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Used Car Shopping By Telephone Part 2
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Written by Charles N. Oliphant   
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
If the car has been serviced regularly, records should be available to confirm this. However, car owners who keep receipts of all work on their vehicles are a rare commodity--scrupulous records are often kept only by the most scrupulous drivers.

5) How often do you change the oil? The purpose of motor oil is to keep the car's engine running smoothly and to prevent parts rubbing against each other and wearing out. Changing a car's oil regularly--every 3,000 to 5,000 miles--is one of the most important things you can do to keep it alive, according to Idzikowski. As oil is used, it becomes muddied by debris from the engine, road, and air. This dirty oil can damage the engine.

If a seller says he didn't change the oil very much, watch out. Old oil that has been in a car's engine for a long time breaks down and doesn't lubricate as well as fresh oil.

6) What kind of condition is the body of the car in? Be specific when you ask this question. "Rust" is not the same as "rot." Rust spots can be sanded and repainted fairly easily. Body rot could involve a lot more work and much greater expense. Be sure to ask not only about the doors and panels but also about the underside of the car where structural rust can occur.

"When you see a rust problem, nine times out of ten it's a whole lot more serious than what's showing," says Howe. A few rusty patches on the door could be a sign of serious rot hidden to the eye. For most people, it's extremely difficult to make an accurate assessment of rust and rot.

If the car has a few dents, ask how big they are and how they got there. What's insignificant to someone else might be unacceptable to you. Also ask about the condition of the windows and tires. Find out now if you'll be shelling out for new glass and rubber.

7) Are you the primary driver of the car? Some people selling cars through the newspaper are not the actual drivers of the car. They could be independent brokers, relatives of the car owner, or mechanics. Obviously, they won't know the car as intimately as the real driver, and they won't be able to answer all these questions as effectively, so be sure to talk to the primary driver. If the driver is unreachable, you might want to pass on the car.

8) Has the car been in any major accidents? "Personally, my feeling is once a car gets bent, it's never the same again," says Idzikowski. High-impact collisions can badly twist the frame or body of a car, loosen important joints, and lead to future problems, such as uneven tire wear.

On the other hand, Howe has seen many cars "repaired from absolute junk." With today's frame-straightening machines, cars can be brought back to closer tolerances than they were built with, he says. If a car was in a serious accident, find out if it was repaired by a good, reputable body shop.

9) Why are you selling the car? This is an excellent question, perhaps the most important one. You certainly don't want to purchase a car that's being sold because it's a lemon. And you certainly don't want a car that's just been diagnosed with a dying engine. Find someone who just purchased a new car and is trying to sell the old one, or a parent whose kid just went back to college. The best time to ask this question is right in the middle of your phone interview--as a surprise. You're more likely to get an honest answer and see through any suspicious explanations.

Howe weighs this question heavily. Sometimes the answer he gets is a key factor in his decision not to buy. "You can detect tell-tale inflections in a person's voice," he says. "Sometimes I know from what they told me that there was something they weren't telling me."

10) Would it be okay to have my mechanic look at the car? If, for whatever reason, the answer to this question is "no," pass on the car. The seller should agree to this request unconditionally if he has nothing to hide. The corollary to this question is: Can I call your mechanic for more information on the car? Again, if the answer is "no," say thank you and goodbye. There's no legitimate reason why you shouldn't be able to talk to the seller's mechanic.

11) Is the car registered and insured currently? If the car isn't registered and insured, a) you can't legally test drive it, b) it's more likely to have been sitting unused for a long period of time, and c) there's no legal way to get it to a mechanic for inspection. Pass.

12) Is the car in a garage or on the street? Cars stored in garages are protected from sun, rain, snow, ice, dirt, salt, and other damaging elements. They are also less likely to have suffered curbside nicks and dents--not to mention vandalism. "That can be a big problem in a town like Ann Arbor, Mich.," says Idzikowski. "In the warmer climates like Arizona and Southern California, the sun can have a very adverse effect on the car in terms of affecting the plastic inside and the body paint, as well as things like vinyl roofs."
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 February 2009 )