A Complete Guide To Finding A Used Truck Dealer – Hobart, IN [2022]
Date: Sep 19, 2022
Pickup trucks are exceptionally versatile – you can use them to haul materials at work or drive your kids to school. But when it comes to buying a pickup truck it’s hard to know where to start, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. We’ve assembled a comprehensive guide on how to find a used truck dealer.
In Hobart and the Chicago area, there are quite a few places for you to buy used trucks, but it’s difficult to ascertain how trustworthy each one is. At Eagle Motorsport, we have plenty of experience buying and selling used cars and trucks in the Chicago area, so you can trust our experience in this matter. Read on to understand the pros and cons of buying a used truck and some things to look out for whether you’re researching online or taking a test drive at the dealership.
Why You Should Buy A Used Truck
If you’ve considered buying a truck, you probably value its durability and versatility. The amount of experiences you can participate in with a truck is nearly unlimited compared to what you can get with other vehicles. If you lead an active lifestyle that involves camping and off-roading, you’ll appreciate that trucks will pose absolutely no obstacles to those activities. That’s because they have great storage capacity and handling. And if you need those capabilities at work, then all the more reason to purchase a truck.
Now, the only question is whether you should buy a new or used truck. For most buyers, used trucks are the superior option. After all, you get quite a bit of a discount by avoiding the depreciation that always results after you drive the truck off the lot. Furthermore, buying a truck with a prior sale means that you can rest easy knowing that it’s battle-tested. New models might be more prone to recall, whereas a 5 or 10-year-old truck is mostly proven and has a set of known issues that you can prepare for ahead of time so you can deal with them swiftly as they arise.
Trucks vs. Cars
Trying to decide between a truck or a car? Unless you’re just using your car to commute to work, hobbies, and events, the truck is far more valuable.
Naturally, the trade-off is that a truck is going to be much more expensive on the whole. The price of a basic used truck is still going to be about 50% more than that of a used car. Furthermore, trucks can be expensive to drive and maintain. Especially when you consider that they have poor fuel economy. Upkeep will be a bit different too.
In general, we would say that trucks are higher maintenance, but open far more doors for you because of their versatility. The only physical advantage that a car might have is that it is far more nimble and therefore easier to park or drive down narrow streets.
Trucks vs. SUVs
SUVs and trucks serve comparable purposes. Some SUVs are perfect for off-roading, but few will be able to match the hauling capacity of a regular pickup truck. Therefore, we would say that trucks are best for work while SUVs might suit you better for purely recreational functions. This is because they are easier to maneuver and consume fuel at a somewhat lower rate than trucks.
Guidelines For Buying Used Trucks
Before you start researching your next pickup truck, you should consider some of our tips for buying a used truck rather than going in completely blind. You’ll find that with a bit of vigilance and forward-thinking, the process isn’t so complicated. The important thing is that you prioritize your own needs and those of the people or stuff you’ll be driving.
Consider Your Needs
On the one hand, you need to account for some tasks that you expect your next truck to perform. Usually, these include hauling and off-roading. However, there might also be some “nice-to-haves” that would be good for you in theory, but won’t be dealbreakers when choosing between trucks.
If you’re planning to use your truck for work, then you should take note of exactly how much weight you might need to haul. Afterward, you should take note of the hauling capacity for each truck you think you might buy. Furthermore, you shouldn’t get hauling confused with payload. Hauling describes the amount of equipment you can haul in the truck bed. Meanwhile, payload describes the total amount of weight you can carry and tow at the same time.
Learn About The Truck
Once you’ve got a list of requirements, you can start to research some of the trucks that are available on the market. You can look at the websites of dealerships in your area, this will give you a good idea of what’s available nearby. Then, you can note the model and year of each of these trucks so that you can conduct more in-depth research.
By doing this, you’ll get a sense of the common flaws and drawbacks of driving this truck as well as its overall performance. Quite a few review sites exist online to help you get started. It’s good to get a mix of professional and buyer reviews. The buyer reviews might be a little more honest, but the professional ones will give you a structure so you understand what to look for in the truck ahead of time. Once again, you’ll figure out whether there are some dealbreakers with the vehicle here.
