Car Buying Advice & Automotive Links

Carfax Reports can be helpful, but they are no substitute for a comprehensive Pre Purchase inspection.

While a Carfax Report may tell you if the car you are looking at has been in an accident of some kind, only Auto Analyst can tell you just how bad an accident it really was. Was there structural damage? Was the repair work up to par? Is the car still worth considering? In addition, Carfax's records are not perfect. Many cars that have been in accidents and floods do not get reported to Carfax, and many others have their Title "Scrubbed". Auto Analyst can get to the bottom of any vehicles' history with our comprehensive all points inspection.

Replace the upholstery and the carpet, give it a good detail, and you would never know that this car spent 24 hours under water. Auto Analyst will find the clues in very short order. 

The Myth of the Certified Used Car.

Many people believe, and dealers are all too quick to sell this idea,  that a "Certified" Car is a cut above the rest. This is not so.  Certified Used Cars are no better, and no worse than any other used car out there. There is no industry standard for certifying used cars, so it is left up to each individual dealer and/or manufacturer to make up their own. Consequently, you will find a wide range of conditions that are found acceptable to be called "Certified".

Example: We recently inspected a "Certified" BMW bought from a local dealer that was found to have sustained almost $7000.00 in collision damage, including frame damage,  prior to being "Certified". How does a car get "Certified" with a bent frame?
Certified cars, just like every other car out there, need to be fully inspected by a professional prior to purchase. 

Beware of phony or missing Air Bags

A recent study found 1 of out every 25 previously damaged vehicles inspected had phony or dummy airbags. Airbag replacement is expensive. It can sometimes cost up to $3000.00 to replace an airbag, so there is money to be made by an unscrupulous mechanic who merely puts a replacement cover on where the airbag should be. There have been cases of people removing the air bag cover and finding the cavity stuffed with shipping peanuts. This is an area that only a few States are starting to pay any attention to at all. If the car you are looking at has been in any kind of accident, then a thorough check of the airbag system is in order.

Things to know about donating your car to a charity.

The IRS is looking a lot more closely at this type of charitable donation these days. There are a couple of things you need to do to make sure you are in compliance with the rules. First, if the car has a value greater than $5000.00 you must have an independent appraisal, by a professional like Auto Analyst, to back up the deduction you are taking. In reality it is a good idea to have any car or truck, regardless of its value, appraised before donating just to make sure your deduction is not disallowed if you were to get audited at some time in the future. Second, there is a form: IRS 8283 that must be signed by the charity receiving the vehicle and the appraiser who evaluated the car. If you take these two important steps, your charitable donation should go much smoother for you. There is nothing worse than finding this out in April while doing your taxes when you donated the car in December.

Beware of the Curbstoner!

A Curbstoner is someone who is illegally selling cars without a dealers license. They pose as private sellers, and take advantage of unwary car buyers. In other words, they are scam artists. The vast majority of people today will trade their used car in rather than try to sell it themselves in the newspaper. That means that the vast majority of the alleged private sellers out there are most likely Curbstoners. Be very wary when buying from a private seller. Make sure you examine the Title carefully and see that the name on that Title matches the name of the person selling the car. That old saw "I'm selling it for my girlfriend/brother/mother" is a dead give-a-way. Once you are satisfied that the seller and the owner are one and the same person, then it is time to have that vehicle thoroughly examined by the Auto Analyst.

Odometer Fraud is rampant out there.

One in ten cars on the road today has had it's odometer "Clocked" or rolled back. With todays' digital dashboards, it is easier than ever to change the mileage on a car.

Unfortunately it is near impossible to tell for sure if it has been tampered with just by looking at it. It takes a thorough examination of the vehicles condition that is then compared with the purported mileage it is showing.
Example: We recently inspected a 2004 Nissan 350Z for a client. The vehicle showed 14000 miles on the odometer. Sounds good so far, a nice low mileage one owner car.  However, the brakes were worn out, and the tires were not factory originals and had wear on them. The interior showed a little more wear than expected as did the convertible top. Like the good sleuth that we are, we put these clues together and came to the conclusion that this car had very likely been "Clocked".

What does that Check Engine light mean?

If your Check Engine light is on while the vehicle is running, it is telling you that the computer has found a fault in one the systems it is running. More often than not, it is telling you that one of the several sensors that feed the computer its data, is going bad. A common fault is a bad O2 sensor. It is not unusual to see the Check Engine light intermittently flicker on and off as the sensor slowly fails. When you get a Check engine light, there is no need to panic. You should make an appointment to take the vehicle in to your mechanic at your earliest convenience, but you don't need to pull over on the middle of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge during rush hour and wait for a tow.

What is "Diminished Value"?

"Diminished Value" is simply the difference between what your car was worth before an accident, and what it is worth after the repairs have been made. Surveys show that most people do not want to buy a car that has been in an accident, so a car with an accident history will plummet in value by as much as 30%. Insurance companies are slowly but increasingly coming to the realization that they need to address that loss in addition to the base cost of repairs. You will most likely need an attorney who specializes in this type of claim, and a Diminished Value Appraisal by an unbiased expert - like Auto Analyst of course.