This is not your usual car buying information.

This is the inside running from someone who buys as many as ten cars a year for friends and family these days, with a background as a pro car and motorcycle buyer for my own businesses.

Buying a car is a real art form. I still love buying cars although I have been doing it for more than forty years now and the whole methodology I use has had to change too.

In the past, to buy the right car at a much reduced price took special skills, motor engineering knowledge, a good understanding of model design faults, a knowledge of car values along with the skills needed to buy like a professional in a trade where the professionals buyers are well trained and buy hard.

When buying private vehicles you also needed to understand the dozens of odd abbreviations in the used car section in newspapers as they were the main source of used cars for sale.

In the past there was no way for a mom or dad buyer to get a real bargain other than to have all this knowledge. Private buyers just payed too much for their car purchase, or worse still bought a car that is a known lemon to the trade.

That all changes right here.

I will show you how to buy so cheap that you will be able to borrow 100% of the finance based on the price you pay being well under the market value of the car.

Surprisingly it is easier than it has ever been in the past to buy at below market value, but you need to know how and where to locate the best car for you.

f you have kept up with motor sales you will have used one of the many car sales sites to look at cars as you can use their search engine to run a refined search for exactly the right car.

First you need to know exactly what you want to buy, right down to color and extras.

Use only the online used car sites that have their own search engines with selectable fields for private seller, all or dealers adds.

Select private seller, then make, model, mileage traveled, number of cylinders, age, extras fitted, fuel type, color etc.

You need to refine your search so that you do not waste time looking at a lot of motor vehicles that are less than the best for your needs.

The idea of this first search is to eliminate all the cars that are not exactly what you want, and establish a buyers starting point!.

Fill in the fields with the details, and if there is a maximum mileage field, put a very low mileage maximum in, and "one owner" in the keyword section if they have one.

Now ..... Tighten your search till there are no cars left!

Do this by setting the mileage and price too low.

Lets say for example you put in a mileage of 10,000 miles, lift it to 15,000 if you put in a price of 10,00 lift it to 11,00 then twelve, until you get the lowest klm lowest priced car in your town in your favorite color etc.

Now go click on the pretty pictures! You select the car then call the owner to see the car in person. At this point the professional buyer finds out about the seller and if he is likely to be honest in his claims and has a real reason for the sale, even if it is that he hates it! I bought a beautiful MBenz cheap that way once. When speaking to the seller ask direct questions to confirm how the vehicle has been treated, but the service record speaks volumes

Always examine the service records for fraudulent entries, which are often easy to spot.

If the vehicle does not have a full service history, move on to the next one. NEVER buy a car without full service books and history, it is just asking to get robbed if you do.

Service book tricks to look for :-

• Incomplete records that are not filled out fully with all the details of the items required to be checked on the service.

• Any gap in service intervals.

• Falsified records These are often all filled out at one time, with the same pen! Some are stamped as well. Always ensure that the records have not all been filled out at one time, by the same pen and signature.

There are many reasons why one model vehicle will vary in price. Condition, mileage traveled, fittings and extras, paint color, body condition and the conditions of sale are paramount.

Here is how I proceed, and why I do not vary this formula!

1. I buy only one owner cars, with low mileage, The reasons for this are manifold. If the car is one owner with low mileage I can know more about the car and it's history.

2. It will also hold it's price longer as it has more unexpired mileage left for the new owner.

Unexpired mileage is the only way to establish value for money, as this is the amount of miles the used car will travel before it becomes more expensive to keep and maintain than the cost of buying another car to replace it.

1. decide exactly the car you want to buy.

2. Establish the wholesale market value, usually from the same site which usually has a price guide that will include retail, dealer and wholesale prices. Look for the valuation guide, it will have a heading like "what's your car worth." or go to one of the many price guides on other sites.

3. Now comes the exciting part! Looking for the car.

This is how it's done.

Fill out the search with this criteria.

