Tips when buying a used car
Buying a used car is something almost all of us are going to do at some point. It can be scary as it’s a big purchase, so you’ve got to kind of take the emotion out of the buying process and look at the information that’s available to you.
There’s loads of information available from all sorts of sources, especially online and you should look at that. But for what it’s worth here’s what I look for when I am buying a used car. There are all sorts of things you can check without even getting inside and starting the engine. Does the mileage ring true with the exterior condition of the car? If the car for example had been flogged up and down the motorway for 10s of thousands of miles there would be tell-tale signs scratches and nicks in the paintwork especially on the leading edge of the bonnet, also check the windscreen for little cracks and scratches. The condition of the wheels and tyres is usually a dead giveaway. Don’t kick tyres to test them, modern tyres are structured incredibly rigid, but do take with you a 20p piece, because if you put it in the tread it will give you an indication of whether the tyres are legal. 3mm is the legal requirement. There is a shocking statistic that one in three used cars has had their mileage clocked back to increase its resale value, so you need to be careful.
Look at the wing mirrors as they are a dead giveaway. What kind of condition are they in? Do they look like they’ve spent many, many miles on a motorway and are covered in scratches? Are they faded, have they been clattered, is the glass cracked? Mirrors are always a good indication. Here’s another tip for you. Most cars are centrally locked these days so you can tell that if there are a lot of scratches around where the keyhole is then there’s a car that perhaps has problems with its electrics or it’s done many more miles than it’s supposed to have and that’s why there’s a key that’s been put into the lock so many times. Check the fuel filler cap as well. Has it been forced, has it been replaced, have the keys been lost at some point, do the keys all tally together? These are all the sorts of things you can ask. Ask questions, ask the previous keeper why the mileage is so low or so high, and these are all things that you can do before you even get in to that car or think about starting the engine.
Check the boot, and check the parcel shelf is there. The parcel shelf is very easily detached, we all do it, you put it aside, you drive off and they are expensive to replace. Check the carpet – is it dry? If it’s not the boot seal might have failed. That could be an expensive job. Check to see there’s a spare tyre, check the jack and make sure it works, check the wheel brace is actually the right wheel brace. If you are lucky enough to have alloy wheels, check that they key for the alloy lock is there. If it isn’t with the car, that could be hundreds of pounds to replace.
A must is to see what’s going on under the bonnet. Don’t take tops off to check levels as you could scold yourself. Do dip the oil though because it tells you so many things about the car. If it’s below the minimum mark then walk away from the car. If the car’s been run with the oil level below the minimum that’s low oil pressure, moving parts of the engine aren’t getting lubrication and you should walk away from it. However if when you dip it and you look at the indicator it’s over the maximum mark, that is a classic sign of a car that’s using oil and has been rapidly topped up when they know that you’re coming round to see it. If it’s under the minimum walk away, if it’s over the maximum ask why.
What can you tell from sitting in the driving seat without starting the engine? We want to know if the mileage that’s showing is the actual mileage this car has done. There are some tell-tale giveaways about how much use a car has had. For instance, when you get in to the car you inevitably rub against the door seal and the bolster of the seat. Check the bolster on the right and the left hand side of the seat and compare them. If the stitching has come undone, if it is worn, dirty then the car has probably had a lot of use. Likewise a leather covered steering wheel is a giveaway as well. Wear on the wheel if the colour is a little bit reduced where you put your hands at the 10 to 2 position. Likewise the gear stick, if there are signs that the stitching has come undone it’s probably a high mileage car. I would have given you a tip about whether the previous owner was a smoker by looking at the ash tray and the lighter but many modern cars don’t come with an ash tray. What they should come with though is all of the documentation you need – the warranty, the maintenance schedule, the service record of the car so you can check when and where the car has been serviced. It doesn’t matter too much these days if the handbook isn’t there, because you can download them from the internet. What you can’t download though are the codes for things like the alarms and for the radio, so make sure you’ve got that information because if you haven’t and the battery is disconnected, you can’t reset the alarm, you can’t reset the stereo, and that could cost you hundreds of pounds.
So if after those comprehensive checks you’re still interested, you’ll want to take the car for a test drive which is another story.
