For the past six months other students whispered your name when you walked down the campus halls. You were oblivious to the fact that your hair fell out, your eyes bulged from their sockets and you weigh in at a scant 98 pounds. Your friends think you're anorexic. Little do they know you've been purposely starving yourself and forgoing lunch meals in a quest to scrounge up those precious dollars to afford your own car.
Well Skippy, it's been a long time coming but it's time for you to buy that special ride you'd be proud to finally call your own. But before you mindlessly plop your hard-earned money on that Honda Civic or Nissan 240SX, 2NR offers some helpful tips to safeguard yourself when purchasing that used car.
1.1 Have you ever walked though a junkyard and noticed back- or front-half clips lined for miles on end? These clips are sold to body shops and used to weld a front-half and back-half chassis frame together like legos. Many times private owners and even large dealerships are unaware they are selling these Frankenstein cars. It's up to you as the consumer to inspect the entire length of the chassis for weld marks while looking over the undercarriage for additional damage, such as cracks or rust.
1.2 Stay away from vehicles that have been in any sort of accident, mainly front-end collisions. Many body shops will use the cheapest materials, including body panels, as replacement parts. The cheaper the parts, the more profit collected from the insurance company. Depending on the accident's severity, frontal collisions often damage the air conditioning, weaken the chassis structure and cause many problems hidden to the human eye such as electrical, suspension or wheel-bearing damage.
1.3 Major dents on the fenders or rear-quarter panels are usually visible to the naked eye, but some damage requires a closer inspection. Stand on either end of the front-quarter panel and look directly down the side. Does the reflection look straight and solid or are there numerous imperfections within the glare such as mismatched paint? Do the doors look misaligned? Are there ripples throughout the panels? These signs indicate that the car has likely been in an accident. If the damage looks minimal, you can use it as bargaining power to lower the price.
1.4 Check the gaps along the fenders, doors, trunk lid and hood to verify the car hasn't been in a fender-bender. If the gapping on the driver's side front fender looks narrower than the passenger's side, it could mean it was hit by another vehicle.
1.5 Cheap repairs are always noticeable. Most manufacturers bake the factory paint onto the vehicle, making it almost impossible for auto collision shops to replicate the same quality. "Orange peel" marks (peeling paint or clear coat) on the edges of window trims or fenders can indicate shoddy paint and body work.
1.6 Does the owner deny having aftermarket paint? You'd be surprised how many clues painters leave behind. The first place to inspect is the rubber hose that insulates your wires between the doorjamb. Check the bolts on the fenders and hood. These bolts should be in original, virgin status and not tampered with. This is another reason why manufacturers apply anti-tamper paint on engine bolts.
1.7 If you suspect the car has been in a fender-bender and cleverly patched up with repairs, place a magnet on parts of the body you suspect were repaired. If the magnet falls off or refuses to stick to a specific portion of the fenders or doors, either body filler or bondo was used to conceal the damage.