What to Do After Buying a Used Car

The process of buying a used car is well documented, but what do you do afterward? There's still a lot that needs to be done, but it's all fairly easy. As long as you have a firm grasp on all the details, you'll be well prepared to drive and enjoy your new-old car.

Cleaning

Unless you've bought a certified pre-owned vehicle from a dealership, chances are excellent that you're going to need to so some heavy-duty cleaning. A complete detailing job may be necessary, including stripping back the wax and putting on a new coat. You'll probably also want to check all your fluid levels and clean out the engine bay while you're at it, as this gets filthy just from normal use.

You may want to tackle all these cleaning chores yourself, but if you don't, find a good local detailer who can do the work for you. Shop around -- prices may vary widely. Read some reviews, too -- some shops may be more reputable than others.

Taking care of paperwork

Make sure your insurance carrier knows about your new baby. Just like when you buy a new car, you'll need to provide them with the VIN, make, model, and year of the car you've just bought. Also, be ready to inform your insurance carrier of what type of alarm your new car has, if any. Ask for a fax or e-mail confirmation of your insurance coverage for this vehicle that you can carry in your glove box until your official insurance card comes in the mail. Hopefully you won't need it between now and then -- but it's best to be prepared.

Brake examination

You already should have checked this before buying the car, but you'll want to check it again now as well. Why? You'll be looking for different things now than you were before buying. When you were only thinking about buying, chances are you were just looking for problems that would prevent you from buying the car -- including brake issues. Now that you've actually bought the car, check the brakes again to see if you really ought to service them. This could include new brake pads, shoes, drums (if you've got them), or rotor resurfacing. Hopefully, if the car needed a whole new brake system, you spotted this beforehand -- and haven't gotten to this point, as you didn't buy the car in the first place.