OT Gettting a used car checked by a mechanic before buying it

[Julie Bove]

As well they should.

I think they should.

I have bought 2 cars from private sellers. I was interested in another car that I did not buy based on the work that my mechanic said needed to be done. Car was selling for $200 and it would need about $2,000 in mechanical work plus if I chose to do so, some body work. Nope.

First car was a 1970 Ford Maverick. I had that thing in the shop about every two weeks. Horrible car. Main problem was that it had disc brakes that were realized to be, several years after I bought it, inherently bad.

Other car was a 1974 Dodge Dart. Although it checked out as being good, it threw a rod 2 weeks after I bought it. Mechanic said it was a fluke. I put in a new engine, my dad and I had done some body work prior and had it painted. We did the trim ourselves. And I had no real issues or problems with it for several years after.

Next car was actually purchased from my mechanic. No problems with it whatever but normal wear and tear. I sold it to my BIL who is a mechanic and used car dealer for about what I paid for it. That's how good it retained its value. I also bought two vans from him. One had an issue right away. It was some sensor. Not a real problem but it was making the brake light come on and we were in the middle of a cross country move so that was worrisome.

I have a brand new car now.

I would never do this. My friend did buy a car at an auction and you can't really take it to a mechanic when you do that. It worked out well for her but that isn't always the case.

I have been to many car auctions with my BIL but those are for dealers and not the same as for ordinary citizens. But I know enough what to look for at an auction. Stuff like worn belts, dirty engine, rust, dripping fluids. Also if the car is allowed to be started to look for odd noises and if you can put your foot on the brake pedal to check for mushy brakes. Keep in mind that you can't always start it up.

That being said... I still would not personally buy a car like that unless I could do some mechanical stuff myself, which I can't. Things were a lot different with the older cars that didn't have electronics in them. Back then I did help my dad do some repairs. I wouldn't try it now.

[Julie Bove]

Yeah. And they always take the word of the seller. Any time I sold a used car, I disclosed any information I could about it, including any accidents it had been in, any work I had done and any that I knew needed to be done. But a lot of sellers are not that honest. Or... A lot of buyers see and hear what they want to see and hear.

[Julie Bove]

I have never bought a car with no plates nor would I!

[Julie Bove]

Having a car checked out like this should be a while you wait type thing. Shouldn't really take more than an hour, if that. If it will take longer, many places in this area will give you a ride to your house or some other location and then pick you up when the car is ready to go.

[clare]

Your choice. I've done it many times. But I'm a mechanic (semi retired)

[clare]

Hyundai and Kia make pretty good cars. Very close behind Toyota and Honda - well ahead of Nissan and Mazda (Mazdas LOOK a bit sharper,) and the Germans. Daughter#2 has a 6 year old Honda - bough new and DRIVEN - has had nothing but tires replaced. Daughter #1 just bought a

1 year old Hyundai Elantra GT. Daugher #2 started out with a cheap Colt 200 (Mitsubishi with Dodge nameplates) - with a lot of miles on it. Didn't have much trouble with it - rad, head gasket, and a few things like that - but what do you expect for $1800?? It was never as good a car as a Tercel or Corolla - even on it's best day - but was better than the Hyundai's day. The difference is Hyundai improved. Mitsubishi didn't.

[clare]

Their full-sized and senior mid-size cars are decent. They haven't built a decent compact or subcompact - since the Chevy 2 in the sixties - and that was only a "good" car in comarison to what it was up against. Compared to todays cars it was a "heap".

[clare]

That was true for about 5 years - WAY back in the mid-late seventies. (dual element ballast resistor) When they returned to the single resistor the problem virtually dissapeared.

[clare]

They dissapeared way back about 1980-ish.

[clare]

But they didn't start causing problems untill the dual units that were ussler's early electronic ignition. (1972 - 1980) Echlin ICR24 Apparently they were used on some trucks up until 1994 - but I've never seen one newer than 1980 It was only used on the "5 wire" ECU - replacing wirth a 4 wire meant only a single ballast resistor. One is about 5 ohms, the other about

1 ohm.

