Check Used Cars
This article was created for you, the newbie looking for your first good car. It gives you confidence through knowledge, to be in control of the many aspects of buying used cars. Looking for a good used car is like looking for a jewel in a mountain full of rocks. The trick is to eliminate as much as possible buying someone else's problem.
Steps
- Search in estate sales. Some people are partial to cars owned by older people, they drive less often they take much better care of their cars, and are more likely to fix even little problems.
- Test drive cars when they have been sitting overnight or longer and are cold. If you can jump in start it up cold, give it a minute to warm up and then drive it off faster than you normally would, may not be in too bad of shape. If it runs drives and stops good cold, it passes the first test. There are a few things to check first however.
- Make arrangements to be there as early as possible. If it is a private party, ask them not to warm up the car. If you arrive and they warmed it up, let this one go, they are more than likely trying to hide something. A car that has a well worn engine and transmission may not move for the first fifteen minutes. Only after warming it up once, it may drive fine the rest of the day.
- Before starting open the hood check the engine oil, inspect the dip stick if should have clean oil on it, if it is black, filthy, and has not been changed recently, the car has not been taken care of, let it go. If the oil looks good, check the automatic transmission fluid, it should be clear and pinkish, if it is brown black or burned, this is a bad sign, and transmission problems will soon follow.
- Leave the hood open, roll down all the windows, get in and start up the car. It should start smoothly, and there should be no loud knocking sounds, or rattling or shaking, and no excessive smoke. Get out shut the hood get back in and drive off, faster than you normally would, if the car runs drives and stops good cold, it may not be in too bad of shape. If it has passed so far, check all the other things that make up a car, the lights the heater, air conditioning, power windows, power mirrors, make sure everything works like it is supposed to. Keep a list of things that do not work to go over with your mechanic.
- It is always best to have a used car looked over by a mechanic for two main reasons, one is to spot hidden problems such as frame damage or hidden oil leaks, and two if the mechanic approves the car but finds minor problems, get a written estimate for the repairs you found, and the one the mechanic found, to negotiate the price DOWN.
Tips
- Patience, patience patience cannot be stressed enough. You may spend weeks sometimes looking at junk and someone else's problems, and then one day around the next corner, you find a nice car. Some of the best deals you might find are cars with a for sale sign in the window while coming back from looking at yet another used piece of junk, so take your time and keep looking your good used car is out there, you just have to find it first.
