How to Evaluate a used car before the test drive

When buying a used car or truck no one wants to buy a lemon. This article will give you the tools to quickly evaluate if a car is worth investigating further. Before you take it for a test drive, get that Carfax report or take the car to a mechanic follow these steps to evaluate potential problems.

Instructions

1

Check the obvious, the exterior for signs of rust, the interior for wear on the seats and odor. Check out the buttons wipers, radio, CD, windows, heat, defroster, mirrors and air conditioning.

2

Check the trunk for signs of water. You may want to look under the carpet. I have found more than one spare tire submerged in water. Check the floor mat and around the doors for signs of leakage.

3




Check the pedals. They will often tell you a story about how the vehicle was driven. The pedals shown in the accompanying photo are from a Chevy truck with 125,000 miles. I would buy this vehicle biased on this low brake pedal wear. Pay particular attention to the brake pedal. A worn out brake pedal means that the car has done a lot of hard stopping. Simply meaning the car or truck has been driven hard; a car driven this way is much more likely to have transmission problems than one driven with less wear.

4




Check tires. The picture shows a worn tire. Tires are relatively cheap and I prefer to see a worn tire. This tire shows relatively even tread wear. I can see that it was driven slightly under inflated for a majority of its life due to the fact that the center is not as worn as the edges. The tires on the front of the car, truck or SUV will tell you the most about the suspension. A vehicle with the inside worn more than the outside or vice versa can tell you the vehicle has suspension problems right away. Beware of vehicles with badly cupped tires as well. Be suspicious when tires have been recently changed.

5




Check antifreeze over flow reservoir. Most modern vehicles should have orange antifreeze in the overflow reservoir. If you see a silver or dark cloudy mixture in this tank run don't walk. This is a sign of engine trouble.

6

Check dipstick. Oil should be a clear light brown to black. I am always suspicious if the oil looks too clean. When someone has really clean oil in an older car it means that they may have changed it to sell the automobile. Check the cap where oil is added to the vehicle. You do not want to see any brown looking creamy substance.

7




Check the floor or driveway where the vehicle is stored. Spots on the floor are very reveling. In the case of this picture there are some spots on the right side of the picture. The owner claims they were caused by spilling antifreeze while filling the reservoir. This is probable since the spots are obviously old.

8

Test drive the car.
Invest wisely.