What to look for when buying a used car? This question always pops up when we get to see some of the beauties at a pre-owned dealership. We most probably take along with us the well known of industry or the one who is an expert in the field, while it may be a mechanic as well, for giving a review to the eye soothing “used” metal candies that we had been looking for last some weeks. But if being provided some tips then buyers also can do the check themselves without taking support of those jacks. Mentioned below are the seven tips which we had derived as major ones to be remembered while pondering over the used vehicles.
1. Engine Clutter:
Engine is known as the heart of vehicle and if that portion itself is not sounding properly then one has to be a bit worried. While here we are not discussing that much in detail but it can be also judged from the oil filler cap. After lifting the bonnet if it is found that cap is hiding some brownish sludge underneath then must raise the warning alarm in mindset. It may also be ringed when the blue or black kind of sludge surfaces instead of brown. All those factors indicate that there is a problem in the engine bay, so avoiding those preferences is always a better option. As one can cannot completely fix those sort of issues, and though if tried, then must stood ready for paying a big chunk of repair bills.
2. Inside Out:
Interiors are the ones which gives an original feel of the car at its best. And nowadays, it is seen that, more of the owners tend to revamp their old buggies with advancement of new interior tweaks, just we can see Ambassadors, to an extent Tata Sumo etc. in the workshops of DC and others. Doing an inside job is not some cheap sort of crank but levies a hefty amount of expense. The various interior glitches which are meant to be seen when inspecting a used car can be named as tear and burns on seats, carpet and headliner. All of them sounds very easy but bites more from our pocket when being talked of replacement or repair. Lastly, seat belts must also not be neglected because ‘safety comes first’. Risking our lives for benefit of a cash saving spree will not be termed under ‘smart move’.
3. Exterior Crisps:
Exterior of the car reflects its owner’s personality so must be spiked to shine always, while this may not be possible with the pre owned departments, that’s because paintjob gets faded due to the sunlight after using for a certain time and to an extent one cannot fix those lost grounds back again. But over here, on outer crisp it is necessary to also look for uneven panel gaps and rust. Both of them almost lead to change of body panels, yet another heavy shell-out. To perfect on all these doubts, one can do a do a sneak peek with the car. The door apertures and spare wheel well tell true story of those cunning glitches. And also to achieve a 10/10 on the paintjob, must see inner side of bonnet because it portrays some sprinkle of new paints if it had been performed. Here we suggest, factory painted is the best option instead of a redo to it.
4. Test Ride:
On a test drive, most of the pinning doesn’t come out easily and to make that happen, steering, brake and suspension check are a must. One should see that steering is accurate as well as smooth and does not tilt on either of the side when being left uncontrolled on a straight uneven stretch at some high revs. If it does reflect ‘negative’ results on the check then there is something fishy inside. While on the time of braking, a car should be hauled in a perfect posture instead of getting skid out of the track. An importance should also be lent to chunk of noise if created by the suspensions during test ride.
5. Electrical Fuss:
Electricals gremlins are the ones which connects owners to the cars and vice versa. All the minute streaks like switches for light, windows, stereo, seats etc must be checked properly. Don’t let even a single one to escape from the prying eyes. Also make sure that, AC vents are blowing hot and cold air seamlessly without any bad odours and fluctuations.
6. Rubber Fumes:
All the engineering and technicalities comes to a halt when tyres fall flat and most probably very less audience gives preference to those pieces of rubber. Contradicting to this side of the flip, for some people tyres are a complete engineering in itself just like the car. Let’s not get deep into the question “How”, we just want to conclude, treading must be in abundance on all the four pieces while it should be also looked for gouges, tears and bulges on the sidewalls. Some may think that it is anything else apart from the black piece of rubber, but in auto fraternity those comes as a most attended strata after the engine and aerodynamics.
7. Documentation:
Paperwork proves the street legality of a car and though if that lacks somewhere, then one may not be able to drive the vehicle on road, and as sooner or later it will end up on the dark platform heavy penalties, court hassles and maybe some of the tenures in imprisonment. While that is an exceeded vision of the uncertainty, but such sort of scene are nowadays becoming a common sight in our day to day life, all thanks to Traffic Police Department! An assured bundle of papers namely, service history, registration document and pollution document tends to be verified on the fortifying note. Excluding those, it is necessary to approve those inked booklets even by a documentation expert because there maybe some local issues that a common man does not knows better than the geniuses, e.g. transfers, loan dues etc., that are all the serious ones not something negligible.
