Buying a used car - what to look for?

[ah123]

Didn't want to hijack the other thread on used cars. I need a cheap ( < $6000) used car, and I think that a private sale is going to be my best bet. Any tips what I should look out for; I will get a mechanical inspection done and a lien check, but any do's and don'ts would be appreciated...

[Hockeyguy15]

4 tires is a must. Other than that don't buy from some punk kid who probably drove it into the ground. See if they have service records.

[Northendzone]

Do a carfax check

[Hockeyguy15]

[afc wimbledon]

Avoid anything even remotely attractive to young men, RX or 'sport' versions, anything modified in any way is to be avoided as well. Milage is always the key, not so much age.

[afc wimbledon]

When you call up about the private sale ask about 'the car in the paper, craigslist etc' never mention the make or model, then see if they know what you are talking about, if they ask 'which car?' it means they are running a curbing operation, buying cars cheap at auction (generally) getting them working and then selling them as a private sale, usually by pretending they are the origanal owner and have never had any problems.

[ken0042]

Spend the $100 to take it to a mechanic you trust for an inspection.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

Avoid anything even remotely attractive to young men, RX or 'sport' versions, anything modified in any way is to be avoided as well. Milage is always the key, not so much age.

While I can see the logic in avoiding something modified, buying an attractive car is somewhat important. Unless you want a K-Car or something

[burn_this_city]

Check the title to make sure it isnt salvage. Check the body for panels that look sanded or painted (usually different shade or shinier). Mechanically have the owner start it up and see if it puffs blue smoke (burning oil, shot piston rings or valve seals). Smell under the hood for coolant (sweet smell), also let it idle for a bit too see if coolant is coming out of the tail pipe, both would be indications of a blown head gasket. Listen for any metal on metal sounds at idle. Also make sure its not leaking a decent amount of oil, more than a few drops idling for 30 mins is a bit much. When test driving it, make sure it drives relatively straight, it should pull a tad to the right, hit the brakes hard, if it shakes it has bad rotors. Listen for suspension rattles, look for leaky shocks. Make sure the heater works, and doesnt put a greasy coating on the windsheild (bad heater core). Check the tires, brakes ect. Or just get an inspection, but I also check these things myself in the event the mechanic missed something.

[sa226]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Do a carfax check

Actually don't do a Carfax, do a Car Proof. Carfax is generally US based and has sparse records in Canada. Carproof is more Canadian based.

I looked at a vehicle that Carfax showed with an accident history with 2 claims. 1 "Under 3000$" and another "over 3000$"

Carproof revealed 3 claims of $2600, $8000 and 14000$ as well as frame damage.

That was 2.5 years ago so things may have changed since then.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

When you call up about the private sale ask about 'the car in the paper, craigslist etc' never mention the make or model, then see if they know what you are talking about, if they ask 'which car?' it means they are running a curbing operation, buying cars cheap at auction (generally) getting them working and then selling them as a private sale, usually by pretending they are the origanal owner and have never had any problems.

Good advice. I've met so many Quebec car runners who never admit their cars are all from Quebec/ON and rusted.

[zamler]

2nd'ed on using carproof.com, Carfax is not very good IMO, especially in Canada.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

While I can see the logic in avoiding something modified, buying an attractive car is somewhat important. Unless you want a K-Car or something

I tend to think if you are going cheap you really want a car that is only really attractive to dowdy middle aged women, who tend to drive slowly and have their cars well taken care off. A mazda 323 might have looked like crap but they lasted a long time compared to Civic SX's due to not being thrased/driven by idiots like me.

[kermitology]

I'm looking to sell my 2006 Mazda 3 Sport GT w/ about 57,000km for only double your budget!

[Misterpants]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Check the title to make sure it isnt salvage. Check the body for panels that look sanded or painted (usually different shade or shinier). Mechanically have the owner start it up and see if it puffs blue smoke (burning oil, shot piston rings or valve seals). Smell under the hood for coolant (sweet smell), also let it idle for a bit too see if coolant is coming out of the tail pipe, both would be indications of a blown head gasket. Listen for any metal on metal sounds at idle. Also make sure its not leaking a decent amount of oil, more than a few drops idling for 30 mins is a bit much. When test driving it, make sure it drives relatively straight, it should pull a tad to the right, hit the brakes hard, if it shakes it has bad rotors. Listen for suspension rattles, look for leaky shocks. Make sure the heater works, and doesnt put a greasy coating on the windsheild (bad heater core). Check the tires, brakes ect. Or just get an inspection, but I also check these things myself in the event the mechanic missed something.

