What if a pro shopped for your next used car?

Shopping for a used car is about as fun and easy as reading the entire tax law. But expert car shoppers, sometimes called brokers, can help you find that rare gem.

Highly recommended by the Association pour la protection des automobilistes (APA), Richard Léger has been a professional buyer of used vehicles for decades. He completes “two or three” transactions per week. His clients pay him a flat fee to search through ads posted on the web, make appointments, ask sellers questions, inspect, take a test drive and negotiate the price.

Watching him work is fascinating. He scrutinizes the seat belt with a magnifying glass, plays with the electric windows to listen to the motor, looks for rust with a flashlight and observes the color of the pedals, among other methodical gestures. All this with the aim of judging the condition of the vehicle and finding clues about the personality of its driver.

Because his motto is this: you shouldn’t blindly rely on the price, year or odometer of a vehicle to make your choice. What matters is how a vehicle has been driven and maintained. “Of course, a car’s immune system is its owner,” summarizes the Montrealer, who normally prefers a car that has made 100 trips of 1,000 km to one that has traveled 1,000 trips of 100 km.

Having bought hundreds and hundreds of vehicles, including at least 100 for himself, Richard Léger can list things for hours.

The most important thing, in his opinion, is not to shop for a used car like you would for a new one, with a specific model in mind and an equally specific color. It is wiser to make a list of your needs and look at what is for sale and what best matches them. Otherwise, you risk looking for a very, very long time and missing out on an excellent choice that you had not considered.

Do you need maximum trunk space? Do you want a vehicle that consumes little gas? Are you looking for a model to tow a trailer? Do you want to drive for 2 or 12 years with your purchase? “I’m here to help people ask themselves the right questions,” says Richard Léger. “That’s the essence of my job.” He also advises people to be wary of cars that aren’t expensive enough.

Automobile Protection Association (APA) President George Iny agrees. Bargains don’t really exist. If your vehicle is $1,500 less than its peers, but its summer tires and brakes are at the end of their life, you could end up spending more than $1,500 to get it up to par. That’s not even counting the time it will take. The APA has done the math many times and the conclusion is always the same. It’s best not to look for what seems like a bargain. In the end, it’s not worth it. The condition of the vehicle should always be the number one criterion.

Richard Léger also suggests shopping with individuals, which he does 80% of the time. Those who take care of their cars and have them treated every year for rust often prefer to sell them themselves to get a better price than at the dealership, he explains. This also allows you to get winter tires, very often, and more details on the vehicle’s history.

We will also try to avoid middlemen for very low-cost vehicles, because they have to pocket a profit. According to the APA, “it’s $2,000 minimum,” a relatively high sum compared to the sale price of an old Yaris at $7,000, for example.

Typically, dealers sell fairly new cars, mostly lease returns, so they’re a bit more expensive than older privately owned ones. And they keep the best choices for themselves. “The rest are sent to auction and that’s where the local garage gets its supplies,” the professional buyer explains.

Motorists who need financing will generally want to visit dealerships. And, if there is a problem, “you have more recourse with a dealership,” adds Lorraine Lévesque, who also offers a shopping service for new and used cars from dealers since “it’s very complicated” to buy from individuals, she says. A professional buyer for 25 years, she still can’t believe the stories she hears about finding used cars.

“If you knew all the things I hear,” she sighs. “It doesn’t make sense. It’s a nightmare for them. Dealers are very stingy with information on the phone. They want you to come. But sometimes your car is finished or broken down, so what do you do? And people think that everything they see online is available. No, dealers leave their ads up for a long time. So you get there and the car is sold.”

George Iny laments the crisis of confidence that is undermining the used vehicle industry, a problem that has worsened since the pandemic due to the high demand observed at the very moment when there were fewer quality vehicles on the market. In his opinion, “we have gone back 25 years, we have gone back to the 1990s.”

The feeling of being ripped off, the lack of time and knowledge are the main reasons for entrusting the purchase of one’s vehicle to an expert in the field, for a few hundred dollars. Lorraine Lévesque, of CherchAUTO, says that 60% of her clients do not even travel to take a test drive. Many ask her for advice on choosing the model. Many have a specific request in mind (model, year, colour), which she looks for in a vast radius that includes Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke. She also tries to obtain the best possible trade-in value for her clients’ vehicles thanks to her network of contacts. “That’s also a sport!” says the expert.

Those who turn to Richard Léger should know that he makes it his duty to find “exceptional vehicles” in excellent condition, and that he is strict in his evaluations. Shopping can therefore take some time. But the process often ends with a gold medal. “Last week, I came across a car in the 0.1% [de ce qu’il y a de mieux]. A 2015 Nissan Rogue with 12,000 km, that had never seen rain, with two sets of seat covers one on top of the other. Not a scratch. It was perfect! “, enthusiastically recounts the enthusiast who lives thanks to word of mouth and a page on Facebook.

At the Office of Consumer Protection, the used car sector has generated the highest proportion of complaints for years, at around 15%. So, take all the precautions, help and advice before embarking on the adventure.