Used Car Terms with Definitions

Here are used car terms with definitions. Many of these auto terms are unique to the used car business...

Auto Mall: This is a specific location in a city where numerous competing and non-competing car dealerships are located. Often the car dealerships will share advertising to announce big sales. These exist as a convenience to the buyers.

Bill of Sale: A legal document given to the buyer of a car from the seller. A Bill Of Sale normally includes the buyer and sellers names and addresses, signatures, date of sale, make, model, year of vehicle, VIN, license number of the vehicle sold and odometer mileage.

Chopper (Chopped): This used car term refers to when someone takes two wrecked cars and pieces them together as one "like new" vehicle.

Company Vehicle (Executive Vehicle): These are vehicles driven by employee's of the car manufacturers.

Commission Split: When car salespeople split the commission with another sales person. This happens because they are a rookie and don't know how to close the buyer or even experienced salespeople sometimes need help from someone else to close a particularly difficult prospect.

Consignment Sale (Consignment, Consigned): This used car term is when a car dealer sells a car for someone without buying it. Their commission might be a flat fee, a percentage of the selling price, or perhaps any amount over and above the price the seller designates. Their final commission may or may not include reimbursement for any costs incurred while selling the vehicle, like; advertising, detailing, repairs, etc.

Gun decking: This is used when inspecting a used car to buy to determine if it has been in a wreck or not. Get on each end of the vehicle and sight down the side of it paying particularly close attention to any visible waves or ripples in the body panels. This should be done from the front of the car and also the back. You also need to watch for misaligned doors, moldings, panels or mismatched paint or dull surfaces.

Mechanic: An individual that maintains, diagnoses and repairs cars. Accredited mechanics will show a sign that says: ASE Master, ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) or Certified. These designations will be broken down showing the category of car repairs they have been trained in.

Odometer Statement: This states the mileage as shown on your odometer at the time of sale and is usually seen on your cars Title (Pink Slip, Certificate Of Ownership). It may also state that the odometer has not been tampered with.

Private sales (Person to Person): The sale of a used car between two private parties. Someone that does this for profit is known as a curbstoner.

Pre-owned Vehicle (Previously Owned Vehicle, Pre-Driven Vehicle): These are merely nicer sounding terms for a "used car".

Program Vehicle: Another nicer sounding used car term that applies to a used car that was previously leased.

Vehicle History Report: A used car term for a report that any potential buyer of a used car can buy that reveals the history of a specific vehicle. Was the vehicle ever declared "totaled" from being in a wreck or flooded? Was it a "Gross Polluter" or a "Salvage Vehicle"? A v ehicle history report costs about $20.00 and is cheap insurance to avoid getting burned.

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