Buying a used car is an exciting and stressful time for any buyer but, there’s a couple of things that you can look out for that make the entire experience just a bit better.
Whether you’re buying your first car or just replacing one in the family fleet, you’re usually looking for something fairly specific, which leads to our first piece of advice.
1. Set guidelines for what you want – Making sure that you (and everyone who’s going to be using the car needs) is the most underrated aspect of buying in our opinion. For example, you might want a car with a large, cavernous interior that holds 5 people and language but, that doesn’t always mean you need an SUV.
Set at least some guidelines about what size, age and features you need and what you want the car to do.
2. Talk to a mechanic about your options – While a mechanic might only ever see the worst-case scenario for a car, it also tends to stick with us what cars have cost a lot to repair and which cars we see more often.
For example, the Holden Captiva ticks the boxes of most families in size, comfort and power but, most mechanics lament the existence of these un-gamely beasts due to consistent issues in many areas.
Knowing which cars are going to be expensive to fix or break down more often will truly save you down the line.
3. Know the good signs when looking at cars – There are a couple of things that really stand out to us when looking at a used car that should be common knowledge. Such as checking the logbooks for consistent service history and looking at the underside of the engine (where possible) to see if any oil leaks are present or have been washed away but left a stain.
Our favourite trick is looking at the brand and age of the tyres. If the car has near new name brand tyres (Pirelli, Continental, Khumo, etc.) there’s a fair chance that the owner cared about the car.
4. Get a mechanic to check over the car – For the sake of an hour and $100, you’ll know more about the car than most sellers do.
5. Don’t be afraid to walk away – We’ve saved the most important for last. If you feel uncomfortable about a car in any way, there’s no worry in just walking away from it entirely. Remember, with the current car market in Australia, it’ll likely only be a couple of days before you find a better option.
These might only be a couple of tips but remember, if you have any questions at all, you can always reach our Kashy mechanics here.