Making the decision to purchase a vehicle can be a big decision, whether you’re buying new or used, it’s important to have all your information and research ready for your upcoming purchase. Since this is such a big topic, Tony speaks with Mark Rather, who is the Section Chief — Dealer & Agent Unit for the Wisconsin DOT - DMV - Bureau of Vehicle Services on this episode of the Best Life Podcast.
More information on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation can be found at: wisconsindot.gov
Best Life Podcast: Episode 17: Buying a Car with Mark Rather
(Tony Beyer)
Hello and welcome to the Best Life Podcast where we here at Altra Federal Credit Union are helping you live your best life. I'm your host Tony Beyer, thank you so much for tuning in. Well, this is our first podcast of 2023 and with it being a new year some may be thinking about getting a new car but before we go to the dealership or walk out on a lot, there's a lot we need to consider and to help us learn more about what we should know about buying a new or used car, we're joined by Mark Rather, who is the Chief for the Dealer and Agent Section for the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles Department of Transportation. It's, it's quite the title and he's quite the guy, and we appreciate you joining us for this podcast, Mark.
(Mark Rather)
Well, good afternoon Tony and thanks for having me.
(Tony Beyer)
Absolutely. So, when it comes to, you know, possibly someone buying a new car, buying a new vehicle can be very, very exciting. The new car smell, you look at the odometer…it's only got a few miles on it, but before all that what are some things that potential buyers should keep in mind when purchasing a new vehicle.
(Mark Rather)
Well, you're absolutely right. Purchasing a new car is exciting, but it also can create some anxiety for folks…and again, remember a new car is second only to a home as the most expensive purchase many consumers will make in their lifetime, and according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the average price of a new car sold in the United States, is approximately 30,000 dollars, so, that's really why it's important to do your research when I say your research it’s doing your homework, and specifically there's a couple areas that we can address there. First, I would say is set a budget, you know, what can you afford and what is your limit and know that limit before you see the car, because it's going to be a lot harder once you see it, not kind of fall in love with it and be like, “Well, I can make this work somehow,” so set a budget, going in. The second thing I would say is identify the type, like what are you looking for, you looking for an SUV, a truck, or a car.
Once you've got that narrowed down, you can move on, then, says, or a certain brand, and within the brand is there certain model you're looking for, and then really, what features are a must have like, what are you willing to pay for what is something you want to have on that car, that truck that is really important to you?
From there, I would say you could go down to doing a little research as far as checking the reliability of that particular model or make and you can do that through a couple different venues, Consumer Reports, Edmunds, they have online searches that you can put in different vehicle types and get some information and some specifics that determine if this is maybe a good choice for you or not. And then I would say next is to locate the vehicle. Find one that a right price in your area. There's different search tools out there that you can put in your ZIP code, find a handful of cars that are near you, they'll have prices, and then I would say to make contact with that particular dealership and just confirm that the vehicles there. I mean, currently there's still shortage of vehicles and so it's good, not only to waste your time or anybody else's, but just confirm and reach out and you know, let them know you're interested in a particular vehicle and you hope that you'd be able to see it…and make that confirmation before you go out. Once you get there, it's the test drive, right? and doing kind, I think we've all kind of got our own routine with a test drive, but do what you would be doing and take it out, you know, on the freeway or the highway or whatever, you know, roads, you're comfortable with to get an appreciation for what the car is and what it has to offer.
And then really the last step in that is just negotiating the price and so no tricks really there. It's just, you know, be a smart consumer and again, sticking to that budget will get you a price that I think you'll feel comfortable walking away with.
(Tony Beyer)
Absolutely, and I love that you're talking about doing the homework and, you know, that budgeting aspect is so important, making sure that you can afford that vehicle, because transportation is a very important part in everyone's life being able to, to earn an income to be able to do many things, so, having a reliable vehicle, very, very important. And again, making sure that you can afford it.
Now, let's say somebody is thinking about buying a car that's new to them but it is not a new vehicle, and they are looking at buying a used vehicle. What are some things that would differentiate, you know, possibly that process or what you people keep in mind, you know buying used versus buying new when it comes to a vehicle, Mark?