That was an awesome synopsis. I'll have to bookmark that one.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by kermitology

I'm looking to sell my 2006 Mazda 3 Sport GT w/ about 57,000km for only double your budget!

Think you'll get that?

I have the same car with 40,000kms but mine was pulverized during last summer's hail storm. And while every panel except one door was replaced, I was told the car is pretty much worthless now. Which I think is silly.... But I guess my point is, if I were to sell it, (and it isn't for sale, btw) it would be an absolute steal for someone who did get it for, say, $6000-7000.

[Sample00]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Check the title to make sure it isnt salvage. Check the body for panels that look sanded or painted (usually different shade or shinier). Mechanically have the owner start it up and see if it puffs blue smoke (burning oil, shot piston rings or valve seals). Smell under the hood for coolant (sweet smell), also let it idle for a bit too see if coolant is coming out of the tail pipe, both would be indications of a blown head gasket. Listen for any metal on metal sounds at idle. Also make sure its not leaking a decent amount of oil, more than a few drops idling for 30 mins is a bit much. When test driving it, make sure it drives relatively straight, it should pull a tad to the right, hit the brakes hard, if it shakes it has bad rotors. Listen for suspension rattles, look for leaky shocks. Make sure the heater works, and doesnt put a greasy coating on the windsheild (bad heater core). Check the tires, brakes ect. Or just get an inspection, but I also check these things myself in the event the mechanic missed something.

as a dealer in used cars, this is a great way of checking things out. Having a mechanic go over the vehicle is your best bet but in a lot of cases, private sales typically wont let you do that. At least thats what its been in my experience.

Buying a used vehicle from a reputable dealership is also a good way to go. Here's why: We must run all vehicles through a mechanical fitness test. Problems and potential problems must be identified and reported on the mechanical fitness report. The dealership MUST disclose this to a customer. here in Alberta, its an AMVIC requirement.

At our dealership, we repair problems and safety issues. We also only buy our vehicles only through the dealer only auction as we have arbitration rights with them in case we buy a dud!

when you are buying a vehicle from a private party, you wont get any of these assurances. Sometimes paying a bit more at a dealership could prevent some problems down the road. Total pun intended!

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

When you call up about the private sale ask about 'the car in the paper, craigslist etc' never mention the make or model, then see if they know what you are talking about, if they ask 'which car?' it means they are running a curbing operation, buying cars cheap at auction (generally) getting them working and then selling them as a private sale, usually by pretending they are the origanal owner and have never had any problems.

Just curious, why would a car someone bought cheap at auction and fixed up be a bad thing? I bought a (very cheap) car at auction and had it fixed up, and it ran great for a couple of years. (Then it went to kidney car heaven).

That seems a lot like flipping houses to me, but with cars. Obviously if the car was salvage or something that's different, but if it was just a repo I'm not sure I see what the problem would be? You could still request a car proof and get it inspected couldn't you? To me, a seller who doesn't want it inspected would be a bigger red flag than someone who has 3 cars for sale...

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Sample00

its an AMVIC requirement.

When does someone have to register with AMVIC? If the person "curbing" cars wasn't registered, would that be against the law. Is it kind of a "3 cars sold per year" or something. I assume a regular person doesn't have to register if they're just going to sell their family car privately...

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Just curious, why would a car someone bought cheap at auction and fixed up be a bad thing? I bought a (very cheap) car at auction and had it fixed up, and it ran great for a couple of years. (Then it went to kidney car heaven).

To start with- as you say your auction car only ran for a couple of years before it was junked. And that was with your own car that you planned on keeping.

Unlike a house; there is no implied warranty on a used car. I'm not a mechanic, but I know of a few tricks I could pull to mask problems with a used car. I imagine somebody who does this for money would know of even more.

If I flip a house and my shoddy electrical work causes a fire; the new owner can sue me. If I flip a car and hide a blown head gasket; the buyer is on the hook.