So you are in the market for a used car - the following paragraph will help assist you in selection of a used car that will not only be reliable but save you money as you do have some "flex" or negotiation room on a car contract even if the dealership does not offer a warranty if you know what your looking for and looking at there is a strong possibility a repair can be written into the contract as a condition of sale or a buyers order. Lets get started with this handy guide so you can go investigate your perspective new car. (ENGINE TEMP) - you should start each car your interested in and let it run until thermostat opens up or roughly 15-20 minutes make a note on a piece of paper the temp gauge and what temp its at, a small four cylinder will run hotter than a traditional v8 engine but should never be 75% towards the hot side of the gauge if it is borderline on hot side there are a couple of minor things to look at 1st- are electric fans cycling in front or radiator? If yes then you need to rule out the head gasket by simply shutting car off and CAREFULLY OPENING RADIATOR CAP SLOW WITH A RAG OVER THE TOP OF CAP ,there will be a lot of steam escaping and some coolant but it's important to look into neck of radiator to see if coolant has gasket material in it if nothing is seen while caps off we are going to start car and look into neck again is coolant flowing across the opening? if not it sounds like a water pump if coolant is sporadic in its flow characteristics its looking more like a defective thermostat have it replaced. if you have flow and no gasket material you should be testing the electric fan relay NOTE ON FANS: the fans are dedicated to different functions on a car. the primary fan cycles when engine reaches operating temp while the secondary automatically turns on when you engage your a/c compressor giving your water pump the extra needed helping hand to keep you from boiling over as well as the car. next we are going to look at the gauges on the dash is there a check engine light on? (orange illuminate engine pic)? if so the obd should be scanned by the dealer and repaired. (note on repairs)- there is nothing currently by law forcing the dealership to repair car before leaving unless they write in writing its to be taken care of and when you notice items that will be a potential problem a best practice when approaching your salesman would be to attempt to get him to lower price according to repairs needed (written estimate from mechanic please) this way the dealership positive cashflows on this and the savings can be put toward getting work done yourself. OK so we touched on cooling system and gauges now we need to drive vehicle and check two more items of intrest here, most important is the transmission, does it shift funky from 1st to second? 2nd to third? if yes talk to salesman about trans repair if not willing to repair (in writing the agreement) then return to lot and look for another prospect. Finally if you are looking at a front wheel drive car go to a empty parking lot turn wheel all the way left and drive in a circle do you notice a disturbing clicking? yes- this is the CV joint if no repeat procedure and turn wheel all the way right popping? yes- cv joint, no car is a good candidate ok so perhaps you decided on a nifty truck or sport ute, I cannot stress to you enough to try out the four wheel drive to make sure drive-trane does not bind! most trucks now have an electronic 4x4 switch on the dash please try four low as well as four high if this drives forward without binding its more than likely ok. (when in 4x4 on dry pavement truck will be strange to drive as far as jerking) but what i am worried about is the sound of a bang or metal rolling around beneath the floorboard. note aboute dis engaging 4x4 on some vehicles light will still be on if this happens back up in 2wd in revers for about forty feet or so this should cancel the light.
Electric or power windows- ok so by now we have your salesman nervous eardible and probably swigging a bottle of Maalox but this purchase is about you it's an initial investment not about him at all so when you return to the car lot I want you to make sure The A/c blows cold and the WINDOWS ROLL UP AND DOWN FROM THE MASTER SWITCH ON DRIVERS DOOR! on electric window cars only as this is a spendy repair if they stop working after you leave the car lot your looking at approx $200.00 per window to replace window regulators so a car that has four non functional windows will be around 8hun or so to repair Beware!
Diesel pickups- everyone likes them now adays and fore some it might be a true mark of being macho to drive an oil burner for the practical crowd a turbo diesel one ton truck will run circles around it's gasoline counterparts but some understanding of this powerplant is essential in selecting a used truck.a diesel requires glow plugs heating the cylinders to start combustion process so you will turn key to start position until dashbord indicates ready meaning ok to start. does truck light right off? if no the glow plugs need serviced as one or more of the cylinders has not pre-heated. again estimate from mechanic please. when you drive this mamouth i want you to point outside mirror toward exhaust pipe to check for excessive soot being expulled out the tailpipe (these trucks its not uncommon to have injector pump turned up or a "hot chip" inside the ecm to boost engine output... talk to a professional as this will in turn shorten the life of the engine.
If you go the route of an oil burner i want to talk about shut down as these are AGAIN different from a gasoline engine and being a former over the road driver nothing makes me clench my teeth more then someone rolling or roaring up in a duramax diesel (GMC) or a ford power stroke F350 and turning key directly off! Because its a turbo diesel engine oil is fed through the turbo to cool the turbo and anyone who does not let truck "idle down" before shutting down is a fool because the oil tends to cook inside turbo from excessive heat where as if you idle engine oil flows through engine cooling turbo down take it from a15 year driver. just a side note here, a long block replacement gas engine is about 3,000 USD where a replacement diesel engine is in the neighborhood of 10,000 USD ! so idle it down, PLEASE