(Mark Rather)
Sure, so just to touch of little bit more on the new pretty much all new cars will have a warranty that is it goes hand-in-hand with the vehicle when it's sold, and a lot of these come in a manufacturer's warranty, and they can vary, but typically are expressed in terms of like a three year, 36,000 mile coverage and that coverage is related to all the major components of the vehicle. It's sometimes referred to as like a bumper-to-bumper warranty and different brands have different types of these terms, and it's important to remember that when it says, you know all-inclusive that doesn't usually include routine wear and tear which would be, you know, things related to like the tires or the brakes, things of that nature, but all new vehicles do come with some sort of manufacturer's warranty. And when you're looking at these new vehicles, as you also see that there's the window sticker right and that's going to have your manufacturer's suggested retail price label, or MSRP, as it's often referred to, and that will include the manufacturer’s base price, it will have the standard equipment and manufacturer’s optional equipment that's listed on there, as well with the prices. It will most likely also include freight charges that are noted, and then it will have the suggested retail price. And it's good to know that these vehicles may sell for more or less than what the manufacturer's suggested retail price is.
When we compare that to use cars, the first thing is used cars, may not have any kind of coverage or warranty. They may have some leftover, depending on the year of the vehicle, left over coverage remaining from the manufacturer. The particular dealer may include a limited warranty that's covered for a duration as well, but it's also possible this vehicle may not have any coverage and so that's good to be aware of. The other thing when purchasing a used vehicle is all used vehicles, in Wisconsin that are being sold by a licensed dealership or dealer, will have what's called a Wisconsin Buyer's Guide and that buyer’s guide will be affixed to the vehicle. Typically, it’s in the driver's window and that’s going to include some very useful information for a potential customer. It will list all the vehicle was previously used. So, it may denote if it was privately owned, if it was business use, if it was a lease, or rental car, things that are important to a potential, you know, buyer of a vehicle to know where it came from. It would also list the title brands, and when I say title brands, that means if the vehicle was previously a flooded vehicle, or had hail damage, or was a salvage vehicle, or rebuilt, again, very important if you're going to be purchasing the car. Yeah, to again know the history of where it came from. The buyers guide will also include you know the make the year the model the vehicle, identification number, engine size, transmission type, it will also denote any kind of as I mentioned warranty that's still with the vehicle remains with the vehicle or it may be checked “as is” and that would say that the vehicle is exactly as it is and there's no warranty that corresponds with it.
Vehicles that are 2011 year model or newer will also have the odometer mileage disclosed, that needs to be on there. Any vehicle older than 2011, would not. The buyer's guide will also have a price and it will also probably, most importantly, it will have a notation of the dealer inspection that took place and this will include the condition of the vehicle, its safety equipment, and any defects will be noted and explained, and this must occur, so, the dealer they must disclose any noticeable defects. This is based on basically a visual inspection and a test drive. The dealer is not required to take the vehicles for this, but again, they must disclose anything that's noticeable or would be noticeable to the average person, and, again, it's based on this visual inspection and test drive.
(Tony Beyer)
Sure. So it sounds like, when you're buying a new or used vehicle, you know, here the state of Wisconsin, from a, from a dealer, you've got a lot of information right there, you know, being transparent now, Mark, I know that you work for agents here in the state of Wisconsin. Again, we're speaking with Mark Rather, he is the Chief of the Dealer Agent Section for the Department of Motor Vehicles, here in the State of Wisconsin, Department of Transportation, Mark, let's say somebody is buying a used car from a private seller, how might that differ, or what should someone keep in mind, when doing that?
(Mark Rather)
So, I will say this, when you purchase from a private seller, it's buyer beware, it's consumer risk, potentially…there's really no protection for that consumer, and so, if you buy from a Wisconsin licensed dealer, you're protected by Wisconsin motor vehicle trade practice laws. Dealers are supposed to follow the law when they advertise, display, and sell vehicles. The laws require the licensed dealers to meet financial, and facility requirements…and this is done to ensure that they have the resources to stand behind the vehicles they sell. They also have to comply with other requirements to help make sure you know what kind of vehicle you are buying before you sign on the dotted line, and that references the buyers get, that I mentioned previously. When you buy from a private seller none of these things are in place and typically these kinds of private sales are conducted through platforms such as Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. I'm not saying that you wouldn’t be successful or potentially be successful in one of these purchases, but again, it's buyer beware. Your protection as a consumer is considerably limited and so it's best to be certain kind of who you are dealing with, potentially.
(Tony Beyer)
Sure that all makes sense, some important distinctions between buying from a licensed dealer like you mentioned and just buying from somebody off the street…it's important to do your research like we've been talking about throughout this podcast.
