Risky Business: Inspecting A Vehicle Without A Mechanic

Some Good Advice - If you can't find a willing mechanic, or can't part with the $100, I have outlined most of the items a good mechanic would inspect in the next two pages.

Inspecting the vehicle without a mechanic - Always take a friend with you when inspecting vehicles.  The extra eyes, ears, and hands will come in handy.  But don't bring animals, small children, or uninterested companions.  Prepare a checklist for both the interior and exterior of the vehicle, as well as items to test while driving.  Inspect the maintenance records, as detailed above.  Take a general look around the outside of the car.  A very common seller's tactic is to have the car detailed to increase its appeal.  Usually this includes a thorough cleaning inside and out, waxing, and repair of minor cosmetic items that can hide abuse or wear and tear.  Always look at vehicles during the daytime; darkness is the car salesman's friend and hides all kinds of problems.  If it's a rainy or snowy day, stay dry and stay home.  The rain masks previous paint work, nicks, and scratches, as well as making thin, worn paint look slick and shiny. 

Ask where the car has been driven and under what conditions.  Northern roads have moisture and the chemicals that melt snow and ice, and seaside places have salt spray; all cause rust, which corrodes operating systems as well as body appearance.  Hot climates cause interiors to deteriorate, paint to fade and belts and hoses to have shorter lives.  It also puts an extra load on air conditioners.  

Turn on the lights in sequence and walk around checking them all, including directional and brake lights.  Today's lights are no longer $1 replacement items; some lights can cost hundreds of dollars.  Check the horn for both sound and ease of operation.  Are the wipers soft and streak-free when the washers are turned on -- remember to check rear wipers if there are any.  Tires should be worn evenly from side to side, with no ripples, scuffing, or cracks.  Variations indicate bad components or alignment or, at the very least, hard driving.  A set of decent tires will cost $300 or more.  Check the shocks by firmly pushing down on each corner of the car and letting go.  The vehicle should bounce upward only once and then settle back to its original position.  Several bounces and you're probably looking at a new set of shocks, which will cost you anywhere from $200 to over $1000 on some luxury models.  Stand back approximately 10 to 15 feet from the car and see if the car is level.  If one corner seems lower than the others, it suggests a broken spring or other chassis or suspension problems.  Make sure there is an inflated spare tire, a jack and a lug wrench. 

Is the physical condition consistent with the mileage on the odometer?  Mileage outweighs condition in figuring the dollar value of a motor vehicle.  A low-mileage car that's been driven hard or used by, say, a large family with a dog will cost more than one with high miles that's squeaky clean and well maintained.  I'd choose the latter.  Inspect areas that ordinarily show wear -- tires, door sills, pedals, armrests, seats, and seat belts -- to see whether the wear matches the odometer.  Look under the floor mats, especially if they look new; new mats may hide heavy usage.  Check the amount of wear on the brake and accelerator pedals.  Check the dates on any oil change stickers or maintenance records and compare the mileage to the odometer.  If you feel the odometer reading is wrong or has been tampered with, don't buy the vehicle.  State and federal laws make it illegal to tamper with the odometer, but it still happens, more rarely as car electronic components get more complex.

Check these items with your engine running - After your Road Test, leave the car in Park, motor running, and carefully (with a rag or work gloves) remove the oil filler cap.  If white smoke comes out of the hole it's likely the car has a serious engine problem.  Remove the automatic transmission's dipstick, check its level, and smell it.  A burnt smell or low level indicates that transmission has been run hot and may be damaged.  The automatic transmission fluid should be clear, sweet-smelling, and reddish in color, not brown or black.  Press down on the brake. The pedal should go down only an inch or two and should feel firm and solid, not spongy.  Hold down on the pedal for one minute.  If it slowly sinks, suspect a defective master cylinder.  Look inside the trunk, under the spare tire, for signs of accident repair.  Check the tailpipe.  Black, sooty oil deposits on the tailpipe, rear bumper or taillights point to a bad engine. 

Now get down on your hands and knees and put a large sheet of white cardboard or newsprint directly under the engine and transmission. You are looking for leaks that are visible only while the car is running and the engine, transmission, and coolant systems are under pressure.  Get back in the car and back up 10-15 feet.  Look at the cardboard.  Any red, green, or black puddles are signs of a major engine problem.  Move the car to a clean spot and turn off the motor.  Place another large sheet of white cardboard or newsprint directly under the engine and transmission.  Let the car sit for 10 or 15 minutes, then roll the car back and look for more leaks.  Small drips may not indicate a serious problem, but puddles of oil, transmission fluid, or coolant are signs for alarm.  The cost to repair these problems might run anywhere from a $75 valve cover leak, all the way up to a $4500 or more engine replacement.

After the motor has cooled sufficiently (about 15-30 minutes), open the hood and check belts and hoses for cracks or wear.  Carefully remove the pressurized radiator/coolant cap and look inside the coolant recovery bottle.  The coolant should be clean and blue-green or orange-yellow in color.  If the color is closer to muddy brown or has black residue floating in it, choose another prospect.  Look at the underside of the filler cap.  Rust, oil, or sludge on it may indicate a bad head gasket, or, worse, a cracked cylinder head or cracked engine block.  Pull out the engine oil dipstick.  Make sure the level is within the marks suggested on the knurled gauge.  If the oil is dark black it may indicate poor oil change frequency.  Gummy or grayish oil indicates severe engine problems that may cost thousand of dollars to fix.  Compare the service stickers on the door jamb or under the hood with the odometer reading.  These stickers can sometimes tell you if the vehicle has been well maintained, and may alert you to odometer fraud.  Also it's possible to locate missing service records by visiting the shops listed on the stickers.

A clean, polished car with a sparkling engine compartment may indicate good maintenance, but sometimes it just means that the seller has hidden their sins with a $100 detailing job.  Worn or torn upholstery or an odor from a smoking driver can be a turnoff.  Correcting problems like these is more expensive than finding the right car with none of these defects.  Exterior ill-treatment is a good indication of how the car has been serviced and attended to mechanically.  Avoid vehicles whose owners have added window treatments, wheels, vinyl tops, aftermarket sunroofs, $2000 stereos, and gold kits.  The attention that goes along with questionable displays of taste is something to be avoided.  They detract from the vehicle's value and may mask previous abuse.  

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