How to Avoid Buying a Wrecked Car

When you buy a used car, there is always a chance that it is a rebuilt wreck. If the repair was done poorly, you will face extra expenses down the road. To minimize the risk of buying such a car, you need to know how to assess its condition. 1. First, inspect the body from the outside. Pay attention to the panel gaps: they should be even everywhere. Look at the paint from different angles as the light reflects off it; all panels should be the same color and finish. If any panel looks different, the car has been repainted. You can also use the old-fashioned magnet trick. Where the body has a thick layer of body filler, the magnet will hold weakly or not at all, while on untouched metal it will stick firmly. 2. You can check a bumper in a simple way. Tap different spots on it with your knuckles. Areas with a thick layer of body filler will sound different from the rest. 3. Take a close look at the headlights and the glass. Each window has a manufacturing year marked at the bottom, shown by the last digits of the year. If the years on the windows differ from one another, or differ from the model year of the car, the car has probably been in an accident. There are exceptions for cars built around the turn of a model year, that is, at the end or the beginning of a year. On such cars, there may be a one-year difference between the windows and the car's documents. Headlights can also give away an accident if they look much newer than the rest of the car. 4. If possible, inspect the welds, for example under the trunk liner. The seams should show the factory spot welds. If you see seams that were made with a MIG (semi-automatic) welder, the car has been repaired. Also look at the sealant: it should be the same color and quality everywhere. 5. You can pull back the rubber seals around the rear window and the windshield and compare the paint underneath with the body paint. If they don't match, the car was poorly repainted after a repair. 6. Ask the seller which shop serviced the car. If the car is fairly new, it may have been serviced at a dealership. Dealerships keep records of all the problems fixed on each car they service. They may share them with you if you promise to have future service done there. 7. Be sure to have the wheel alignment checked. All the specs should be within factory tolerances. If they are far off, it is better not to buy the car. Keep in mind that the more a car has been driven, the higher the chance it has been in an accident. If you see clear geometry problems caused by poor repair work, it is best to walk away from the purchase. That way you avoid later costs such as repainting the body because of rapid rust, and buying new tires because of fast wear. Don't be tempted by the low price of such a car, because you will face significant repair costs afterward.