Now more than ever more people are buying used cars through private sale rather than through licensed car dealers.

Here is a buying guide on how to get the best deal when buying a used car through private sale.

Mechanical issues – When purchasing a used car be sure to take it to your preferred mechanic for an inspection before handing over any money. If your mechanic finds the vehicle unsafe and/or in need of repairs you will be responsible for rectifying these items and include this in your written purchase agreement.

Financial interests – Check for any liens or encumbrances on the vehicle by requesting a REVS check. If you buy a vehicle with an encumbrance against it, you may risk having the vehicle seized by the existing credit provider.

Verify ownership – Ensure that the person you are buying the car from is its registered owner and authorised to sell you the car. Ask to see a copy of the current vehicle registration papers and check maintenance records.

You can often save money buying through private sale, however, keep in mind that if you have problems with the vehicle it may be difficult to get any assistance or compensation from the private sale vendor.

Whether you’re buying a new or used car, arranging your car finance with Madison Finance before you go looking for your new car makes good sense.

If you’re buying your vehicle from a car dealer, you may consider dealer car finance to be a convenient and simple option. Just be aware that this convenience can cost you.

Dealer car finance generally has a higher interest rate that the more competitive products from financial institutions. It can also come with extra terms and conditions, such as retained interest on early termination.

Term of the loan – Madison Finance offers flexible repayment options with terms from 1 to 5 years, so you can either pay your loan off sooner or make lower repayments by taking a longer term.

Interest rates – Can vary depending on the term of the loan, financial institution offering the loan, loan amount and whether you want a variable or fixed rate. Madison Finance offers car finance with great low rates so you never pay more than you need.

Other fees and charges – Check the fine print for application fees, monthly fees, account keeping fees, fees for paying out the loan early.

Insurance – Check to see if your car finance provider requires you to take out comprehensive insurance, finance GAP cover or credit protection insurance to cover missed payments?

Most would agree that a regular review of your home mortgage offers peace of mind that you are receiving the best value for money, fewer know that it’s also possible to refinance your car finance too.

If you arranged your car finance when rates were high, you may be able to get a lower rate now. Or perhaps, when you first obtained your car finance, your credit was less-than-perfect. If you’ve managed to maintain your current car finance in an excellent manner over the past year or so, you may now qualify for the lower rate. And a lower interest rate means less cost to you over time. Even dropping your rate by 1-2% can mean significant savings over the life of your loan.

At Madison we can arrange an obligation free review of your existing car loan agreement. So in many cases, refinancing your car loan won’t cost you anything at all! And if you refinance for a lower rate, that’s like saving money for free.

We can arrange to refinance your car finance online which means very little paperwork, almost instant approval and a no-hassle application process.

Whether you are looking to refinance your car finance, a car loan or car lease it is important to approach the right lender. So remember, selecting the right people to help you arrange your car finance can be as important as negotiating the purchase price on your new car.

For many years, banks and car dealerships have been able to maintain a governing control over the availability of car finance but in more recent times, certainly during the last five years, new choices have become readily available for car finance, which have never existed before.

One of those is the availability of money through non-traditional lending sources and the massive expansion of the car finance broker market. This expansion might be compared to a department store that carries everything, rather than to several specialist stores offering one particular product line to which the supply is controlled and the price is inflated.

In other words, a good car finance broker can provide many choices from a variety of lenders who all want to operate in a different market place and with varying types of equipment and car finance structures.

Whether you are looking for car finance, a car loan or car lease it is important to approach the right lender. So remember, selecting the right people to help you arrange your car finance can be as important as negotiating the purchase price on your new car.

A private sale involves purchasing a vehicle from another person, rather than from a car dealer or auction house.

Did you know that many car finance companies do not offer private sale car finance?

Buying a car privately doesn’t limit your car finance options with Madison Finance.

We are private sale car finance specialists and to safeguard your purchase, we can arrange to:

• Assist with the vehicle valuation
• Inspect the vehicle to confirm the vehicle identification details
• Obtain an invoice from the vendor confirming the purchase details
• Conduct a REVS search to confirm clear title
• Arrange payment by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to the vendors nominated bank account