subject: How to Buy a Decent Secondhand Car [print this page] When you found the car, ask the owner for a full service history. You want a car with all the revisions done in time and in a good shape. Avoid buying cars from companies. This type of vehicles usually come with a poor service and had a lot of careless drivers. You want a car with couple of owners that took care of it. When you see a car you have to know what you are looking for.
Check the body for rust. Look inside the wings, under the hood and bumpers. Look for moisture under the carpeting in the trunk also use your nose, in a discreet way, to detect any damp smell. If you find any of this things walk away.
Second step is to check the paint, if the color is not even and you can see differences between door, wings, hood or trunk that means the car was repainted due to a crash. There is another way to find out if the car was damaged, check the serials on the windows if this serials aren't the same on all windows that means one or more windows were broken.
If the exterior of the car is to your liking move up to the interior. Make sure every single button, handle or gadget is working. If something is broken or doesn't work this means extra costs for you after the purchase. But can be also a good thing too, if the repair is not expensive, you can negotiate to a lower price, get the car and fix it later.
Before taking the car for a spin, start the engine and look at the exhaust, if the smoke is not in small amounts and almost transparent, means the engine haves a problem. Now take the car for drive and don't turn on the radio, listen carefully all the sounds the car is making. Make sure no squeak, crackle or jingle occurred while the test drive.