[Mark Lloyd]

I had a 1981 Plymouth Horizon. That car had a lot of problems, including:

1. Underpowered engine would die frequently for no apparent reason.

1. Electrical problem that prevented starting every week of so. (It turned out to be a short in the glove compartment; light never went off).

2. Coolant leak that wouldn't show up on leak tests, until someone thought to check the radiator cap.

1. Bent shaft on A/C compressor. It would cost more to fix than in a big car.

I now have a 1998 Chevrolet, which has had very little trouble. Other than tires and batteries, the only major trouble was overheating this year. It needed a new heater hose.

[micky]

Car 4 is like that for me.

I've only had 7 cars in 50 years.

My mother owned and sold the first one, after I went off to college.

But a few months later, when my cousin said he was 80 and was stopping driving, she offered to buy his for me. Instead, he gave it to me so I go the second for free from my cousin and 2 years later when I had 2 cars and could only take one to NYC, I gave it or sold it cheap to a guy who collected them

I got the third free from my brother and 7 years later the city of NY towed it away and crushed it, they said.

I paid 650 for the next one and sold if for 150 seven years later. I figured any car that runs is worth 100 and it was worth 50 more because it was a convertible in a period of several years where no American and no full-size convertibles were made. A few weeks later I found some more parts for it in a closet, a spare oil pan etc, and I called the buyer to give them to him. He complained about the car. He said the water pump was bad. It worked fine the last time I drove it, to New Jersey to look at a replacemment car. The car didn't overheat in that trip, at least 20 miles each way. He said the repair was about 200. I said I had no reason to think the water pump was bad. I thought, You told me your 16 year old son would do the repairs, and the car would be ready when he was old enough to drive in NYC, age 18. And he should be able to do a water pump on a rear wheel drive V-8. I think he hung up on me.

I should say that I"d just repaired the transmision and the guy didn't bother to fix, or even warn me, that the frame piece that went under the rear of the transmision was rotting and a few days after I got the car back, it broke, the transmission fell about 3 inches, and it ripped the exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifold. I think that's where it ripped. So the car made an incredible racket and I had to wear ear plugs. But I wasnt' spending any more money on it, and I only drove to look at cars, maybe just one car. . There was no internet but there was a computer automatch service in each county that matched requests for cars with listings. (You don't need a computer for this, but it attracted attention) I called the 5 countines in NYC, the two on Long Island, Westchester, Putnam in upstate, and 5 counties in New Jersey. Finally found a '73 Buick Centurion at the farthest county, and I drove my own car to look at it. Paid 2300 dollars.

Next 2 cars I gave to a charity. I got a recept for the first but did nothing about a tax deduction, because it was worth almost nothing after I took off parts I wanted. For the second one. he volunteered, "I can't give you a receipt for this one".

Last one overheated in North Carolina. I sold it to my cab driver for

200 dollars. He woudl have paid more I think.

[clare]

Horrednous Horizon, twin brother to the Ominous Omni. The early ones had a crappy 1700cc VW engine later ones got the 2.2 and 2.5 liter Chrysler engine - and even the 2.2 turbo in the GLH - which stood for "goes like hell"

I'd say you had more trouble with your mechanic than with your car!!!

Same parts as on a Dart.

The full sized Chevy is not a bad car. Not a particularly GOOD car either - but - - -

[Michael Wilson]

I would not buy a used car from a private seller without getting it checked out. Generally speaking, I would not spend thousands of dollars on the word of someone wanting to sell me something.

I don't know if the words "as is" were used, but I've bought used cars.

Both times I did it the cars checked out ok. The mechanic checks out the compression, breaks, ball joints, and other things that are not obvious. One mechanic charges me 40 dollars, the other said don't worry about it.

I can't imagine a cop being too much of a stickler if he knows that you are taking the car to get it checked out.

[micky]

After you buy the car, you register it and they give you plates.

If you want to keep your licence plate number, you have to transfer your old plates to your new car, so you have no plates on the old car that you're selling. (For the first time, I know my plates by heard Kaddafi 2,3,4. That is KDF234, or 345, or 543, whatever. This was more fun when Kaddafi was in power. .

