When looking for a car on a budget, the only route you may be able to take is purchasing a car used. While this isn’t a bad option, you might be able to find a hidden gem out there that’s worth the money! Sometimes though, it can turn and bite you in the butt and you may find yourself buying a lemon.

Just like buying a new car, this is going to be a relatively big purchase for you. You want to create a budget and make sure you don’t go over this while looking for your vehicle. Before creating your budget, you will want to first make a list of a few cars that you’re interested in. If you’re not sure what kind of cars you’re interested in, either take a stroll down to your local dealer or hop online and browse around at good deals on websites such as autotrader.com or consumerreports.com

Once you make a list of a few cars you are interested in, the next step is to either find a few dealerships in your area with that type of car in stock or browse the classifieds. The easiest thing you can probably do is browse one of the Internet’s biggest automotive classifieds, autotrader.com on their website, you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for. On their website, you’ll find everything from the year to the price range.

When you finally write down those numbers and are prepared to look at the car, it’s important that you follow these steps –

Get the KBB average

Before you even step foot in the dealership’s or seller’s driveway, it’s important that you log onto kbb.com to get the value of the car you’re purchasing. This is the bible to all automotive sellers. If the seller is selling the car for more than the estimated worth, throw that number away, they’re not worth going to. If the number is well below the average, something may be up and may have more problems than expected.

Take a good look on the inside and outside of the car

It’s very important that you look at the outside and inside of the car. Look for everything from scratches to rust. This is very important because rust can spread relatively fast and can destroy a body of a car.

Ask the seller a few questions

It never hurts to ask the seller a few questions. He’s there to sell you the car. You’ll want to ask him questions such as “Why are you selling it?” , “How long have you owned the vehicle?”, “Does the car need any repairs?”

Have a mechanic look at it!

This is probably the most important step. Take the car to a local mechanic if they let you and have them inspect it. 99% of the time, the seller will let you do this. If they don’t, move onto the next seller. A mechanic will always be honest with what problems a car has. Just think of it, if he lies to you, you’ll be coming back screaming at him/her. This is something they don’t need.

These are a just a few of the major points you should follow when looking at used cars. If you want to go into even more details on the car, you can purchase car vehicle history reports, etc. to get even more inside on it. A lot of the times, you will be able to tell what kind of driver was behind the wheel just by driving it and having a mechanic looking at it. A 16-year-old kid is going to drive a car a lot harder than say a 75 year old.

Make sure you always look at more than one car and take your time when making your decision. This isn’t a purchase that should be made in ten seconds. It’s up to you to be responsible!