“One of the most important aspects of a used car is its maintenance history. You want to make sure you’re buying a vehicle that has had routine oil changes and major mileage services. Always ask the seller, even if it’s a car dealership, for all service records.”

However, here is one recommendation that you will have a tough time following. Dealers sell 90% of the used cars sold in America, and it is VERY rare to find service records at a dealership. The original owner may have kept great records, but they may not have made all the way to the retailing dealer who is offering it for sale. A thorough pre-purchase inspection will show if a car has been well maintained or not (a point covered later in the article).

you’ll need to have someone else do a thorough inspection to make sure it’s in good working condition. A PPI, or Pre-Purchase Inspection, is performed by a neutral third party (such as a certified mechanic or automotive technician) and costs about $100 to $200.

Hallelujah! Absolutely true.

See the rest of the article here: 5 Used-Car Red Flags

Fixing bumpers can be expensive. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tested six midsized sedans and found none of their bumpers held up well in the kinds of low-speed impacts bumpers are supposed to sustain.

The Institute tested the Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda 6, and Nissan Maxima. None were rated Good. Bumpers on the Mazda 6, the best performer in the test, rated Acceptable. IIHS rates cars on a scale of Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor. The Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata rated Marginal. The other three cars received Poor ratings.

See the rest of the article here: Yahoo News

Joelle Christine Cummings purchased a 2005 Nissan 350Z from Daewoo Richmond, now known as Auto Couture, in June of 2006. A week later, she was in a single-vehicle crash on Nordel Way in North Delta, which accident experts attributed to the lack of tread on her vehicle’s rear tires.

It took three years but she finally got her money back. Now if she had gotten a Pre Purchase inspection before buying that car, she could have saved herself a lot of trouble. This kind of thing goes on all the time. Dealers selling cars with nearly bald tires on them, and yet they have been “inspected” and have a Virginia inspection sticker in the window. How does this happen? Most larger dealers do their own state inspections and the tech doing the job has no incentive to really look the car over. Smaller dealers will use a local inspector, but they are generally in the dealers pocket if you know what I mean. Now, it is unfair to suggest that all dealers are either dishonest or lazy, but there is no way to tell the difference when you walk in that door to look at a car. Nothing substitutes for a thorough Pre Purchase Inspection from an unbiased independent Inspector and Appraisor.

See the rest of the article here: http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southdelta/richmondreview/news/52013777.html

Honda Motor Co. said Friday it widened a previously announced recall to add 440,000 cars that could have a lethal airbag defect.

Affected models include the 2001-2002 Honda Accord, 2001 Civic and 2002-2003 Acura TL.

The potential defect has caused 6 known injuries and one known death, according to Honda spokesman Chris Naughton.

See the rest of the article here: Yahoo News

He gives great advice on all points in this one. This Video is Auto Analyst approved.

The Worst used car: The Chrysler Sebring. It is simply the most unreliable and fit/finish challenged car out there. Don’t touch one of these with a 10 foot pole.

The best used car? The Honda Civic. They are just plain bullet proof.

Looking for an SUV? Here is one that did not make Yahoos list of good used vehicles, but its one of my favorites: The Toyota 4Runner. Not great gas mileage, but one of the most reliable vehicles ever made. Look at 1997 through current models years for a bullet proof truck that will last 4ever!

See the whole article here: Used Car Lemons And Lemonade

When you sit down to negotiate, the salesman will pull out a “four-square” worksheet on which to work out the terms of the deal. In the four quadrants of the sheet the salesman will record purchase price, down payment, monthly payments, and trade-in value. He will fill in the sheet as you talk, working the deal like a shell game

This is a very typical trick used by car dealers to keep you off balance during negotiations.

The sales manager gets cast as the villain in a good cop/bad cop routine some salesmen play with buyers. You’ll negotiate a price, and the salesman will leave to get approval from his sales manager, painting the salesman as your ally and the manager as a common enemy.

This is taught in every car dealership I have ever been to/worked for in my 20+ years in the business.

If you are thinking of trading in your old car when you buy a new one, someone may borrow your keys to evaluate your ride. If negotiations stall and you try to leave, you might find that they’ve been “misplaced”

This is a dirty trick used by unscrupulous dealers to keep you captive. Always have a spare key to your car, and don’t be afraid to walk out and leave your key behind. That wokrs well, UNLESS the dealer has also blocked your car in to make it impossible for you to leave.

These are all good things to watch out for when you go to a dealership to buy a car. Read the rest of the article here: Car Dealer Tricks To Watch For

Another important point to remember: Don’t get hung up on a cars mileage – high or low. Mileage is not always or even often a very good indicator of how good or bad a car is. The only thing that matters is condition. Condition, condition, condition.  More times than I can count I have inspected cars with extremely low miles that were riddled with major issues. I have also seen many many high mileage cars that were maintained meticulously, and in the end were the “Best Deal” out there. So don’t be turned off by a car because it has more miles than you like. Pay attention to its actual condition, and how well maintained it was. This is where getting a Pre Purchase Inspection from a professional like Auto Analyst  is key.

One more point to keep in mind: Don’t get hung up on the idea of a “Certified Used Car”. They may actually be one of the least likely “Best Deals” out there. The price is generally considerably higher, and certified cars are no more likely to not have issues than any other car. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because it is “Certified” that someone has actually inspected it from top to bottom. Very often it simply means that the dealership has changed the oil and other fluids. I once inspected a “Certified” car that had been in a major accident sustaining bad frame damage, with many replaced body parts. The car was still crooked, but it was “Certified”.

So to sum up, with the exception of curbstoners, it doesn’t really matter where you find your car, just  do your homework, find reviews on the cars you are interested in, shop hard, and get that pre purchase inspection and appraisal before you plunk down your hard earned money.

Any Car without a Service History

In this age of computerized record keeping, a car without a comprehensive service history is simply a car that hasn’t been serviced. It doesn’t matter if the guy selling it swears he always changed the oil himself; you have to assume that what’s currently in the crankcase has been coagulating in there since the early Pleistocene.

OK, I think this is a bit much. I don’t know too many people who keep comprehensive service records on their cars. Do you? Also, most used cars are sold by dealers. They are not likely to have the service records unless the previous owner provided them, or they were doing the maintenance themselves. If you find a car where the owner has kept good records, so much the better. If you don’t, a good pre purchase inspection will get to the bottom of whether it was well maintained or not.

Any Car with a Salvage Title

Insurance companies aren’t in the business of losing money. So it’s a good bet that if a car has been written off as a total loss, it’s because it really was a total loss. If it had been worth fixing, the insurance company would have fixed it.

While it is true that  most “Salvage” branded cars are as they describe here, it is not always the case. A car can also get branded as ”Salvaged” if it was stolen and the insurance company payed off the claim before it was recovered. If you find a Salvage car that you like, get a pre purchase inspection to determine if it was salvaged due to a wreck or for some other reason. Sometimes you can get a great deal on a stolen/recovered car that has been branded “Salvage”.

Check the rest of the article here: Yahoo Autos