By Lindsey Schibelhut, Senior Reporter.
When searching for a used car, you may think it’s as easy as looking for low mileage or minimal body damage. In reality, there are several things consumers should watch out for the next time they’re looking for that used car deal.
During the Financial Literacy Week event, “Tips for Buying a Used Car,” Thomas Coats, coordinator of automotive service technology and assistant professor, gave tips to aid in making the right used car purchase.
“For purchasing a used car, the first thing you need to look at is the vehicle itself – do a walk around,” advises Coats.
Coats says one thing people should do is look for gaps in the vehicle’s fenders, doors, hoods, trunks and quarter panels.
“If they’re off then one of the things that would do is that would attract me to that area,” explains Coats, “The first thing I would do.. is look inside of the gap and look for rubbing compound residue.”
Rubbing compound is a thin paste that can be applied to a car’s paint (to bring out shine) and is smoothed out using a buffer. Seeing this residue could indicate that the car may have had previous damage.
“So you’d want to ask to look at the title,” says Coats. “If somebody’s selling you a legitimate vehicle, the title is legitimate. If the vehicle’s been totaled out, that title’s what we call a ‘salvage title.’ ”
Coats also recommends consumers never buy a car on a cloudy day – always look when the sun is shining.
“UV rays will bring out imperfections in paint that clouds will not allow you to see,” says Coats.
One of those paint imperfections is known as “orange peel,” according to Coats. The paint on the vehicle will look like the skin of an orange. Seeing this pattern may be a sign that the car has been repainted.
The odometer is another area Coats says car buyers should pay close attention to. Buyers should be on the lookout for wear on both the gas and brake pedal, and keep that in mind when looking at the mileage.
Coats says to take the car’s age and multiply it by 15,000 – if the odometer is within 4,000 to 5,000 miles then things are alright. If the mileage isn’t in that range, then you’ll want to ask questions about the previous owner’s driving habits.
Odometers can also be changed. Look for a sticker on the inside of the door frame legally indicating if the digital odometer has been replaced or, in an older vehicle, whether the odometer has numbers that drop slightly.
“Question whether that car has had the odometer turned backwards,” explains Coats, “then what they basically do is they go up inside there with a coat hanger and they can ratchet these numbers back.”
Consumers should make sure to do a “smell test” before they sit in the car too. Car smells can point out possible problems.
“Does it smell like an old foot locker? Does it smell like an old gym shoe? Does it smell particularly great? Does it smell like somebody just sprayed Febreze? If it does, somebody’s covering up something,” says Coats.
He explains that if the car smells like an old tennis shoe it may have a water leak internally.
“That’s mildew you’re smelling,” says Coats.
The next test consumers can do involves tire tread. Using a dime see whether the tire tread reaches the top of the head on the coin. If the tread doesn’t reach far enough, then this may indicate new tires are needed.
“Those tires are legally not safe,” Coats says.
Another area consumers may not think to look at is the molding around the windshield. This is an important one to observe to see if the windshield has been replaced.
“You want to know where it was replaced at, what is the company’s name,” says Coats.
Last, but certainly not least, Coats recommends consumers check the fluids of the car as well. This means things such as: transmission, oil, etc. to see whether they are the proper color.
“Open the hood, pull the dipstick out and look at the condition of the fluid,” says Coats.
For example if the transmission fluid of the car looks like a “strawberry milkshake,” the fluid has been mixed with coolant and there is a problem, according to Coats. The transmission fluid should be a bright reddish color and have a detergent like smell to it.
At this point you may be asking yourself if it’s necessary to go through all these steps. How about just checking the CarFax instead? Coats says not to rely solely on the information used by those providers.
“The majority of [these companies] get their report information either through police reports or insurance reports. And if neither one of those entities report – you don’t have a report,” says Coats.
After 47 years in the car industry, Coats says the best advice he can give is to “be vigilant and use common sense.”
