What To Look For
What To Look For in a Pre-Owned Vehicle
More and more American consumers are seeing the value in purchasing pre-owned vehicles. The numbers of used cars sold seems to increase with each passing year. However, confidently purchasing a used vehicle can be a daunting task. The purpose of this guide is to explain what to look for when buying pre-owned, no matter where you’re buying it from. The first thing you should do is closely examine the exterior of the vehicle. The main thing you should be looking for here is rust. If you see any rust on the body or underneath the car, it’s a telltale sign that what you’re looking at isn’t good quality. Next, be sure to check the interior upholstery for rips or tears in the material.
One of the most important things you can do when considering a used vehicle is to take it for a test drive. When doing a test drive, be sure to do plenty of highway driving as well as stop-and-go driving through the city. Be sure to listen for any strange noises or if the vehicle has any trouble shifting gears. Also see how well the vehicle stops when applying brakes, and be sure to listen for any squeaking when braking. During your test drive, you should do a leak test. To do this, simply park for at least 30 seconds in a clean area of a parking lot. After that thirty seconds, drive forward and examine the pavement. If there are any fluid stains on the ground, there’s a solid chance the vehicle has an issue that needs to be corrected. In general, dark fluid indicates an oil leak, green fluid means an antifreeze leak, and pink fluid is from the transmission.
Another big thing to look at on a pre-owned vehicle is the set of tires. If the tread of the tires are worn down, that can be a very big safety concern. Thankfully, there’s a very easy way to check your tread depth, and all you need is a penny. Place a penny upside down inside of the tire tread, if you see that any part of Abe Lincoln’s forehead is covered by the tread, the tires are fine. However, if none of Lincoln’s head is covered by the tread, the vehicle needs new tires; and you should probably look at other vehicle options unless you want to spend money on new tires straight out of the gate. Speaking of spending money on repairs, you should see if the vehicle has existing factory warranty left on it. Many dealerships including ours offer certified pre-owned vehicles. These certifications can carry extensive warranties, ours for example carries a 100,000 mile warranty.
One more thing you should ask the dealer for is a vehicle history report. Most reputable dealers will have vehicle history reports available from a service like Carfax or Autocheck. This report will let you know important things like how many owners the vehicle has had, or whether or not it’s been in any accidents. If you notice in the report that the vehicle has been in an accident, make sure you thoroughly examine the repair job to see if it was done competently. It may even be a good idea to have a mechanic check in this situation. Another good thing to do is decode the VIN number. The DMV’s official website has a great VIN decoding tool that’s free to use. All you have to do is enter the vehicle’s VIN number to get another snapshot of the vehicle’s history.
Like I mentioned before, buying a used vehicle with confidence can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience, but hopefully with these tips in mind, you can be sure you’re getting a quality vehicle. While you’re here, be sure to check out our pre-owned inventory for an extensive selection that we are proud to stand behind.