Hi Im in Ireland and want advice on buying my first car. Please help! Thanks.?
Answers:
Ways to look at a used car:
1. How many miles the vehicle has on the odometer.
2. Inspect the body for damage such as waves down the sides, overspray on paint that looks new to old paint. Different shades of the same color. Tap on the body with your knuckles as if you are knocking on a door, and listen for unusual different sounds.
3. How much wear on the drivers seat, pay close attention to the area that is closes to the outer edge near the door. Look for any springs that are lazy when compared to the rest of the seat. This will indicate the vehicle has been used for more than the odometer indicates.
4. Wear in the door hinges on the drivers door, that lets the door fall down any when the door is opened. Also; how easy the doors close and latch. A door that is hard to close indicates a car that has been wrecked.
5. Get on your hands and knees, and look under the car for areas that has lots of oil and/or grease, that might indicate a leak that could be costly to repair.
6. Open the trunk, and pick up the carpet to inspect for any sign of water or mud, to make sure the car hasn't been in any floods. Look for signs of mud especially where the spare wheel goes.
7. Lift the hood (bonnet) and inspect the engine oil, for being low, dirty, or unusually thick, as adding a very thick oil will mask an engine noise. Look at the belts for cracks or wear, the radiatior for signs of any different color around the seams, that indicates a leak may be present. usually if the windshield washer tank is pretty full indicates someone who had the car took care to keep it full. Look for paint over spray around the areas where the fenders bolt to the car. Take out the transmission dip stick; look at the color of the oil, as it should have a good bright red tint, and not a dark brown color. Smell the fluid for a burned smell. You might want to look at some new fluid at a parts store and smell it to know what it should look like and smell like before hand, so you will have a heads up on the fluid. Hold the stick in the light and look for any sparkles for metal in the fluid, as this is a sure indication of a transmission thats failing.
Inspect the rear tires, make sure they are the same brand and size that is on the front. Look for excessive wear on the inside or outside portion of the tire. A different or worn tire will indicate the vehicle might have a bad front end and this could be costly to fix.
8. Push down on each corner of the car with all your weight, and jump back off quickly to test the shocks. A bad shock is indicated by the car will keep bouncing more than once. Once is all it should bounce on most vehicles.
9. Turn on the radio and see what stations the presets are set too. You will know if some young person has owned the car right away. You probably don't want one a young person has owned, as they can be pretty hard on a car.
10. Finally start the engine while a friend looks at the exhaust pipe for blue or black smoke to come out right away, look at the pipe for a build up of black soot around the edge of the outlet, This indicates future problems. Rev the engine up pretty good once it has warmed up and release the throttle quickly, any blue smoke puff out the exhaust pipe indicates worn valve steam seals or valve trouble.
11. Finally, drive the vehicle, and while on a good level road, let go of the stearing wheel to see if it pulls to one side. Try this on different roads to insure you have a level road. It should not pull to one or the other side. If it does, the front end needs work and is worn. Do a couple of pretty hard stops with the car from about a medium speed to see if the brakes pull to one side or the other. Check the emergency brake, and if it travels a good ways before it engages the brake, this indicates the rear brakes are worn out. Stay away from any hotrod type care. Fords are ok, but the guy is correct about Toyota's, they are good cars.
This should help, Good Luck!
GO WITH A TOYOTA THEY ARE VERY DEPENDABLE CARS AND THEY ARE NOT THAT EXPENSIVE TO OWN OR OPERATE AND MOST OF THEM ARE FUEL ECONOMIC.
ether get a ford or tyota {by a ford mustang}
Hi there, I know the buy 'n sell is ok, you can get a price range off this. But there are alot of cowboy's on this who would see us females as not knowing much about cars and hike the price.
If you have a price range in mind, for a first car, I would go to a main dealers. I know they would be a bit more expensive, but if anything went wrong, you can go back to them. Second hand cars have 12 month guarantee. By law they have to do this, even though they may not tell you. I have a Peugeot 106, it is a 954cc engine, (under 1litre) and the year is 99. This is a great car to start off in. It doesn't have power steering but is light enough and doesn't need it. I had a Fiesta before that and never had a problem. Alot of people will say keep away from this and that because they might have had bad experience with them. A good friend of mine had a Toyota and never once had a problem and this was an 88 Starlet. I would shop around, ask tonnes of questions, there is no stupid question especially where money is concerned. And you will find the one that suits you and you feel comfortable to drive it. Best of luck to you and happy driving. Oh yah, I am in Ireland.Take care..
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