In my opinion, the most important thing about getting a used car is to buy it from somebody you know whom you can trust and will stand behind the sale. We all know cars have trouble and can have trouble at any point in time. It’s important to have somebody that’s going to be there for you.
In other words, it’s probably better to not buy from somebody off the street. If the car’s bought from a reputable dealer, they’ll go through it, check it out, do the required maintenance on it, and stand behind it. It’s just a gamble if you buy off the street—you got a 50/50 chance.
What process does Country Auto go through before selling a used car?
All the cars that come in to us go through a 65, 70-point inspection. We have a guy dedicated to inspections. He goes through, does the full inspection, writes up everything that needs attention. We bid out all the parts, repairs, order all the parts. Once the vehicle comes in, it goes over to the mechanic shop; they fix everything they can, make it run the best they possibly can. Then we sit it out on the lot, put a 12 month, 12,000 mile warranty on it.
A warranty is an important part of knowing what to look for when you’re buying a used car. All cars are going to break. It’s just a matter of when, and what the dealer will do once that happens.
What does it mean to recondition a vehicle?
Reconditioning a vehicle is just trying to get it back to the best shape that we possibly can mechanically and cosmetically.
On the mechanic side they go through the inspection and fix everything that they find. For cosmetics, they do a full detail which includes steam cleaning the engine, wheels, the underneath, wash, wax, and buff the exterior. Shampoo the carpets, the seats, the headliner. Clean the dash, the vents. Make it look good again.
Why is the entire reconditioning process important?
On the mechanic side, it’s just taking care of problems so the vehicle is going to be as worry-free for the customer as possible. On the other side, we believe that just because the customer is buying a 10-year-old car, it should look like they’re buying a brand-new one. It’s a new car to them. Waxing the exterior also protects the paint. Makes it last longer.
We protect the product we sell because we don’t want our customers, to have any problems with what they bought.
Our goal is 100% approval.
12-month, 12,000-mile warranty on most vehicles.
2400 South Lincoln
Jerome, ID 83338
(208) 324-1457