Just food for thought really - If you're buying a used car (from an independant dealer or privately) how do you know how well it has been looked after.
I know there's the obvious stuff, such as service history, and checking the items in the car-by-car breakdown, body condition etc.
Does the number of previous owners give an indication of how happy they've been with the car?
Is it worth appraising how many sets of tyres, brakes, clutches etc a car has been through given its mileage - to give some indication of how it's been driven?
If buying privately, would you make an appraisal of the owner's driving style / other car(s)- I suppose this could be easily moderated for the test drive?
Finally, do you reckon there's any mileage in "one lady owner" cars? Assuming that they are indeed one lady owner (and not "plus one 17 year old son" is the car likely to be in better nick? I guess I'm generalising, but although the women drivers I know are less likely to thrash a car, they're amongst the most likely to have little scrapes, dings, forget maintenance and ride the clutch / use it it as a brake.
Hope this isn't too much of a can of worms, any opinions?
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Not a can of worms but a useful discussion point.
Yes, older ladies on the whole drive more sedately, but that may lead to a whole set of issues in terms of how well run in the car is. But equally I know lady drivers of a certain age who never get out of third gear and rev the gubbins out of an engine when it is stone cold.
Younger women (including my wife and mother-in-law) have little mechanical sympathy and drive their cars far harder than I do, with heavy braking, late braking, lack of awareness of those little noises in a car that indicate something may be amiss, and a general lack of spacial awareness which leads to all those little knocks. (That last point is scientifically proven BTW).
When I sold my Volvo about 18 months ago, I had available for the viewer all the records I had about the car and let him drive it (with me in it!). The car was clean, but not valeted and I made no comments about things working or not working, other than one item that was clearly not working which I told him about and he was happy to go away and do his own research. He bought the car and then wrote me a letter saying how decent I had been.
I once bought a classic car from a specialist dealer in that make. He insisted on driving and crunched the gears a few times. I should have walked away, but fell in love with a £12,000 money pit that cost £4,000 to put right.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Is it worth appraising how many sets of tyres, brakes, clutches etc a car has been through given its mileage - to give some indication of how it's been driven?
I once turned down an 8000 mile used car because the front tyres had been replaced.
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L\'escargot.
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Buying used is a gamble but oned that has paid off for me over the years. I normally buy from independent dealers and give the car a thorough bodywork look over. I check the tyres and look under the bonnet checking the state of the oil etc. If all this looks ok then check the service history for cambelt and brake lining changes and give the car a good road test. If anything bothers me at all about the car I walk away, if ok I make a reasonable offer.
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What's the best 'in depth' way of checking the health of an engine? Compression test? Or can you see anything if you take the rocker cover/sump off? [/noob]
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I always have a look at the make of tyres fitted. If they're all the same and a good make, I consider that a good sign. One remould or dodgy brand puts me off. If htey scrimp on tyres, what about oil changes?
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I have several rules which can be summarised as "lack of negatives"
1. Dirty untouched engine / too clean
2. kerbed whhels/stone chips/lack of care
3. Dents underneath/rust/leaks
4. signs of corrosion/dirty door shuts/ungrease locks/dirty insides/scratched glass/scratched trim/dirt/tears/ smoking.
5. Funny sounds
6. corroded disks.
7. lack of maintenance history (FSH not essential but it helps).
8. seller tells any lies/will not let you drive, parks car so you can't see 1 side in light etc.
9. worn tyres/tracking/exhaust/clutch(a biggie)/clocking (speedo digits misaligned)
10. old MOTs
Any bad things and I walk away. I can accept some dirt - sometimes a bargain - but basic neglect signs = avoid.
Any seller who over the phone says it's good and it is not/does not tell of problems when I ask "is anything wrong?"- and there is something wrong , I walk away from immediately ......ALWAYS. ALWAYS. Full stop. One lie = 100% untrustworthy.
madf
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As Quinten Wilson says, rough cars & rough people go together!
So check out the state of the owners home/appearence & attitude, as much as checking out the car!!
VB
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The old maxim you get what you pay for it applies, also if its cheap why is it cheap?,go to an established independant trader that has been in the same place for at least 5 years he will not be in the business to lie, but he will not be as cheap as dave down the pub who sells one or two either, (buts its just a hobby ,he will say).
A quick walk round any car will always tell the trained eye whether you are buying trash,thats what the good independant dealer does everyday as his bacon depends on it.
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I avoid any car tarted up with that awful black gunge they put on the trim and tyres. It just looks awful, smells horrid and really is a huge turn off. I like to see a car in its natural state, clean and tidy yes - but not dressed up. What are they hiding?
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As Quinten Wilson says, rough cars & rough people go together! So check out the state of the owners home/appearence & attitude, as much as checking out the car!!
