My Used-Car Checklist: What to look for before you buy

My daughter was buying a used car recently and asked for my help. Rather than just tag along and point at things, I figured I'd write down what actually goes through my head when I look a used car over — so she has it, and so anyone else staring down their first used-car purchase has it too.

Buying a used car is mostly about catching problems before they become your problems. Here's the checklist I run every time. It's not exhaustive, but it covers the stuff that's cost real money when people skip it. Print it out and take it with you next time you're looking for a car, and continue reading below for more details around each item and what to look for.

Exterior: look and feel

• Start with the paint job. Look down the side of the car at an angle, in good light — that's how you spot panels that don't match, overspray, or a section that's been resprayed after bodywork. A mismatched panel usually means an accident nobody's telling you about.
• Walk the whole body for dings, dents, and scratches. Some of it is just cosmetic and fine. What you're really doing is building a picture of how the car was treated.
• Make sure you actually like the color. Sounds dumb, but you'll be looking at this thing every day for years, and "I'll get used to it" is how people end up not getting used to it.
• Get low and look for rust — underneath the car and inside the wheel wells. This matters more than the paint. Surface rust on a panel is annoying; rust eating the frame or suspension mounts is a different conversation, and it's the kind of thing that turns a cheap car into an expensive mistake.
• Step back and judge the overall eye appeal. Does it look cared for, or does it look like it's been neglected? Cars tell on their owners.

Drivability: how it actually drives

This is the part you cannot skip, and you have to drive the car to do it. A test drive that's twice around the block tells you nothing. Get it on a highway.

• Brake from speed and feel for vibration through the pedal — that's usually warped rotors. Watch for shaking or wobbling while driving, especially at highway speeds, where balance and alignment problems really show up.
• Pay attention to tracking. Let the wheel go loose in your hands for a second on a straight, flat road. Does the car pull left or right? Pulling means an alignment issue at best, something worse at the worst.
• Hit a few bumps and watch how the car settles. Excessive bouncing means the shocks are tired and you'll be buying new ones. Listen the whole time for loud noises — clunks, grinding, whining — anything the car shouldn't be doing.
• Check the exhaust. Smoke or excessive exhaust is the car telling you something is wrong, and the color tells you what. None of it is good news.
• Don't forget the basics. Does it start right up, or does it crank and hesitate? Get under it after it's been running and look for leaks. And before you get attached to the car, check for dealer recalls — those are public, free to look up, and a recall the previous owner ignored is now yours to deal with.

Interior: where you'll actually be sitting

• Use your nose. Smells and odors are hard to fake and hard to fix. A musty smell can mean water has gotten in, which can mean mold or electrical gremlins down the road. Cigarette smoke never fully leaves.
• Look over the seats and fabric for cuts and scratches. Some wear is normal — you're judging overall care.
• Run the systems. Turn the fans up and listen for noisy fans, which can mean a failing blower motor or junk in the system. Confirm the heat actually gets hot and the A/C actually gets cold. A/C repairs are not cheap, so don't take "it just needs a recharge" at face value.
• Bring a code reader. Check for engine lights and pull the error codes yourself. A seller can clear a check-engine light before you show up, but a code reader can often still surface pending codes. If the light's on and they wave it off as "nothing," that's exactly when you want to know what the car actually thinks is wrong.

The bottom line

None of this requires being a mechanic. It requires slowing down, using your eyes, ears, and nose, and being willing to walk away. The car you're looking at is not the only car. Run the checklist, and let what you find — not what you want — make the call.

Inspecting the car is half the job. The other half is the dealership. That's the next article: how to negotiate at a used-car lot without getting played.