The lowest mileage you can find for the year, by limiting the mileage in the search to something really low.If no cars at all appear in the search over a week, you can always lift the low mileage by, sat another 10,000klms.at a time.

fill out any extra fields like climate control or other items you want that are listed in the search.

In the keyword area put in "one owner"

Now limit the price to a bit above wholesale.

Choose "private seller" You want the car yard profit in your hands not theirs!

The price is always negotiable, so as an experienced buyer I know I can beat the price down in several ways.

* Ask what is the absolute bottom price they will take today.

* Ask if it has always been serviced at the same dealership, and if not, why not?

* Ask about any scratches or dents.( you need to know that some paints cannot be patched and will need a complete panel spray to do a proper repair, especially if the paint is metallic paint.)

This is the bit that can make or break the deal, so read this carefully. A non pro will often come on strong with the seller, I do not.

Be as agreeable and accepting as you can be with the phone conversation. I always compliment the owner on the condition of the car, before I inquire further about his or her lowest price and any problems you may have about the car.

If you go about it in the right way, you can often open the sellers mind and take a peek!

Lets assume for a moment that you have established a good rapport with the seller on the phone.

The sellers attitude about other things in life will tell you a lot about the likelihood of the car being truly immaculate or just OK.. Often the condition of the car is over stated in order to affect a sale, so you need some tricks of your own

When you buy from a dealer you will get a warranty. I view warranty a lot differently to an amateur buyer.As an experienced buyer I know that you are more likely to get nothing except robbed by dealer warranty. There are plenty of honest private sellers, and you can buy warranty for any good car separately.

Since the 90's most cars are not economical to repair major faults. No person in their right mind does an engine swap anymore. Unless the car has lost a motor through accident damage caused by a cooling system or oil leak it will not be economical to repair.. The reason is that modern cars do not have problems with the motor until the whole car is worn out.

Car yards often do not honor warranty honestly. They increase the costs by inflating the repair cost and then charging you the same amount you would normally pay for the whole job including parts as your part of the payment. Others will know that the bomb you bought from them is likely to die not long after their often limited warranty expires. Oldest trick in the book!

If you have followed so far, you may recognise that it is easier and cheaper to buy a warranty yourself when the car has done low mileage and has had one owner.

I never ever look at a car unless I am fairly sure I will buy it. All the rest is done on the phone, as this way I do not waste time just to find out it is not what I want.

If you have little or no machanical knowlege you can still establish condition in other ways, using a few basic trade secrets.

Never buy in the dark, or on a wet day. You will not be able to see panel damage under either condition.

In bright sunlight, kneel down and look along the panels to see there are no ripples in the paint, or panel depressions.

Look under the car for any fluid leaks. Any sign of leaks, leave it there, modern cars only leak engine or transmission oil when something expensive needs replacing, like rear main bearing seal, or other bad servicing damage.

Use a fridge magnet and run it along the car panels. If the car has been repaired with filler, the magnet will not stick as well, or if the filler is deep, the magnet may not stick at all in the place where it has been repaired.

Never buy a car that has been repainted.There are many reasons for this, not the least being the paint will not last anywhere near as long as original paint.

You cannot see what what the body is like under the repaint.

Other mechanical or electical/electronic components often get damaged in accidents and problems may develop as a result of body damage, and during respray it is rare for the panel repairer to be knowlegeable enough to even see this damage ot know about it.

The idea is to generate only a few cars in the search, the fewer the better.

I am never in a hurry, if you are, go buy it from a car yard that has a good reputation for honoring warranty. Good luck with that!

A couple of recent purchases using these methods.

Ford sedan book value $11,000 retail, not sold at that price so reduced to 10000. I paid $6000 then spent $ 200 dollars on brakes. 57,000 klms ( 35,000 miles) only and in great condition.

Kia Carnival Retail value $22,880 one owner 49,00 klms (30,000 miles) nothing to spend, paid $15,000 and got 100% finance.

This was easy enough to achieve, and each car took about 2 weeks to find by using the same search each day for a week or too, but some take longer to find if the model or make a bit uncommon.