| We are back with part three of the series, Questions | | | | with confusing, incomplete, or just downright incorrect |
| to Ask When Buying a Used Car. In part two, we | | | | data. |
| covered the questions about the drive train, service | | | | I like to take a blank sheet of paper and begin each |
| history, and accident history. In this part we are getting | | | | entry with the year, make, model, price, and phone |
| right down into the finer details of what questions to | | | | number from the ad while I am dialing. That means I |
| ask when you are interviewing used car sellers over | | | | am writing about that vehicle before I even have the |
| the phone before you travel out to see their car for | | | | person on the line. From there I just add the details and |
| sale. | | | | then make a line across and call another one. After |
| It's worthwhile to ask the seller how much rust their car | | | | several calls have been made, it's easy to look back |
| has. Let's talk about rust. Even a car that is only a few | | | | and see which ones look the best. Take your notes |
| years old can have a little rusty spot or two. An older | | | | with you on your actual visit and compare what the |
| automobile that is for example 10 or 15 years old can | | | | seller has told you with your sheet to see if they were |
| potentially have anywhere between no rust at all and | | | | being straight with you over the phone. |
| a serious cancer condition. No one likes a rusty car, but | | | | Ask the sellers if there are any problems that they are |
| it's obvious that the less there is the better. | | | | aware of with their car? Again make notes on their |
| It is always interesting to ask about rust over the | | | | answers. It's okay to spend a little time on this one. |
| phone with a used car because everyone has a | | | | You can subtly remind them that it's important to be |
| different perception about how much rust their car has. | | | | truthful here by telling them what you want the car for |
| It is difficult to quantify, and it's all relative. Some people | | | | and why you are concerned about its future reliability. |
| have told me that their car is very rusty, and when I | | | | Ask them if this car needs anything in order to be safe |
| went to see it I found that it had almost no rust at all | | | | to drive right now, in the near future, and in the distant |
| by my standards! The opposite scenario is more | | | | future. |
| typical. | | | | You should always ask them what they have done in |
| The answers to the rust question are often misleading, | | | | terms of maintenance or repairs to the car lately, and |
| but ask anyway and write down their responses. If | | | | if they have the receipts to prove the work. If they |
| you do go out to look at the car later, you can learn | | | | have no receipts, then be very skeptical of the |
| more about the seller by referring to your notes. | | | | maintenance history. No service records usually mean |
| Speaking of notes, it's a really good idea to take | | | | incomplete maintenance which spells trouble for any |
| careful notes when car shopping over the phone. It is | | | | used vehicle later in life. |
| possible to gather so much information in a relatively | | | | That wraps up part three. In part four, I'll cover some |
| short period of time, that if you don't record what | | | | more specifics including expensive-to-replace |
| you've learned in a systematic way, you will end up | | | | critical-car-components! Thanks for reading. |