So you’ve decided that purchasing a used car is the best use of your money at this time. You realize that as soon as you drive a brand new car off the lot, it’s just depreciated by 20%. And there’s a ton of decent used cars around.

I personally have never purchased a new car even though I am 45 years old. The most I’ve ever spent on a car is $6,000.00. I’ve purchased big used cars and small used cars. My most recent purchase of a used car was over 6 years ago, when I picked up a shiny 1989 Cadillac DeVille - for $3,000.00 Canadian, on the road.

In the past six 1/2 years, I’ve put about 100,000 KM (62,000 miles) on it, and the only repairs I’ve had to do are brakes twice, new snow tires, a radiator (got that from a wrecker), and replaced the transmission cooler line. So other than regular maintenance which includes oil changes and one tuneup, I’ve spent less than five thousand dollars to get more than six years out of a vehicle that is still going strong.

At this time, it has over 300,000 KM (over 180,000 miles) on it, and it just passed the Ontario Emissions Test with flying colours last month. Didn’t even come close to the limits. As well, that car will get me over 700 km (420 miles) on a tank of gas if it’s all highway. Yes, driving in city conditions will knock that figure in half - but most of my driving is on the highway.

I once owned a Hyundai Pony that I bought used for $400.00. I needed a small commuter car as I had a 120 miles per day drive to and from work. I worked that Pony pretty hard for about four years and over 200,00 KM (it had about 100,000 KM on it when I bought it) before it finally bit the dust. But all in all, there were seldom repairs needed, the body was solid, and it was all I needed to get from point A to point B.

I’ve bought from dealers, and I’ve bought privately. All in all, I’ve had very good success with used cars and keeping them on the road. So here’s my tips to help get you closer to choosing wisely and keeping your money. Automobiles can be one of the biggest drains on the pocket book and bank account, yet they don’t have to be.

1. Safety comes first!

Most jurisdictions require that any vehicle being sold pass some kind of safety test, but you can do a lot of this yourself. Take a look at all the seat belts. Pull them out - do they pull out and retract easily? Remember this too, when you do take a car for a test drive - find a place where you can stop suddenly - does the belt retract tightly against you as it should?

Do all the lights including turn signals and brake lights work? Does the oil lamp come on when you turn the key part way before starting it? Hate to have a blown oil lamp light if there are no guages in the car.

Do the doors open and shut solidly? The trunk and hood? Take a look at how the seams all fit together, and the gaps between the body of the vehicle and the door frames, trunk and hood. Do they all line up nice and even? If not, might be a sign that the vehicle has suffered some damage in an accident and not properly repaired.

How are the tires? Look for worn tread and wear marks on the sidewalls. Open the hood and have a look at the belts and check to see whether they’re in good shape.

2. Engine

I know, you’re not a mechanic. Neither am I. What we’re doing is an initial inspection to narrow our choices down. Later, we’ll have someone do further checking for us that we can’t do, but we can rule out vehicles right off the bat and move on to the next one. If you’ve got that hood open, look for oil around the engine. Take some paper towel with you and wipe down some of the hoses. Take a peek under the car and look for any “sweating” that might be going on of any of the fluids. You’re concerned about crankcase oil, transmission fluid, coolant, power steering and brake fluid leakage.

How does the engine look? If there’s tons of dark crud all over it, might be something you want to steer away from.

Take the oil filler cap off, turn it around and have a look. See lots of brown thick crud? Not a good sign of a well maintained vehicle. Next, pull the oil dipstick. You want to be seeing fairly close to new oil on there, and right up to the correct level. Black or dark brown oil is another sign of a poorly maintained vehicle.

Look at the battery. Are the connections corroded? Another not so good sign.

Ok, start that baby up. When you do, take a look at the exhaust. If it’s blowing blue smoke - run, don’t walk.

3. Body

Take a good look at the body and undercarriage of the vehicle. You’re looking for signs of rust, dents, corrosion, bumps, paint jobs, and things that just don’t seem to be fitting together properly. Not all of these are serious, but are worth some investigation into.

Of course, if you’re looking up at the undercarriage of the vehicle and see the bottom of the carpet - you better run real quick from this one.

4. The Drive

Time to take that car if you’re still interested for a drive. Hey, if the owner is in a rush and only wants to go around the corner, tell him you’re not interested. You want to spend some time in that car, getting it warmed up. You want to spend some time in city driving conditions - checking for one to see that there is no sign of it overheating. Then get it on the highway. Put the petal to the metal - any hiccups? There should be no hesitations. How does it feel at high way speeds? Any odd rumbling or humming noises? Does it feel the same at 120 Km/Hour as it does at 80 Km/Hr? Feeling it pull to one side?

If it’s safe to do so, slam the brakes on. How does the car respond? Pulsation (unless your trying to stop in slush or icy conditions with anti-brake locks) might not be a good thing.

5. Before You Buy

Some jurisdictions will provide you with information as to the history of the vehicle including all the previous owners. This might also be helpful to you to have some idea of how well the vehicle has been maintained. But you can’t always depend on this either. I even purchased a car once where I was the 8th owner - not something that is highly recommended, but in this case, the car was in obviously good shape.

If the owner of the vehicle won’t let you have your own mechanic inspect the vehicle, don’t buy it. After you’re satisied that this is a vehicle you are seriously interested in, you really ought to have a trusted professional now take a second look. They will be able to tell you even more about the condition of the engine, the wear on the brake parts, tires, and how solid that undercarriage is. Once you’ve decided you like the car, and have had a positive opinion from someone you trust, then if the money your spending is worth the car to you, consider making the purchase.

None of this will guarantee you’ll never have a problem but you’ll go along way to make sure you’re spending your money as well as you can.

Last Word About Mileage

Many people will steer clear away from high mileage cars. I say this is rubbish. Just because a used car has over 100,000 or 150,000 miles on it, does not mean that it won’t make for a good vehicle, as long as it has been maintained. In some instances, it’s probable that the previous owner has already fixed the things that were going to go wrong with the car and you’re getting some good new parts. In other cases, a vehicle that has been well maintained and has been driven mostly highway miles might be in far better shape than a car that’s only city driven in stop and go traffic, has half the mileage, and hasn’t seen an oil change in 30,000 miles.

Whatever you do, once you’ve narrowed down your choice, get a professional opinion, independent of the owner you are purchasing the vehicle from.

Tags: buying a used car, vehicle inspection

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 1:00 am and is filed under Buying a New Car, Buying a Used Car. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.