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Vehicle
Inspection
This article will provide you
with the understanding of what is required during a pre-purchase
inspection. It is not a complete mechanical inspection, but rather a
systematic process to reveal potential problems. There are many
steps to follow if you are looking for a safe reliable vehicle. It
starts out with getting as much information as you can before you
see the car. You will of course want to be sure that the car has all
the options and the kilometers is within what you are comfortable
with. If you can get the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) from
the seller before you see the car, you can run a vehicle history
check. CARFAX
provides a vehicle history with details obtained from many sources
across
North America
. If you are concerned about owning a written off rebuild, or a
flooded car, you will want to purchase a CARFAX
report. You can get province/state registration history,
emission test mileages, damage/claim history. Getting the
vehicle’s history will be very good start to reducing the chance
of getting caught with a vehicle that can be a regrettable purchase.
CARFAX
reports are available as a single report, or a 30-day unlimited
report.
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If the vehicle has been
emission tested in BC, and having the VIN, you can run these
numbers through the AirCare
website to not only see the testing results history of the
vehicle, you can see the mileage at testing. This will help you
access the actual mileage. And this information is free. If the
owner has service and repair records, compare the mileage
recorded to the mileage from the CARFAX
or AirCare
reports.
Bring a flashlight, a
rag, and a pen and paper. Check the mileage now so that you
don’t waste your time checking the rest of the car. Is it
miles or kilometers? Does it match up with what you have
determined it to be from the records you have viewed? Ideally
you should view the vehicle on a dry sunny day. Darkness and
rain can cover up body damage and make the inspection process
more difficult. Start by slowly walking around the vehicle. You
are looking for differences in body color and door, hood and
truck gaps that are not even. Get down along side the car, front
and back, to view down the side of the body. The contours should
be smooth and graceful. Ripples in body panels signal a poor
body repair. Moldings should fit snug and not be coming loose.
Look for rust along the lower and rear sections of the body.
Stone damage can remove the protective coatings and allow rust
to get a hold of the metal below. Also check along window edges
for rust that is buried beneath the moldings, waiting to cause
trouble later. Repairing rust is a very expensive and chancy
repair. If the body shop isn’t diligent, the rust WILL be
back, and bubble up through that nice shiny paint. The fender
edges should be smooth and even as you glide your finger tips
along them. If the edge varies in thickness, their may have been
repairs to cover up rust. When the car manufacturer made the
vehicle, all the lower parts; rocker panels and lower fender,
looked as good as the top parts of the car. They may be dirty
and dull, but should be solid when you thump them with your
hand. Look for things like tail lights not fitting precisely.
Moldings and door handles with paint on their edge are a sign of
body repairs. If you suspect a repair was done, and if you can
open a truck and pull the liner back, you may expose the ugly
side of the repair. It’s obvious that the most important
finish is the outside, so less time is spent on making it look
good behind the truck liner or the lower part of the rocker
panel.
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