Carfax at the ready? Its pricey and it's not the best story teller, theres almost no service records on mine. At the very least it will tell you what regions it was registered to, and if its stolen
You should be able to run the plate right away, and then double check against the vin when your interest starts perking up. Seller shouldn't have any problem with you looking at the vin. But they could rightfully be annoyed to wait for you to sign up and or pay for the carfax while youre using their time
Thanks for the tip on Carfax! Although I knew about it, I had forgotten about it. I'll look into what options they have available and make the purchase if interest continues at that point.
I generally replace all fluids when I purchase.
Look over the suspension, ball joints, bushings etc. that can give you a comfort level driving home and maybe a bargaining chip if they are worn.
Check the condition of the tranny fluid.
Generally if a car is clean inside then they take care of maintenance also.
Take an OBDII reader.
Engine oil, coolant, brake fluid, and ATF. The listing does say "Transmission recently serviced". I wonder if it has the known transmission shudder
.
I guess I should take my jack then and get under the car to check the bushings and ball joints?
The pictures show that the inside is immaculate and leather shows as clean. I'll have a better idea when I see it in person.
OBD-II scanner already stuffed in my wallet so I don't forget!
Look at the fluids, as stated. While they could have just replaced them, it's worth checking. Get under the car and verify it all looks "straight". Open the trunk and pull back the carpet to look for any prior body repairs. Bad wrecks show up internally.
While you should always check shocks and springs, at this age unless recently changed they will be soft. Also check the weather stripping. I can verify the costs add up.
Otherwise driving a car always tells me the story. If she's smooth, you'll know it.
Pulling back on interior, got it. What parts of the interior would be easiest to pull back while also showing witness marks of prior damage (if any).
The listing states that "suspension recently replaced" (or thereabouts). I'll check suspension nonetheless.
The door fabric staying on the door is a good confirmation that the car had been sitting for better or worse. If theyve been registering the car as often as CA would probably require, you'd see the progression of miles on the report. 80k is a good number if they managed to smog it every year. Thats one good thing about smogging... you can see they were able to move the car when they had to and bet money that it would pass
If it's been sitting outside, right? Smog is every year, and because of this, I learned that it's also required up to 90 days before the sale of a vehicle. I don't think the seller knew this either.
ChrisFix has a used-car purchase checklist that you can download. I found that very helpful.
Thanks! I'll look into this!
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