Transcript
00:00
Hey guys, ChrisFix here,
00:01
today, I’m gonna show you how to inspect a used car before you buy it.
00:05
I just drove by this car for sale on the side of the road,
00:08
so I’m gonna go take a look at it and show you everything that I normally look at
00:12
when checking out a used car.
00:13
Now there’s no owner to open the doors, so I can’t go for a test drive or anything like that.
00:18
I literally just saw this on the side of the road,
00:20
and I’m seeing this car for the first time with you guys.
00:23
So I’m gonna show you how to figure out if it’s worth
00:25
the time and effort to call up the owner and go for a test drive.
00:28
Now the best part is, anybody could inspect a used car,
00:31
you don’t need to be a car expert.
00:33
You just need to know what to look at,
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and I’m gonna show you all of that.
00:36
So let’s begin.
00:37
Now when inspecting a used car,
00:39
there are five main things to look at.
00:41
The first thing you need to look at is the For Sale sign.
00:44
It gives you a ton of information, such as mileage and price,
00:47
sometimes that price is so ridiculously high it’s not even worth your time,
00:50
cause you’ll never negotiate it down to your buying point.
00:53
If all of that checks out,
00:54
the second thing you’re gonna look at is the body.
00:56
You’re gonna look at dents, scratches,
00:58
rust, and stuff like that.
00:59
The third thing we’re gonna look at, are the wheels and tires,
01:02
because tires and wheels could get expensive,
01:04
and it’s definitely important that your tires are in good shape.
01:07
The fourth thing we’re gonna look at, is the interior.
01:09
Since we can’t get in the car,
01:10
we’re gonna look through the window.
01:12
But we’re gonna look for stuff like rips, tears,
01:14
and any options the car has.
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And number five, the last thing we’re gonna look at,
01:18
is underneath the car.
01:19
You’re gonna look for any rust, leaks,
01:21
and any damage to the frame
01:22
that indicates that it might have been in an accident.
01:24
This might seem like a lot to remember,
01:26
But I made it really simple for you,
01:28
and in the description is a link to my
01:30
to my how to buy a used car checklist.
01:32
This way you can print this out, keep it in your car,
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and you wont forget to inspect anything
01:36
when you see a used car on the side of the road.
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It’s all right here,
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and you can even take notes,
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so let’s get started.
01:42
The for sale sign is gonna give you tons of information.
01:45
You wanna look at the year, which is an ’04;
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this is an X-Type;
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this is the 2.5, cause they did make a 3.0
01:52
The mileage is very important,
01:53
and then it gives you some information.
01:55
It says it runs great,
01:56
needs nothing, all-wheel drive, navigation, sunroof.
01:59
Over here it says text and call,
02:01
and you always call, I’ll show you how to do that,
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at the end of this video, I’ll explain the best questions to ask ’em,
02:06
and then he has his original price crossed off,
02:08
and then it says reduced to 3,000.
02:10
Now this is a little trick people use
02:12
cause then you feel like ‘Okay, I don’t have to negotiate,
02:14
I already got 500 dollars off,’
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but don’t fall for it.
02:17
Just focus on the actual price,
02:19
which is three grand.
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And if they don’t include a price on their for sale sign,
02:22
then don’t even bother with the car.
02:24
Think about it,
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would you shop in a store that doesn’t have prices on its items?
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No!
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So don’t waste your time,
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that’s one tip I’ve learned after looking at thousands of used cars.
02:32
So now that we’ve looked at the for sale sign,
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let’s go look at number two, the body of the car.
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Alright, this is what everybody’s good at,
02:39
inspecting the body of the car.
02:40
You’re just gonna be looking at the bodywork,
02:42
to see if there’s any damage.
02:43
So let’s start at the front here,
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right away something that grabbed my eye is this scratch right here.
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Unfortunately, even a little scratch like this,
02:50
could cost you a lot of money.
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So this brings up the important point of
02:53
you have to figure out what you’re looking for.
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If blemishes like this don’t bother you,
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scratches and dents can significantly drop the price of the car,
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cause people really focus on looks,
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and that ends up working in your favor.
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And don’t think that fixing scratches and dents is easy.
