How To Buy A Used Car In New Jersey

Start with the payment, not the sticker

Before you fall in love with a vehicle, get clear on two numbers: what you can put down today, and what you are comfortable paying every month. Those two numbers decide which vehicles are realistic for you far more than the price on the windshield.

Once you know them, everything else gets easier. You stop wasting weekends on cars that were never going to work, and you spend your time on the two or three that will.

What New Jersey requires

To register a vehicle in New Jersey you need a valid driver's license, proof of NJ insurance for the vehicle, and the title properly assigned to you. A licensed dealer handles the title work and temporary tags for you.

Sales tax is collected on the purchase price at the time of sale. If you are trading a vehicle in, the trade value generally reduces the amount that tax is calculated on — one of the practical reasons a trade can be worth more than a private sale.

What to bring with you

Driver's license, proof of insurance, recent pay stubs or proof of income, proof of address such as a utility bill, and your down payment. If you are trading a vehicle in, bring the title and any payoff information from your lender.

Bringing these on the first visit is the single biggest difference between people who drive home in a car and people who have to come back a second time.

Then come see it

Photos only tell you so much. Sit in it, drive it, look underneath, and ask questions in person. Book a time so the vehicle is ready and I am not with another customer when you show up.