Used car buying checklist - your views

[Morris Minor]

Imagine you are either on a dealer lot, or meeting a private seller at McDonalds parking lot or somewhere. You need to evaluate the car for possible purchase - and you have 15 minutes. We'll assume the car has passed the preliminary Carfax checks.

What are your opinions & suggestions for improvements?

Tools required:
Old clothes. You will be lying on he ground
Gloves
Flashlight
Some white paper towels
small magnet
A check list
A list of questions for the owner

Outside:
Bodywork - look for the usual: dings dents & ripples.
Seams inside hood, doors etc. Look for signs of overspray, and overspray-covered rust.
Underside of the hood - factory stickers on there?
Fluid levels
Use your nose. Sniff the oil, coolant, & general engine area - it should not smell of gas
Look at the transmission fluid
Look at the oil fill area & the oil on the dipstick.
Look for leaks - especially underneath where it's more difficult to steam clean off any evidence.
Look at the brake pads
Look at the fuel filler area & the tank underneath.
Grab each wheel & rock it back & forth, look for play
Look at tire wear pattern
Get underneath

Inside:
Wear & tear on seats
Wear on steering wheel & gear shift
Fading on upholstery
Cracking & fading on dash & door trim
Pedal rubbers
Functionality of everything, from the radio to the A/C

Driving:
Steering play
Tracking - does it pull to one side or the other?
Braking - consistent? Signs of rotor warp or pulling to one side or the other?
Roll down the window & listen
Behavior when accelerating to highway speeds listen for engine knocks, valve train rattles, hesitancy.
Use your nose again - smell of gas? Fresh paint? Tobacco? Dogs?

The owner/dealer:
Would you have a drink with the guy?
Does he maintain eye contact when questioned?
Does he fidget when questioned?
Is his story commensurate with the age & condition of the car?

[VTEC_Inside]

One addition to the inside/driving segments, though not too likely to be an issue with newer digital odos:
Look at the odometer. Is it working correctly? Is the trip-meter (if equipped) also working correctly? Do the math, given the year of the car are the miles high/low/avg? Do they fit with the condition of the rest of the car?

[sportyaccordy]

Sounds good, though I would also check suspension bushings, smell the exhaust for burning oil (they put synthetic in used cars to hide smoke), check silly stuff like headlights etc

Also find out about a warranty... I had a good dealer who sold me my Maxima; there was a CEL stemming from bad ingition coils & some brake issues... they fixed it all free of charge, and it would have been $500 or so in parts alone

Though really if I were only given 15 minutes to check a car out I prob. wouldn't buy it w/o excellent records, etc

[the Teuton]

I know this sounds silly, but make sure the horn works, as well as any extras.  If the car is advertised with AC, make sure it works like a charm.

[AutobahnSHO]

Paper towels leave fiber/lint everywhere. Use a cheap roll of "shop towels"- usually blue, they're basically premium paper towels.

-Take the vehicle for a test drive. Slow speed, do some turns. High speed, feel for rattle, alignment, etc...
-Check ALL accessories. All windows. All door locks. Open the trunk/rear. Adjust the seats. Run the fan at all different speeds. Check that the radio works but then Turn It Off and listen to the car.
-Is the driver's seat worn excessively for the mileage??


If ANYTHING seems funky, walk away.
When I was shopping vans (Spring 2006) we got in one that the steering wheel shimmied back and forth about 2inches at 35mph, the check engine light came on, AND the heater never worked. 
-Took it back and the guy shady used car salesman claimed it was: low air in a tire, loose gas cap, and needed to warm up. (We drove it for a good 15min, it was Plenty Warm..)
----But we bought a different one from the guy, same price, but more options and it's been ok for us.

[Soup DeVille]

Find one of those small magnets that look like a pen and are on an extendable, antenna-like pole (I actually think they are antenna, just used differently).

Use it to check for bondo repairs along the bottom rocker panels and wheel well areas. If there's bondo, it won't stick very well. Any small, weak magnet will work.

[ChrisV]

I never buy anything at a premium price, so I don't usually care if small things are wrong with it. I usually do a bit of research on common problem areas for the type of car I'm buying (if I don't already know them), then check those particular areas (unless the seller has already factored them into the price, which is typical with the kinds of cars I'm looking at)

But usually it's just a quick glance because I'm looking at a car already priced like it needs work.

On the 7 series, I asked for pictures of the instrument cluster with the car running. No CEL, and no arrows on either side of the message center saying that there were problems reported. Bought it sight unseen, figuring that the price already reflected mileage, condition, and the possibility of needing a couple normal issues taken care of. And, like pretty much all cars I've bought over the years, it's been fine.

[Rupert]

I'm curious, Chris, what cars have you had that weren't fine/reliable?

[Soup DeVille]

I'm curious, Chris, what cars have you had that weren't fine/reliable?

Great, now he's gonna talk about his Bradley GT again...

[280Z Turbo]

I'm curious, Chris, what cars have you had that weren't fine/reliable?

I don't know.

He's always bragging about how he drove a Datsun with no doors or something.

[hotrodalex]

Find one of those small magnets that look like a pen and are on an extendable, antenna-like pole (I actually think they are antenna, just used differently).

Use it to check for bondo repairs along the bottom rocker panels and wheel well areas. If there's bondo, it won't stick very well. Any small, weak magnet will work.

I found bondo spots on my El Camino by doing that.  (luckily they aren't bad, I'll patch them when I prep for paint)

I've always made sure to do a panic stop when I test drive a car.

[GoCougs]

Whenever I buy a used car I tell the seller that I myself must be able to cold-start the car.

Caught a few with worn valve guides (tell-tale puff of blue smoke at start-up). You might also catch bearing, valve or lifter noise - noises that can go away after the engine warms up a bit.