One that I looked at, I put my plates on it and drove it about 10 minutes, including an expressway. It was the only car I ever drove with bad acceleration. Could barely make it to 55. I didn't know a guaranteed way to fix that. I probably told him what I didn't like about it, and I saw it sitting in his driveway for a few more weeks.

I've also taken my plates off my car to put on the car I'm buying, just to drive it home. But one time, I absolutely had to do an errand. the day after I bought it. My old car probably didn't run anymore, so the question was, Do I clean off the old plates, so they match the clean new car, but then if I'm stopped, it will look like I went to a lot of trouble to not get caught? Or do I leave them dirty?

I left them dirty and five blocks from my house, at a red light, a cop pulled up behind me. By chance I'm sure. He pulled me over because the plates were drirty and the car was clean. I showed him my license and the bill of sale from yesterday, and he let me go. No ticket.

Come to think of it, if I cleaned the plates, how would he know my old car was dirty? Oh well. If he stoped me for any reason and he ran the plates, he'd be madder than when I left the plates dirty, I think.

[micky]

Yes, I am no better than my customers were. I needed an antenna amp to replace the one that broke (inside the attic, but inside the amp smelled a little like burning) Solidsignal.com says it has 978 of them! Probably does have at least 200. I ended up buying the same model I had before because it was a discounted openbox item, they said. If it fails too, I'll only have 199 models to choose from. (So far, 2 weeks, it's working really well. I get most of DC stations again.)

If some of the food weren't on sale at the supermarket, I woudln't know what to eat.

[micky]

One thing they can do, I think, is tell if the head is cracked. When I though I blew the engine on the last car, and had to add a gallon of water every 5 miles, more if I were going uphill. I went to a repair shop in Asheville, NC and he put some liquid on a device that attached to the radiator. It changed color which he said meant there were exhaust gases in the radiator fluid. I offered but he didnt charge me.

But I've never taken a car I'm about to buy to a mechanic and I've never regretted it. One went two years without a repair. Most went two years with less than 100 dollars in repairs. That one in New Jersey that wouldn't shift to 4th***. I should have noticed that (because I drive in first, then move to second and listen for the shift, then switch to third and listen for the shift, etc. I think this had no setting for first and I concluded the car had only three gears. But even if I had noticed, I would still have bought the car because it was the only full sized convertible at any price (other than a Cadillac Eldorado t hat I thought was too flashy for me) in 15 counties with a population of 12 million or more.

***And eventually I noticed that it got so hot under the hood that plastic things melted.

I don't ask sellers for details about the car, because I don't want to make liars out of them, or be mad later if I find out they lied to me. So I don't ask and I don't get mad.

The guy selling the car above volunteered that his son was moving to Kansas and didnt' need a car anymore. What! You don't need a car in Kansas? I told myself that maybe he meant his new job that made him move provided him with a car. But it was probably the gas mileage, very low. But I had no alternative. That might have been the car I used to move, separately, two spinet pianos. Can't do that with a small car.

[micky]

ROTFLOL. I wanted to get married, but at least there are some advantages to being single.

[gfretwell]

I have had 10 cars (4 new), 3 trucks and 6 motorcycles in 50 years. My wife has had 6 cars and 2 trucks in the last 30 years.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I did plenty of fixing along the way. Some was expected from wear, others gave out far too soon.

Most GM cars have been OK. This LeSabre was full of little problems. First car I ever had to replace rusted out brake lines. Three of the four window regulators went bad. I never put the back windows down much so I propped them closed with wood sticks. Steering wheel controls did not work. Climate control put hot air out on one side, cold on the other. Reversible if you changed the temperature though. Heated seat gave out after 42,000 miles, but only 2 years. GM would not help with warranty but wanted $672 to replace the entire seat bottom because a $12 part failed. Two sections of the rear defroster did not work. Transmission was rebuilt at 85k. About another dozen small things.

In eight years, Hyundai needed nothing other than normal maintenance. No GM car has ever been so good.