03:06
Even to remove a dent like this,
03:08
could be up to 100 bucks.
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And then if there’s a scratch where you need to do some paintwork,
03:12
matching paint, especially on an older car, is difficult.
03:15
So just keep stuff like that in mind.
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Now if you care about scratches, and you saw this,
03:19
I’d walk away from the car,
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because this would be an expensive fix.
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Even though for this purchase I don’t mind some scratches,
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these are pretty bad.
03:26
And speaking about scratches,
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here’s a really useful tip;
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when you’re looking at the body of the car,
03:30
never inspect a wet car.
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Whether it’s from rain, or the car’s just been washed,
03:35
water’s gonna hide scratches and dents.
03:37
Now if we come around to the passenger side,
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there are some scratches here on the door, that have been touched-up,
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but they didn’t match the paint very well.
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And then if you’re looking at the rocker panel here,
03:45
looks like there’s a hole covered by Duct Tape.
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Yeah, that’s a hole.
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And there’s a dent here.
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But that hole is pretty bad, and it’s gonna need some repair work.
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And then there’s a dent right up here at the front quarter panel,
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which stands out pretty good,
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I noticed that when I first saw the car.
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Even worse is this front bumper,
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which they really should have just left alone,
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looks like they tried to glue it or something.
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And that’s gonna be a pain to fix.
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So overall, the body’s just in fair condition.
04:08
It’s on the edge of what I would purchase,
04:10
but I think these problems will help me knock down the price,
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and just because this is gonna be a commuter car for the city,
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it’s not a deal breaker for me.
04:17
Now that we’re at the front of the car,
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the next thing to look at are these headlights.
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You can see these are all hazed up,
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and these headlights can get expensive.
04:23
But you know I have a permanent fix,
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which is pretty cheap, so this isn’t a big deal.
04:27
Now’s also a good time to check out the glass.
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Look for any cracks or chips,
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because glass could get expensive.
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On this jag, it costs over 500 dollars to replace the windshield.
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While you’re inspecting the glass,
04:36
be sure to look at different angles,
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because sometimes chips are hard to see.
04:40
And since we’re looking at the glass,
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check the inspection sticker,
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because that’ll give you an idea if the car needs to get inspected soon.
04:45
Also, if the inspection is not up to date,
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there could be a problem with the car,
04:49
or the car has been sitting for a while.
04:50
You could also check out the brake rotors to see if the car has been sitting.
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On this car, you can see the rotors are shiny,
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which means it’s been used recently,
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but if you see rusty rotors,
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that could indicate that the car has been sitting for a while.
05:00
And I look for this, because cars are designed to be driven,
05:03
so if they sit for a long time,
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they could develop problems that might not pop up on a test drive.
05:08
Now that’s how you check out the body of the car,
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we did a great job covering everything,
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we have a good idea of the condition of the body of this car.
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So let’s go look at the next thing;
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the wheels and tires.
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So we’re gonna see how much life the tires have left;
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but before that,
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let’s make sure all four wheels and tires are the same,
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and not damaged.
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So the first thing we wanna do is make sure all four tires are the same.
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In the front we have BF Goodrichs,
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I checked the other side, and it’s the same.
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Now I checked the rear, and both rear tires are the same;
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but they’re a different brand from the front.
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Now this isn’t the greatest setup,
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but as long as the tires are all the same size,
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and as long as the tires in the front match,
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and the tires in the rear match,
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that’s okay.
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What you don’t want to see, is a different tire on each corner.
05:47
Next make sure all your rims are the same.
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I had a friend who bought a car,
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and there were two of the same rim on one side,
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but on the other side the rims were different,
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and he didn’t even notice this,
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until I pointed it out after he bought the car.
05:59
Now I don’t know about you,
06:00
but these wheels do not look good on this car,
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at all.
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On top of that,
06:04
these wheels have a ton of curb rash,
06:06
all around the rim, and the paint is chipping off,
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so this right here is a big expense.
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The last thing to check
06:12
is how much life do the tires have left,
06:13
since new tires are expensive.
06:15
To do this, if you have some loose change,
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grab a penny,
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and use the top of Abe Lincoln’s head,
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and put it in the groove of the tire.
