Questions to ask when buying a Used Car (Part 1)

I bought my first car when I was 25 after seven years of traveling by foot and public transportation. With a budget of about $2500, I had this crazy idea of finding myself a reliable vehicle that would take me off on a solo cross-country road trip. Knowing nothing about cars, and with only a vague idea of what to look for and how to start, I began perusing Craigslist and the local paper’s auto listings.

After only a week of searching, I found my baby: a 1993 white Honda Accord that took me through the Rocky Mountains, across the Mojave desert, and up the California coast. One year later, I’m back home and the car is still running strong. Guided by this list of questions, I was able to successfully buy my first used car, without getting stuck with a lemon. You can ask these questions when speaking to a seller over the phone, or when looking at a car in-person:

1. Why are you selling?

This will tell you a lot about the car. You might learn that the car has horrible gas mileage, or that it doesn’t handle well in the snow. Ideally, you’ll want to hear that the car is being sold because of circumstances unrelated to its condition or quality. For example, the woman I bought my car from was moving out of the country and had to leave her car behind.

2. How many miles does the car have on the odometer?

3. How would you describe the car’s condition? When was the last time you had major work done on the car, and what was repaired/replaced? Is there any work that needs to be done that you are aware of? Is there any damage to the car’s interior upholstery or outer body?

Armed with this information, you can look up the car on the Kelley Blue Book website to gauge what the asking price should be.

4. Are you the original owner? If not, where did you buy it and whom did you buy it from? How many registered owners has the car had over its lifetime?

It’s ideal to buy a car from its original owner, or a person who has owned the car for at least a few years, with only one or two other previous owners. Single-owner vehicles tend to be maintained better, and the seller will have all of the information about the car’s history.

5. Do you have service records for the car?

The seller should be able to tell you all of the recent work that has been done on the car. Prepare yourself by looking up the make, model, and year of the car in the Consumer Reports Auto Guide (available at your local library, if you don’t wish to pay for an online subscription), which will list common problems to be aware of. If you are looking at a car that is over 8 years old, be sure to ask about the timing belt and the brakes.

—Merete Mueller

Articles that may be related to this one

• July 6, 2010 -- Questions to ask when buying a Used Car (Part 2)