Don't Get Taken For A Ride…How to Buy A Good Used Car.

Buying a used car frequently makes perfect sense. Sure, new cars come with a warranty, but that warranty comes at a price, and the moment the car leaves the showroom, it's value depreciates rapidly.  Also, insurance on newer vehicles is quite a bit more expensive than on used vehicles, and that is one cost that few purchasers take into account.
We recommend to our customers that they look for a vehicle that is two to four years old, has relatively low miles for the model year, and which has been cared for. We also encourage them to "do their homework" by checking owner satisfaction surveys, and reliability statistics maintained by consumer organizations such as Consumer Reports.

Use Craigslist…With Care.

Newspaper classified advertising execs may not agree with me but Craigslist is a fabulous way to find a used car. Mind you, it's not the only way, but it is relatively efficient way to locate possible vehicles for purchase. That being said, be careful. Meet the seller in a public place. If the vehicle is listed as "for sale by owner" as opposed to "for sale by dealer" try and determine if that is, in fact, true. I once took "a for sale by owner" car for a test drive (by myself, after meeting the "seller" at his home).  Once I was a few blocks away, I checked the contents of the trunk,  where I found  a receipt from a local auto auction that only sells to licensed auto dealers. The receipt indicated that the vehicle, which the seller had claimed to have owned for several years, had been purchased three, three!!!! days prior to my test drive. If a seller will lie about the provenance of the vehicle they are offering for sale, you can be sure that they are misleading you about other, more important facts regarding the condition of the vehicle.

Check It Out….

Once you have found a vehicle that you are interested in purchasing, take it to  a good  auto mechanic in your area for a pre-purchase inspection. Ask the mechanic how long he or she takes to examine the vehicle, and what is included in the inspection. They should explain that the inspection takes approximately two hours (or more) and includes inspection of each major system of the vehicle, such as the engine, transmission, suspension, steering, brakes, heating and air conditioning and cooling systems. You should expect to pay at least $100.00 for the inspection. (We currently charge $98.00, and the inspection takes over 2 hours.) I heartily recommend that you have a professional inspect the vehicle, as they will typically find problems that are subtle, but which may cost you down the line. If the seller is unwilling to let you take the car to be inspected, assume that there is a reason for that and do not move forward with the purchase.

Get a "car fax" report on the vehicle, which should indicate whether the vehicle has been in an accident or subject of an insurance claim for flood damage.

If you do not want to incur the expense of having the vehicle inspected by a professional, there are some things you can do to check  the car’s condition:

• Take the car for a test drive.  Be sensitive to any strange noises, pulls to one side or the other, loose steering, drive train clunks or vibrations or strange smells.  If the car has front wheel drive, take it to a parking lot and drive slowly with the steering wheel all the way to the left or right and listen closely with the windows down.  CV joints that are worn will make a ticking or grinding noise while turning. Check the trunk and glove compartment…you never know what you will find…
• Look at what's coming from the tailpipe.  Be on the lookout, for blue smoke (burning oil), black smoke (an overly-rich fuel mixture) or steam (blown head gasket or cracked head).  Any of those three will be a deal breaker. Steam coming out of the tailpipe is usually no big deal.
• Look for unevenly-worn front tires, which can spell front end trouble. “Unevenly worn” can mean tires that are worn along the inside or outside edge, or have an irregular wear pattern to the tread towards the middle (such as “cupping” or “feathered” tread).
• Examine the car’s oil dipstick.  The oil should be reasonably clean and shouldn’t smell burned.  Milky looking oil means coolant has made its way into the crankcase, and the car’s lifespan will be short.  Pull the oil filler cap and shine a light down into the valve cover; even from what little you can see by doing this, the valve train should be a golden-brown color.  Dirty-looking parts under the valve cover means a car that hasn’t had regular oil changes and might be accumulating sludge.
• Examine the transmission dipstick. The transmission fluid should be reddish pink – brown or burned-smelling fluid means the car’s transmission has been neglected, and may indicate a transmission that is on it's way out.
• Check the coolant in the radiator.  It should be clean and green, not dirty or rusty.  Run the engine for a minute with the radiator cap off – you should be able to see it circulating if the water pump is working right and the radiator is flowing well.
• Look for body panels with color that doesn’t quite match the others. Repainted body panels can mean a car that’s been in a collision.  If you’re suspicious, put one eye on the front fender or rear fender and sight down the car’s surface to look for ripples or other irregularities.  Often body-related electrical problems like shorts or an airbag light that won’t go off can mean a car that’s been in a wreck.
• Lastly, check the condition of the dashboard, seats, floor mats, pedals and carpeting.  The interior is a good gauge of the level of care and maintenance a car has had. Badly worn pedals on a car that supposedly has low mileage, is a bad sign…
• Trust tour gut.  If the deal doesn't "feel right" trust your instincts and look for another vehicle to buy.