And on ebay, if the seler canot spel or punktuate and the gramerr is orl rong, and the hole advert is riten in blok capitals, won shuld be very suspichus.
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>> As Quinten Wilson says, rough cars & rough people go together! >> >> So check out the state of the owners home/appearence & attitude, >> as much as checking out the car!! And on ebay, if the seler canot spel or punktuate and the gramerr is orl rong, and the hole advert is riten in blok capitals, won shuld be very suspichus.
>>
what about buying from someone who boasts/states/claims that he doesn't use capitals?
are they to be trusted?
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I always have a look at the make of tyres fitted. If they're all the same and a good make, I consider that a good sign. One remould or dodgy brand puts me off. If htey scrimp on tyres, what about oil changes?
Not necessarily, they could have put a new cheapo tyre on to make it legal to sell and an oil change is far cheaper than a premium brand tyre.
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Agree with all the comments but how about this one before investigating more deeply and something I do?
Check the towing eye(s) - if they are scratched then why??
(Don't mean a proper towbar)
A used towing eye could be the result of an accident, breakdown or a clutch murdering towout of another car.
HTH
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Was Charles {P} but someone c o p i e d my name with spaces.
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It's woerth also having a look at David Horn's thread entitled "Ouch".
The examples there once again show why HJ and others quite rightly suggest going for higher mileages when buying used. I had several Renaults which each did over 100,000 miles: they were all going as well at the end of my time with them as they did when new, and none of them ever used a drop of oil. Someone somewhere got a bargain, as they were worth peanuts (fortunately company cars!).
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If you're looking for a van - don't go for a builder's van!
These have almost certainly been overloaded several times, so clutch, brakes and transmission lives will be much reduced.
And that's before you get to the bodywork. I'm sure Vansboy would agree and testify to tales of rotted out floors, dented panels (from the inside) etc.
The floors rot out because of the materials and building waste carried and the panels get dented because they seem to like slinging tools and materials into the van in the same way as most other people would throw javlins.
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"Yes, older ladies on the whole drive more sedately, but that may lead to a whole set of issues in terms of how well run in the car is. But equally I know lady drivers of a certain age who never get out of third gear and rev the gubbins out of an engine when it is stone cold.
Younger women (including my wife and mother-in-law) have little mechanical sympathy and drive their cars far harder than I do, with heavy braking, late braking, lack of awareness of those little noises in a car that indicate something may be amiss, and a general lack of spacial awareness which leads to all those little knocks. (That last point is scientifically proven BTW)."
Second time I have stuck up for women drivers tonight - but the three women drivers that I have known best (mother, wife, daughter) have all been very good drivers in whom I have had every confidence - and none of them have done any of the things you mention - in fact they all seem to be very conscious of "those little noises" and certainly not guilty of "little mechanical sympathy and drive their cars far harder than I do, with heavy braking, late braking".
Try putting "BMW drivers", or "young males" or "old men", or "blokes wearing baseball caps", or "white van man", or "Civic Type R drivers" in front of "rev the gubbins out of an engine when it is stone cold." and "little mechanical sympathy and drive their cars far harder than I do, with heavy braking, late braking,"
Which fits best?
Phil
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PhilW,
My experiences mirror exactly those you recount.
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L\'escargot.
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Lucky men!
My experience with women drivers in my family costs me thousands!
Mind you, as my father gets older he is getting to be like them as well - in driving terms.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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"Add to that signs of sticky sweets, spills on the seats, fastfood fries in the front seat runners and if buying for keeps its one to avoid."
Well, I have to demur. The inside of my car generally looks like a grenade's gone off, largely because I live in it. It is, however, perfectly maintained.
It'll be cleaned up before I sell it, though, which might be the true indicator.
V
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dog hairs.......yuk......and the smell
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Service history is obviously very important. My latest purchase had full main dealer service history from new, one private owner and sold at 4 years old. while being clean,it did not show signs of a steam cleaned engine bay, but did show signs of a recent service like clean oil up to max, clean coolant etc.
I would say if you look for a privately owned from new example with full service history ( doesn't have to be main dealer) and one registered owner, then you will have to be very unlucky to buy a pup.
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dog hairs.......yuk......and the smell
Fifi Brunhilda, the faithful RF TVM hound will be round for a word or three
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TourVanMan < yes its RF reborn >
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With my Ford Ka if im really honest is quite good on the inside because i hardly have backseat passengers inside at all apart from someone at the front occasionally! The drivers seat is quite imaculate considering its done nearly 37k miles it was a fleet car before i purchased it & i only weigh just under 10 stone! The only giveaway would be the front nearside wheel trim which has a few scrapes on it but then its a common thing on little cars anyway. Am i right? Also not forgetting a few scrapes around the colour coded bumper.
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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