love to sell warranties, insurance that extends the term of the original manufacturer’s warranty for up to a decade after the original warranty expires. These are profitable for car dealerships and can save buyers a lot of money if something goes wrong. 

A car dealership can be a good place to buy a warranty but there are caveats: Make sure warranty work can be done at any dealership, not just that dealership; that it’s transferrable should the car be sold; and understand what it covers. Some warranties for instance, don’t cover any rubber parts, so major components like turbos may be not be covered if they fail. 

An extended warranty is something that most experts recommend against, but it may be a good idea if you’re buying a car with known issues, high mileage or you’re financing it for a long term and want to be covered for the term of the loan. Do your research to make sure you’re getting the best deal on an extended warranty and negotiate this purchase; most dealers will reduce the price on the warranty if you ask them to (you may have to ask two or three times).

As with warranties, do your homework: Check with your bank and qualify with other lenders like Capital One Auto, then, compare rates and terms with your car dealer. 

Car dealerships typically work with the bank associated with their car brand and often, those lenders can offer better deals than retail banks because the carmaker subsidizes financing in order to sell a car. Dealers can also can offer special deals, like reduced rates with specific terms or on specific models. 

Be sure to compare the rate a dealer gives you with your bank’s rates and that of a 3rd party lender, and compare payments for different loan terms. Interest rates can vary based on the length of the loan, the amount of downpayment and other criteria.

Buying a new car is a long and often painful process. And you might be inclined to try to get out of the car dealership as quickly as possible, but not considering key things that the dealership can do well may be a mistake.