Ten Things to Double Check Before Buying a Used Car
I’ve only owned a new vehicle once in my life. And as I’ve mentioned on here before, I was 16, it was my second car, and I had it for a week before I wrapped the thing around a telephone pole. Every other vehicle I’ve ever had has been used. Until I bought the car I currently own from my family (car number 6), every other car I had was chosen for me by another person, usually my mom. Needless to say, her track record for choosing cars for me wasn’t very good. Check it out:
- My first car was really old. It was the car I learned to drive in, but when I got my license, it didn’t handle the half an hour drive to and from school daily very well. The last straw? When a piece from underneath the car tore off, flying up the front of my vehicle and hitting my windshield.
- My third car was probably the best of the used cars. A 1996 Grand Am that we ended up selling to a teen learning to drive 4 years after I got it.
- My fourth car was a 2000 Grand Prix that started to fall apart right after I got it.
- My fifth car was a 2001 Hyundai Sonata that was fine for about 2 months, and then within the 2 years I had it we had a whole bunch of repairs that needed to be done on it, coming to about $2,000.
Yes, I know. I’m 26 and I’ve had 6 cars, because my mom wasn’t careful about checking things that should have been checked. Hopefully I can stop you, dear reader, from making the same kinds of silly mistakes. Here are 10 things you should always check before buying a used car.
- Check that VIN number. There’s countless websites that will give you the history of the vehicle based on this number, and you may find out something that even the seller had no idea about.
- Look at the odometer. The average mileage per year should be somewhere from 10,000 to 12,000. If the car you’re looking at buying is a 2008 and has over 50,000 miles on it, it was probably used for business travel or something similar, and wear-and-tear issues may come quicker than they would on a 2008 with 30,000.
- Check everywhere for corrosion and rust. Doesn’t matter as much on the outside, but make sure the batteries and connectors under the hood aren’t corroding.
- Feel the hoses. While you’re under the hood, make sure that there are no cracks in hoses and belts, and that the radiator hoses are soft, not rough or immovable.
- Never buy a car, used or new, without test driving it. This can help you find odd noises and feel if the alignment is off.
- Check the exhaust. Start the car. Is there any smoke coming out of the tailpipe? What color is it? White is usually a radiator or coolant issue, blue is oil problems, and black is fuel-related.
- Kick the tires. I grew up on a farm, so this is my method of making sure that they have the proper amount of air. Newer models (like mine) have a light that turns on if the tires are off balance. Also, check the wear on the tires to see if they’re even. Bad tires could have caused other issues with the car.
- Bounce the corner of the car. Push on the corner of the car. It should only bounce once or twice. Why? Because otherwise, there’s an issue with the shocks.
- Look at the carpet. Check for wet spots or spots that look like they were once wet. Obviously, you’re checking for potential leaks.
- Turn on the air conditioning and heat. Let it run. Does it emit a smell of some sort? Does anything visible come out of the vents? Does it make any odd noises? These can be expensive to repair or replace, so make sure they work properly before you drive away!
Don’t let yourself be swindled into buying a lemon! Check out everything you can before signing on the line and getting stuck with a big, expensive mess. A car is too big of a liability to start with because you can’t do anything to make their value increase, so don’t let yourself get stuck with a piece of junk!