06:21
In the front, Abe Lincoln’s head is covered by the tread,
06:24
so there is plenty of tread left,
06:26
but in the rear, you can see the top of Abe Lincoln’s head.
06:28
Which means you need new tires.
06:30
And if you don’t have a penny,
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there is a wear indicator band
06:33
in the tread of the tire.
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So when that band is touching the edge of the tread,
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that means you need new tires,
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right away.
06:39
Now these rear tires here, would be dangerous to drive on
06:41
in the rain or the snow.
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Make sure you go ahead and check each tire,
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and on this car, the front tires are in good shape,
06:46
but the rear tires need to be replaced.
06:48
Tires are very important for safety,
06:50
and they can get expensive,
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plus most people don’t think about checking tires on a used car.
06:54
Now that we’re done looking at the wheels and tires,
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let’s take a look at the interior.
06:58
Since the owner isn’t here to open the door for us,
07:00
we’re gonna have to look through the glass,
07:01
but there’ll be plenty to look at,
07:03
so let’s take a look and see.
07:04
So you’re looking at anything that stands out.
07:07
The first thing i look at
07:08
is to see if the car is an automatic or a manual.
07:10
This is an automatic, which is what I’m looking for.
07:12
Then take a look at the seats,
07:14
and see if there are any rips or tears.
07:16
These seats look like they’re in great shape,
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next look at the steering wheel,
07:19
and see if it’s worn out.
07:20
And again, this looks like it’s in good condition.
07:22
Also, check out the headliner, to see if it’s sagging anywhere,
07:25
and in this case it looks good in the front,
07:28
and in the rear.
07:29
And the rear seats and carpets
07:31
look like they’re in good shape as well,
07:32
except I do see a cut along the middle of the seat.
07:35
So that pretty much covers the interior.
07:37
Now, for the last thing we’re gonna look at,
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let’s check under the car.
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I’m starting at the front of the car,
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and the sub-frame looks straight,
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and it isn’t rusted,
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next I’m looking for any leaks over by the engine,
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and there aren’t any visible leaks.
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Which is good.
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So now we’ll go from the front of the car,
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to the side, and we’ll work our way around.
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These jags are known to have problems with rusting
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right under the rocker panels.
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So let’s see if there’s any rust underneath,
08:01
and looking over here, this looks surprisingly good
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I actually checked out one Jaguar where I touched this,
08:06
and the metal broke off in my hand.
08:08
So if you have an interest in a particular car,
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definitely do a little research,
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so you know what to look for while you’re inspecting the used car.
08:14
Now the other thing is, make sure you look at the frame,
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and that looks straight, and there’s no rust on that either.
08:19
Looking towards the center of the car,
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everything is rust-free, and it all looks really good.
08:24
Now let’s move to the rear.
08:26
Under the rear, a good thing to look at
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is this spare tire carrier,
08:30
because if the car was in a significant rear end collision,
08:33
it’s really hard for body shops to unbend this metal,
08:36
so there would be obvious crumples or damage to this piece of metal if it was hit hard.
08:40
Looking at the exhaust, it’s rust free, which is great.
08:44
The rear suspension looks really good,
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there’s no rust, the shocks aren’t leaking.
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I don’t see any oil or grease anywhere.
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Where the differential is, I don’t see any leaks.
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And looking at the other side, everything looks good there as well.
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So let’s quickly check out the other side,
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and this side looks good, with no rust,
09:00
everything looks straight and solid,
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and the underside of this car was pretty good compared to some of the other cars I’ve been seeing.
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Alright, and that covers the five main areas you should look at
09:09
when inspecting a used car.
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Hopefully the video was helpful,
09:12
and if you have your own tips, leave them in the comments section below,
09:15
because I’m sure there’s gonna be a ton of people looking for all the tips they can get.
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Stay tuned for the next video,
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where I show you what questions to ask when you call the owner up on the phone.
09:23
I’ll also show you all the tips and trick I have,
09:26
for when you take the car out for a test drive.
09:27
And also, don’t forget,
09:28
you can download the ChrisFix used car checklist,
09:31
with the link in the description.