Buying a second hand car is probably the best option to go for in the today’s scenario. Today’s life is fast and changing, gone are those days when buying a car used to be considered as an investment on an asset like buying a home. For an individual belonging to a middle class family it is not possible to keep spending money each year on a new car just to be in touch with the latest trend in the market(Of course who would not love to!). Cars are like computers these days P-I, P-II…….
The important thing to consider before buying a second hand car is the technicality of the car. I mean one should ensure that the car is worth the price you are paying for. Moreover keep in mind that if you are buying a car today then you will also need to sell it off some day. You would certainly approach a car dealer for that. And how do they value your car is entirely different then how you look at a car while buying it.
There are three important factors for a car to be called healthy and non-accidental.
Apron
Engine
Body line
Apron is basically the mounting on which the entire engine rests. If the car is accidental(which the seller/dealer will never tell) you will never be able to get the right wheel alignment for your car. Every month you need to be sitting in the alignment shop and spending money for the same. And if u don’t do that, be ready to invest money on the front tyres every 5 to 6 thousand kms. It eats away the tyres. Now how to you make out whether the car apron is accidental or not. When you open any car bonnet you find two shocker joints from both wheels coming up. The entire area near to those shockers is messed up with some kind of welding stuff. In fact that is what you call APRON. Now what you need to do is prick that area with your nail. If you find your nail going in softly it is proved that the apron of the car is original. And just in case, you feel that it is hard for your nail to get in, its for sure that the apron is manipulated and that car is accidental. An original apron is welded with a special kind of ‘masala’ which a local car repair mechanic will never be able to fetch. Even if you get the car repaired at the original company showroom. It is all build up in an isolated environment while the car body is manufactured.
Engine indeed is the most important part of your car. One easiest and quickest way to know the healthiness of the engine is start the car and give a look at the exhaust. If you see smoke coming out this means that the engine of the car is weak. You can never rely on the odometer reading. That could be manipulated. Although this is not the only way to judge the healthiness of the engine, but is indeed one of the easiest way to know. Rest you learn when you drive and have drove multiple cars in past. Basically experience.
Then comes the body line the body of the car. The body line is equally important as other things. In body line I will consider the most important factor is the pillars. Pillars are the two sliding joints in the front connecting the roof of the car with the front bonnet. If the car is accidental from pillars then on a long run as you drive it will create an upward pressure on the roof pillar joints every time you drive on bad roads. So every 6 months or so you need to get that thing repaired dented, polished and re-painted from the roof area where the pillars join the roof. In fact even with an original new car the pillars and the roof are two different metal objects. Exceptions exist.
Rest all factors like the paint, accessories etc. are optional factor and do not pay in deciding the cost of the car. To a user an accidental car painted in good condition and running smoothly is good enough to buy. But from future perspective look out for these three important factors. This would also help you sell off the car after a year or so without much of depreciation in these terms.