So, Mark, let's say somebody makes a decision to buy a new vehicle here in the state of Wisconsin and the car is just not quite what it needs to be, It's in and out of the shop getting worked on, things like that. What should somebody know about Wisconsin's Lemon Law when it comes to new cars?
(Mark Rather)
Absolutely. The unfortunately, you know, the best intentions, we buy a new car and sometimes it turns out not to work out and that could be upsetting, but there is a Lemon Law that's in place, it applies to new cars only…and not used cars. And that's it's good to point out because this is a common misconception that people they hear about the Lemon Law, and they figure you know “I bought a three-year old car and you know now it's got issues and want to go back to the dealer and say this is a lemon!” Unfortunately, it only applies to the new cars, and really what the Lemon Law does is it protects the consumer when you buy or lease new vehicles and it entitles you to refund or a replacement vehicle within the first year under warranty. If the vehicle has had a series of problems that the dealer is not able to repair in four tries, or it's out of service, meaning it's being repaired due to these defects for a total of 30 days or more. That's when that Lemon Law would become applicable and would start that procedure or process for a consumer to take action and basically reap the benefits of this law to, to be made whole.
(Tony Beyer)
Sure, sure. So, always good to know…and again, that's part of that research, that's part of that whole period before even stepping on the lot, it's doing your homework, it's making sure you can afford the vehicle. It's looking at, like you said, the makes models what's going to work for you and there can be, you know, what you want in a vehicle and then there's what you need in a vehicle, and hopefully the difference is it is it isn't too much because yeah, you don't want to, you know, spend way too much on the car and then you can't afford other things as well. So that, that, that piece is really important and we have a lot of different tools on our website at Altra.org, you know, calculators and things to find out more about rates….and I know there's information available to consumers, you know, through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation website, things like that. Where are some places that people can go to get questions answered if they if they have questions about some of these things that we talked about Mark?
(Mark Rather)
Absolutely. And I want to make it clear that in the Dealer Agent Section within the DMV for Wisconsin is really solely, its purpose is to help consumers, it's to work with dealers. The dealer agent section primarily licenses, regulates, and educates motor vehicle the entire motor vehicle industry. We also work to help resolve disputes between dealership sales warranty repairs and work with consumers, and so if any of your listeners have any issues and I think they need some assistance or want to reach out, there's a couple ways to get a hold of myself or anyone in my unit, we have investigators all over the state that have headquarters and so if you have somebody in In Green Bay or you have somebody, you know, in Janesville, Kenosha, Racine, we are just a phone call or email away to put you in touch with somebody that can help work with you and try to resolve your situation. Otherwise, if you want, you can go to Wisconsindot.gov website and there's a plethora of information at your fingertips and you can navigate through and there's different links that can including our email to, to reach out and see if we can help you resolve any the issues you're having.
(Tony Beyer)
Excellent, great, and that's good to know that there's people out there, you know, like yourself that are, you know, trying to, not only help dealers but also help consumers as well and, you know, all that that transparency and everything like that when it comes to buying a car because it's a big purchase, you know, like we talked about. Yeah. So that's all the questions that I have for you Mark, are there any questions that I'm not asking, or is there anything else that you wanted to talk about there with the D.M.V., with the, the D.O.T. you're in Wisconsin?
(Mark Rather)
No, I just wanted to say thank you again for your time and allowing me to speak about this important issue. Like we said earlier, vehicles are very expensive and we rely on them to be a big part of our life, and so, you know, we need to make sure that we can get one that is going to work out best for us and it's a good situation for everybody that's involved, and so that's why we're here, that's why the dealer and agent section exists, and, you know, we're looking forward to again helping wherever we can
(Tony Beyer)
Excellent. Well, I know you're very busy, we’ll let you go mark it. Again, we're talking with Mark Rather, he is the Chief of Dealer Agent Section for the DMV, for the Department of Transportation up here in Wisconsin, so, thank you so much for your time Mark, we really, really appreciate it.
(Mark Rather)
Absolutely, thank you.
(Tony Beyer)
Well, that's gonna do it for this episode of the Best Life Podcast presented by Altra Federal Credit Union. We appreciate you taking a moment to learn how you can live your best life. If you have a question or topic you'd like us to cover, send me an email at tjbeyer@altra.org and who knows, it may even make it to a future episode. Don't forget to follow the Best Life Podcast pretty much wherever you get your podcasts or find it on our website at altra.org.
Thanks again, be well, and we'll talk to you again soon.