Vehicle History
When considering a specific truck, you must investigate its history. Every dealer should be able to provide you with a full report from a company like Carfax or Autocheck. Used trucks often show up on the lot with a lot of wear and tear, so you should spend some time analyzing the vehicle report in detail. For instance, if someone already used the truck on a construction site, then you might not like how much damage it will have already been through.
Gas Mileage
Everyone is looking to save money on fuel. Even if driving a truck is probably not your best bet for saving money, you should still spend a couple of moments comparing mileage. Your miles per gallon will also vary depending on whether you’re driving on the highway or in the city, so once again, you should be aware of your needs ahead of time.
Torque
Depending on your personal towing situation, you might prize torque over any other metric like horsepower. This will give you the ability to haul or tow heavy things quickly, which is useful for certain construction jobs. Trucks with a V8 engine have higher torque, but they are less fuel efficient than V6 engines which are also common in pickup trucks.
Modifications
Depending on what you want from your car, you might also need to consider how easy it is to add modifications. In fact, a used truck might come with modifications already built in. A typical one is a step that’s added to the side of the truck to make it easier for passengers to board.
Otherwise, you might want to add less critical items like a camper shell or premium wheels to your truck. In most cases, it’s not difficult to add these things, but when you’re reading buyer reviews, you should check on past buyers’ experiences with these types of modifications before you go and add one yourself.
Picking A Used Truck Dealer
Of course, a huge factor in your truck purchase is finding the right used truck dealer. You want to ensure that you’re buying from a trustworthy source, that way you’ll minimize the potential issues that might crop up down the road.
Find Trucks You Like
It’s nice to work with a dealer you trust, but make sure that they sell some of the trucks that you want! It seems pretty obvious, but sometimes, it can be easy to get sucked into a particular dealership that your friend recommended rather than going to the one that actually sells a truck that you need. You probably shouldn’t visit a dealership until you’ve identified that they sell at least one truck that you’re interested in. Otherwise, you will probably end up wasting your time.
Read Reviews
We’re huge proponents of reading buyer reviews both for the truck dealership and the truck itself. After reading a few dozen reviews, you’ll understand why people buy from this dealer and in the worst cases, why you might want to avoid it. Of course, the 5-star and 1-star reviews can be a little superficial, so looking at the 3 and 4-star reviews will give you some more thoughtful commentary on the trucks and the overall buying experience.
Consider Financing Options
One of the main factors that you should judge truck dealerships on is the availability of financing options. Some dealerships will make it challenging for you to purchase if they don’t like your credit history. Alternatively, you might find a dealership that tries its hardest to get you the truck of your dreams. This usually depends on the quality of the accounting department. The best is when you can find a dealership that allows you to trade in your old vehicle to get a discount on your new one. That way, you can get access to far better terms on your car loan than you might have otherwise.
Go To The Dealership
You have to go to the car dealership to know whether you fully trust them. Meet the salespeople on the lot and get a feel for whether they are listening to you or just brushing you off. Note that you should only do this if you’re serious about one of the trucks on the lot. If a dealer is especially friendly, they will take the time to suggest a good truck for you if you don’t already have one in mind. However, don’t expect top-quality care and attention unless you’re serious about buying a vehicle.
The second time you go, you should probably take a test drive. In that case, you should block out a significant period of time in your day – at least 2 hours – in case you decide to buy the truck since there is a lot of waiting and paperwork involved.
Tips For A Test Drive
The test drive is the number one avenue for you to evaluate the quality of the truck. Don’t waste this opportunity. You need to be conscious of everything that goes on both before and during the test drive so that you have a clear picture of what it will be like to drive the truck on a daily basis.
Prepare ahead of time
Before you head to the dealership, you should plan the route so that you can give the truck an adequate trial run. Driven on the roads that you normally use. If the dealership is far from the places you frequent, then try to inspect the roads ahead of time to find a route that mimics the ones you’re used to.
Make sure you don’t stay exclusively on the standard highways and other well-paved streets. You might learn a lot more about the quality of a vehicle by driving down a bumpy gravel road instead. So try to find one near the dealership before you take off.
