Short Thread

BUYING A USED CAR:ADVANCED CHECKS

There're many ways to find out how "used" a car truly is ranging from 3–50k scanners, to simple multimeter tests, to audio and visual cues

For simplicity's sake, I'll list off some fairly simple things that anyone can look out for

1. OIL

You want to remove the fill cap and check the back of it. You don't want to see is light-colored froth on the back of the cap it indicates coolant and/or water in the oil. A tell tale sign of a leaking or blown head gasket.
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Continued...

Check the dipstick.

You want to ideally see an amber color. You again don't want to see any frothing here, and you don't want to see a thick, black sludge. You also don't want to see any metal shavings.
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2. RADIATOR WATER/COOLANT
(gasket issues)

There're different colors of coolant, but they're all bright.

You shouldn't see cloudy brown coolant, indicating lots of rust. Or oil, or a rainbow-like sheen floating on top of radiator. This indicates faulty head gasket

3. POWER SREERING FLUID

You want to see clear, pink, or amber fluid. If it's very dark and cloudy, it's contaminated with rubber from worn out seals and o-rings.

4. TRANSMISSION FLUID (Automatic)

You're ideally hoping to see bright pink / red. Brown or black-ish is a no-no, and you want to walk away

You can also give the fluid a smell, a distinct burnt odor is a good indication the vehicle was driven without sufficient fluid

5.CLUTCH FLUID (Manual)

The fluid should be clear but probably won't be

The darker it is, the worse it is. It's common for fluid to be light brown. Very very dark is a bad sign.

6. STARTING THE CAR

Before starting, stick a finger in the exhaust & rub the inside quickly. black soot-like substance is normal

You shouldn't get a wet oily residue. This indicates the car is burning oil. Dark oily spatter on bumper around the exhaust indicates the same
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7. DASHBOARD LIGHTS

With the engine off, turn the key to the run position. You want to make sure you see the various dash lights and make sure no one removed a bulb to hide a warning light.

8. SOUNDS

Start the engine, and while idling and driving listen for any knocking or tapping sounds.

It's normal if the vehicle has sat for a while to hear some tapping when you first start it.

But if the fluids are at the right levels, it will go away in 5–15 seconds.

9.DRIVING

Vibration in the car or steering
the car doesn't pull one way or the other usually means front suspension issues, but can be simple alignment

shifts smooth

suspension isn't excessively bouncy (bad shocks/struts)

brakes feel solid, there is lots of pedal

air con

FOOTNOTE

The list of things to look for goes on and on. But this is a fairly good checklist that can be done in 15 minutes before you take a test drive

This is a quick checklist whenever you're looking at a used vehicle

Also consider finding a mech that can offer inspection