Know What to Look Out for when Buying a Used Car
If you're looking to buy a used car, you want to make sure that you don't get scammed, so here is a list of things to look out for when buying a used car.
Steps
- Do Your Research on the type of car you want
- Learn the facts about the year, make, and model of the vehicle you're interested in buying
- Look up the Vehicle Identification Number of the vehicle to get the vehicle specifications.
- First, you will want to Find Your VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and write it down
- Then, Get a Free Basic VIN Check to get details on the vehicle
- You can also Get a Vehicle History Report from VINRadar.com to find out what the vehicle has been through.
- Check the car in-person
- Test Drive the Vehicle - While driving, be sure to test out the
- Stereo - check to make sure that the speakers still sound good and that the controls work.
- Heater / Air Conditioning - Heater and Air conditioning repairs are expensive. Make sure that everything works before you need it.
- Lights - Make sure that the interior and exterior lights all work.
- Mechanical Noise(s) - make sure that the engine doesn't sound funny and that the car shifts smoothly from gear to gear.
- Plug in an OBD2 Scanner (to Read and Understand OBD Codes)
- OBD2 Scanners can tell you lots of information about a vehicle that you wouldn't be able to tell by just looking at it.
- Take a look around the vehicle:
- Look for scratches and dings - you want to notice them before you buy the car - you can even use them to haggle the price of the car down a bit.
- Check the tires - low tire life means that you will need to invest another few hundred dollars soon to replace the tires.
- Check the windshield for cracks and chips.
- Test Drive the Vehicle - While driving, be sure to test out the
- Take the car to a Mechanic
- Mechanics know what to look for in used cars and may find issues that you missed.
- Mechanics can also give you an estimate for any needed repairs so that you know how much the car will cost you in total.
