| If you are in the market shopping for a used | | | | the following. * Emission testing, and title |
| car, investing five minutes to read this | | | | transfer history. |
| article may save you hundreds, or even | | | | |
| thousands of dollars. Whether you are buying | | | | * Number of owners. Detailed information on |
| the car from a big dealer, a small dealer, or | | | | the dates the car was sold, leased, rented, |
| a private seller there are common problems | | | | or belonged to the the government. |
| that you should look for, and if found you | | | | |
| either don't buy the car, or negotiate a | | | | * Salvage, and normal auctions and dates the |
| lower price to compensate for those problems. | | | | car was sold, including the odometer reading. |
| Hence, the car seller will not provide you | | | | |
| with the information, rather you should do | | | | * Flood damage, insurance totaling the car. |
| your homework, and find the information | | | | |
| yourself. Those problems that a mechanic may | | | | * Status when the car was sold including |
| not pay attention to such as prior accidents | | | | auctions, and salvage title if applicable. |
| the car got involved in, at least those that | | | | |
| were reported to the official authorities, or | | | | * Alerts for odometer rollback. Notify you of |
| fixed at a high end repair shop. Odometer | | | | the supposed mileage. |
| rollback is another problem that your | | | | |
| mechanic may not spot, but will hurt you on | | | | * Prior accidents, especially those claimed |
| the resale value of the car. You should also | | | | on insurance. |
| look for missing airbags, which is almost | | | | |
| impossible to spot unless the covers are | | | | As you realized, the information is pretty |
| taken off. You should not forget about | | | | powerful. I killed a car deal even though I |
| mismatch VIN numbers, and sales that happen | | | | did not notice any problem with the car. But |
| at salvage yard auction. The above mentioned | | | | the car was 4 years old, and had already |
| problems are not found out until you run a | | | | witnessed three different owners. This made |
| history check on the car through car fax. The | | | | me wonder if there is a severe problem with |
| report will provide you with powerful | | | | the car leading every owner to get rid of the |
| information that may make or kill the car | | | | car a year later. |
| deal. Those are including, but not limited to | | | | |