Tom and Ray on used cars

I'm in the market for a used car, I note Tom and Ray offer a pamphlet, $4.75, "How to buy great used car.."

Can I expect any 'secrets' which aren't available elsewhere? Anyone recommend a good checklist for a used car inspection?

Reply to
RichD
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I went to a used car lot.I found my girlfriend's red dress in the back seat! ~ Rodney Dangerfield.

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cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Here's my checklist.

- look for repaint. Look around the door seals and the window fuzzies, the base of mirrors, the trim around the windows, look into the fenders behind the door hinges to see if it used to be a different color or just look for over spray. A repainted car is worth less and may have been in an accident, and if the whole car appears to have been repainted it could have been a serious on. You have to consider the age of the car, it's not as big an issue on an older car since you will probably not be paying much anyway. Also look down the side of the car, especially along a creased area for waviness in what should be arrow straight body panels. Also look for mismatched paint. This is easiest to see with the sun shining on the side you are looking at then if it's in shadows You need to be well back from the car when looking because usually it will be fairly subtle. If the front fender, for example, seems to be a slightly different shade then the door it's next to it's been repainted by a poor quality body shop that didn't bother feathering the fender paint to the door paint. A good shop will make it so you can't see such mismatch.

- look at the differential for how dirty it is from caked on diff lube, or simply for a leak. Any relatively new car will not have oily dirt sticking to the diff. A car with high mileage might. Any vehicle with less then 100,000 miles and less then 10 years old that's been well cared for will have very little, if any, oily dirt anywhere on the underside.

- Look at the engine for the same kind of tell-tale signs of oil leaking and collecting dirt but keep in mind they could have cleaned most of the oil off the engine but most people don't think about cleaning the diff.

Look at the brake and accelerator pedals for excessive wear on the rubber pads. Expect some wear so this is a major judgment call and it's not critical, but if they are worn down to the where any pattern in them is worn off in spots it's probably high miles.

When you drive it it should seem reasonably like driving a new car with low miles if it's been well maintained. Engine roughness, pulling brakes, doors that have to be closed twice, vibration, significant pulling to the side when you let go of the wheel could spell accident aftereffects of worn suspension parts or bad tires.

- be suspicious of new tires if the car mileage reads less then

20,000. it's likely that it had the odometer rolled back and it has higher mileage then the owner says it has, or was driven hard. It's possible the owner thought it would sell for more with new tires and there is nothing to worry about as far as the tires are concerned but he could be lying to you. If he turned the odometer back he will lie about anything. Of course if it has an electronic odometer it's unlikely it was turned back so the condition of the tires is not likely due to high mileage. This can be a difficult judgment. Of course if the car has more then 20,000 miles the original tires have probably been replaced.

On cars that use a post to hold the door closed look at how worn the post is. A supper high mileage older car may have a lot of wear on the post and may have the mileage miss-represented, esp if it has a mechanical odometer the might have been turned back.

- listen to how the engine sounds. If it has a significant lope or is at idle or seems to be missing be wary of it. Look at the coolant, it should not look dirty. Pull the dipstick for the oil, it should look like oil, if it has any whiteness to it there is probably a significant problem with the engine allowing water to get into the oil. Pull the transmission dipstick for automatic transmissions. The transmission fluid on most cars is red color, which should look clear, or less. If it looks dirty and brownish along with the red it may have a problem. Also smell it. If it has a burnt smell it's probably got a problem. But some cars don't use red fluid so you may see green or brown fluid. Go by the smell and dirtiness look for those since a brown fluid will obvious have a brown color; but it should look kinda clear. When you drive the car pay attention to how it shifts both at low speeds and under a lot of power. If the shifts seem to take a long time of slip during the gear change there is probably something wrong with it, either wear from high miles or a defect. If it feels like its going sort of into neutral during the shift with the engine speeding up before the clutch packs finish the shift it's got a problem.

If possible drive another car of the same age and type if you can so you can compare how the two drive. This can be one that has a significant higher asking price, what the owner asks for the price often reflects his view of the cars condition. And if their is a significant difference in the "feel" of the two cars, the one with the crappier feel to it may have some problems that don't individually seem like much but taken together add up to little problems all over the place or simply high mileage or hard usage. Just because a car has low actual mileage doesn't mean it does have problems from abuse or poor maintenance. Not to knock Toyotas and Isuzu's but both of them had some engines that sludged up badly even at low miles, stay away from them. Google Toyota and sludge to figure out which ones they were. Some of them will have been fixed by the dealer. It may be possible to call a dealer and give him the VIN number to fine out if it's been fixed or not.

There's probably some other stuff I didn't think of but my last piece of advise is if when you drive the car it just doesn't feel right to you, even if you can't really put your finger on why you should probably pass on it, at least until you can drive another one to compare the two.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

That guy who lives catty corner behind me still has his 1991 Chevrolet RV van (350 cu inch engine, about 175,000 miles on the vehicle) for sale.He said it runs good, but if he takes his foot off of the accelerator pedal, the engine dies.I was talking to him yesterday.He said he has to get at least $1,300 for the van.I think that is too much money for the amount of bread.I haven't been over there yet to look at the van close up, but it does look like a nice van to me.He said he will be out of town this weekend.I might get over there on Monday or Tuesday.I don't know how to work on throttle body/fuel injection.He said somebody told him it needs a new throttle body.I once looked up throttle bodys for that vehicle.They start out at about $300.00.Too much money for me! cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Go out and look for whatever used vehicle you are interested in.Take it out on the interstate and stomp the hell out of it for about fifty or a hundred miles.If it holds up, it's probally a good vehicle. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

How long a car will last seems to have a lot to do with how well it was treated in the first few thousand miles. Buy a car from somebody who seems to be the kind of person who will treat a car well.

If you buy a car that was originally sold as a budget vehicle, it's more likely that the first owner didn't have the money to do proper maintenance on it early in the life of the car, than if you buy a high end vehicle. Sadly, though, there are plenty of luxury cars out there that were abused when they were new, too.

Ask for a maintenance log. Look around for stripped threads and rounded bolts. Check the belts... if the belts aren't being changed on schedule, odds are other things aren't either.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

What I like about them is that they state flat out that they often don't know what they are talking about. You gotta give them credit for that.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Or it could be that some prick keyed most of the panels and the car got resprayed to fix it.

Respraying in the original colour proves little about crash damage unless it's accompanied by panel edges that have been re-welded or the bolted panels have been disturbed.

Reply to
Athol

Or it could have been repaired on the dealers lot after delivery. More than a few of them out there. They get delivered, get a small scratch or ding on the ride to the dealer and the dealer agrees to repair the spot for a discounted price on the vehicle.

Reply to
Steve W.

That is one of Rodney Dangerfield's old used car jokes. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Secrets that are not available elsewhere in a little pamphlet for $4.75? C'mon...let's be serious!! Tom and Ray I'm sure will offer about the same stuff most other websites will.

If you are going to buy a car on your own you really need a fair amount of technical experience. Or you should be willing to pay someone for a pre-purchase inspection.

Reply to
John S.

That's what I figure. Some folks here have been helpful.

What should the inspection include? What should I see on the report?

Reply to
RichD

If it is a used car only a few years old, paying a good mechanic to check out the car is a good idea.On the other hand, if it is an old wreck like I drive, don't waste your money. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

If it's a relatively new car, I don't want one that's been repainted no matter what the reason if I don't know who did the work.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

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