Used Car Buyers

Advice for Used Car/Truck/RV Buyers

Whether you bought your vehicle in Central Oregon or somewhere else, the Oregon federal and state courts offer you some valuable protections.

Keep all documents relating to your vehicle purchase and all maintenance records.

Always have an independent mechanic (not somebody who works for the dealer) perform a pre-purchase inspection.  Mechanics are used to doing these kinds of inspections.

It is critical to find out if the vehicle has been in an accident – especially an accident that involved a bent frame or damage to the steering, brakes or suspension parts.  These are all important safety and reliability concerns.

A good way to find out if a vehicle has a bent frame is to have a FOUR WHEEL alignment check done.  A front wheel alignment check alone will not tell you if the frame is bent.  An honest dealer will tell you that it is not really possible to completely repair a frame once it has been bent.

www.carfax.com will tell you about the ownership history of the vehicle, and whether the title was ever “branded” because the car was declared a total wreck or in a flood. An honest dealer will tell you that once a car has been “totaled” it is not worth fixing up for resale – but sometimes these vehicles end up on the market anyway, and you want to stay away from them.

Consumer Reports magazine is a good place to find out the reliability rating fro the car you are planning to buy.  www.cartalk.com also has useful information.

Ask your insurance company run the serial number (VIN) through their computer to see if an accident claim was ever made with another insurance company.

There are a lot of good used vehicles available for purchase – but be careful!  If you get a bad one, the expenses may never end.