Bring someone along
Another part of the planning phase is to find someone to bring with you on the test drive. Usually, you want to bring someone who is going to be with you in the truck a lot. Perhaps they might even drive it from time to time themselves.
This companion will help be your second conscience throughout the test drive. They can listen for suspicious noises and perform checks. For instance, they can stand behind the car as you check that things like the signal and brake lights work properly. Finally, when it comes time to negotiate the sale, they can calm you down and make sure that the salesperson doesn’t take advantage of your enthusiasm. Let them know your budget ahead of time so that they can help you stay within it.
Take full advantage
You can once again address some of the concerns you might have by planning the route ahead of time. For instance, you might try to drive a highway on-ramp to see just how fast the truck can speed up with the rest of the highway traffic. You can also feel free to test the brakes by braking hard. Unfortunately, you won’t get the chance to test some critical features like hauling.
Why Eagle Motorsport Is The Best Used Truck Dealer In Hobart
By now, it should be clear that the buying experience is quite relevant when you’re buying a used truck. At Eagle Motorsport, we’re proud to offer the best car buying experience in Hobart and the entire Chicago area. Just read some of our Google reviews, it’s no secret why our customers keep returning to our lot.
Top-quality Inventory
We have spent years building relationships with various car sellers in the country to procure our stock. With each truck you buy, you’ll automatically get Carfax and Autocheck reports, so you know that we’ve researched each truck’s background thoroughly, and you can verify the quality for yourself. Not to mention, our professionally-trained technicians will give every single car on our lot a go-through to search for outstanding issues. Any truck we sell will be in top-notch condition. If there are any notable issues in the truck’s history, you’ll be fully aware of them before you make any purchase.
Affordable Prices
We want to offer competitive prices for all buyers. That doesn’t just apply to the price tag, it also applies to the financial terms that you get when you deal with us. It doesn’t matter what kind of credit history you have, we understand completely. Our finance team will work hard to find the right terms to afford your dream truck. Not to mention, we are open to the possibility of trade-ins if you want to get cash for your old vehicle and redeem the money on your next one.
Excellent Customer Service
We treat our customers like family. We want to ensure that every single person who enters our lot is cared for and we won’t give anyone the cold shoulder. Our goal is to help you find the vehicle you want and not to pressure you into making a purchase you never needed to make. Plus, our knowledgeable sales team can help inform your buying decision. Ask them any questions about our trucks and cars and you’ll receive pertinent and educational answers.
3 Used Trucks For Sale In Hobart
Not sure where to start your search? We’ve got you covered. Here are 3 popular truck models that we already have for sale on our lot at Eagle Motorsport. You can compare the three to find the one that’s best for you.
Ford F-150
On our lot, we can offer you a 2014 Ford F-150 supercrew with a black exterior. If you’re looking to haul both people and large equipment and materials, this truck is perfect for you. It balances its cavernous interior with an equally large exterior. You’ll be able to drive comfortably too, as it accommodates you with its automated features.
Ram 1500
The 2018 RAM 1500 is probably the best truck that we offer when it comes to towing. After all, you’re probably purchasing a truck so that you can get your work done more effectively. The RAM is up to the task.
Unlike some other trucks on offer, this one comes with a V8 engine. Therefore, you’ll be able to get a lot more torque, which will help you haul heavy objects quickly and gain speed.
Chevrolet Silverado
The Silverado is designed with comfort in mind. You might like this truck if you’re planning to use it for family trips. Of course, the truck itself is quite versatile with V6 and V8 engines available, depending on your preference.
Swing By For A Test Drive
If you’re interested in one of the trucks on our lot, we’re waiting for you to come over and take a test drive. You’ll see first-hand just how friendly and knowledgeable our sales team is at Eagle Motorsport. We’ve served over 30,000 clients since opening our dealership. In a world where dealerships open and close in the same year, you can see why ours has stood the test of time.
If you’re unsure about one of the trucks listed on our site, you can contact us to get more information. Furthermore, you can send us a reasonable offer for the truck and get notifications in case our listed price drops.
