Used Car Buying Tips

When purchasing a used car, truck or SUV there are a ton of things you can have on your check list. Here are some of the important things you should look out for.

• Check to see how the gaps of the body panels line up. You can check by the head lights or tail lights but checking the fenders to door lining is a great way to know if there has been any body work done.

• Look for leaks. If the car is purposefully parked over a water puddle that may be an indicator of an engine leak. Car’s these days have under carriage panels that may block the leak from dropping to the ground. Checking the engine bay very closely for any wet spots will give you an immediate indicator of a leak, you may have to really stick your head in there to get a close look.

• Take a look at the start button and some of the other buttons and turn signal knobs. Check to see if any of the paint has worn off. If the car is low mileage everything should look pretty intact.

• When starting the car check to make sure there is no hesitation or a long crank. When the car is on, check the oil temp gauge, if it’s already warmed up that means the seller pre=heated his engine, this means theres probably something wrong with the engine. Let the engine run and put your ear close to it with the hood up, listen for any knocking in the engine, this is a big red flag.

At the end of the day when buying a used car, truck or SUV you should go in knowing what you want and having some money on the side for repairs that may be needed. Always do an oil change when purchasing a vehicle and make sure you ask the seller what type of oil they used. If they don’t know then go with synthetic and continue this routinely.