Buying Used Car

Written by David M. Grice    Friday, 13 February 2009

When buying a used car, it's important to size up the market carefully, and evaluate your needs and what you can spend before kicking any tires. Start by settling on a specific type of car. Do you want a sedan or coupe? Compact or full-size? How important are such things as performance, fuel efficiency, ease-of-maintenance, and so on, to you? Dig into back issues of used car guides for information about quality, reliability, insurance costs, and so on. Research will help you to converse intelligently with salespeople and to evaluate the relative merits/weak points of otherwise comparable cars. For example, if you've done your homework, you'd know that the Ford Aspire comes as a 2-door coupe only, while the Honda Civic and Toyota Tercel are available as four-door sedans. In addition to used car lots and the newspaper classifieds, "Auto Trader" publications sold in convenience stores are excellent sources for locating the car you're after. There are also buying services that will locate a specific car for you. When it gets to the nitty gritty of shopping for a car, there are several general rules that will help keep you out of trouble. The first and most important of these is always to ascertain the car's history to the fullest extent possible--whether you're buying a used car sold by a private party or a dealer. You should try and find out the following: - Is the seller the first or second (or third) owner? The fewer owners a car has had, the better. Multiple-owners cars suggest a vehicle that was not especially well liked by the people who drove it. - Are maintenance records available? If they are, this is a good sign. You can easily see how well the car was maintained, whether it has had unusual problems, and so on. Conversely, buying a used car with no service records is like buying a pig in a poke--you really have no way of knowing what to expect. - Has it ever been in an accident? This is important. On today's unit-bodied cars (integral frames and bodies that are welded together), accident damage can be difficult to repair; sometimes, a car that's been in a serious accident "will never be quite the same"--it may leak, squeak, and have alignment problems. Ideally, buying a one-owner car from someone who appears respectable and eagerly provides service records from the day he brought the car home is the best insurance against inheriting a lemon. Nine times out of 10, such a car will be as advertised--with no "motor honey" in the crankcase to hide that rod knock. If you're buying from a private seller who will only agree to meet you at some shopping mall parking lot (because he doesn't want you to know where he lives!) look elsewhere. Other things to watch out for: 1) If there is no paperwork and the owner hedges about why he's selling the car, beware. Watch out for "curbstoners"--people who make a living in the underground economy by buying junky used cars and selling them "for a friend" to compliant suckers. Always ask to see the title and if it's not in the seller's name--or is less than a few months old--it's probably better to thank the guy and look elsewhere. 2) Look for things that seem out of place--such as the overall condition of the car as compared to the odometer reading. If the car has only 30,000 miles but the rubber coverings on the brake and gas pedal are worn through, the tires are bald (or brand new), be wary! These are clues that suggest odometer tampering. 3) Be suspicious of new paint jobs (which can hide accident damage and rust), water stains on the seats (leaks), strange smells (engine problems), any kind of smoke coming from the tail pipe and/or any reluctance on the owner's part to allow you to have the car looked over by a professional mechanic as a condition of purchase. In fact, you should never buy a used car--whether it's "guaranteed" or not--without having it checked out by an objective mechanic. Many garages will do this for a nominal fee (less than $100)--which is well worth it if it keeps you from getting gypped by some unscrupulous seller. As a general rule, it's smart to insist the car pass state safety and emissions tests (where applicable) before you buy. These two tests, often required before you may register a car, will usually catch any major problems and the best part is they're cheap (less than $40 for both in most jurisdictions) and are performed by a disinterested third party.

Last Updated ( Friday, 13 February 2009 )