How do you tell the general condition of a car?

[Skilid]

What I mean is, how do you normally work out if a car has been looked after or not?

Pretty much everyone when they sell their car give it a good wash and hoover making it look like they take care of it when really, a lot of them don't.

What are the tell tale signs that you look for on a car that might not have been looked after properly.

I generally go by;

- Condition of paint.
- Brand of tyres and wear pattern.
- Alloy wheel curbing severity.
- Condition of the oil.
- Rusty exhausts and other bits.
- Tears/damage to upholstery.

You?

 

[ganesh]

I think the biggest indicator is tyre brand and condition. If a car has quality tyres with good tread and either matched axles or a full set then it speaks volumes about the driver and their approach to running costs. If I was looking at a car with ditch finders on then I'm going to go over it with a fine comb to see if they have scrimped on any other aspects.

 

[pugheaven]

For me when I was buying the RX8, it was:

• Wheels/Alloys - Curbed? Refurbed? If so, it's someone whoc an't park properly and that usually means tool lol
• Engine Bay - I'm a little anal about engine cleaning... if it's been steam cleaned (could cover oil leaks) and usually means it was a mess in the first place. Clean engine bay to me, "usually" means someone who cares (but not factory clean unless modified car). Will check oil BUT at the end of the day probably just changed anyway so you'd never know if gaskets etc have gone really unless you look carefully and take out for a test drive.
• Scratches - Not rust as that is not necessarily a sign of neglect but a lot of scratches can be, either never hand cleaned only through car wash (no no) or general don't care. Scratches sound for a lot.
• Brake Pads - Low means either running to sell or muppet.
• Cheap Tyres - unfortunately mine had them, but normally this is someone who can't afford to get better ones (ridiculous as it's the only thing between you and the road) and therefore why would you think that the car has been regularly serviced etc? Also making sure they're matching on the same axle, amazing how many people put different tyres on. I ended up buying mine as the dealer has replaced with crappy ones so it wasn't the previous owner.
• Interior - Scratches/ Rips and general condition. Interiors now generally last years so for me if carpets are ripped and seats have tears or leather all faded etc, speaks volumes.
• Knocking - And nasty bumps. bangs etc and then anyone saying it's always done that... yeah whatever.

 

[Jono8]

My most recent car purchase (2006 Octy VRS) - Had Contisport contact 3's all round (fronts needed replacing swiftly but still), interior was like new mostly. A few scratches on the drivers door handle(inside) and a bit of leather wear on the bolsters but otherwise spotless inside.No dents or bad scratches, just some stone chips to the exterior. Alloys in good nick minus a few small bits of flaking corrosion. I felt it must have been looked after, espeically for th interior to be so good after 6 and a half years.

Before the VRS i went to see two 2007 Cupra's and both had sticky, horrible gunged up dash/radio buttons (yuck!) and the seats looked like people had gone to the toilet on them and had sweat tide marks all over them.

In fact it is the interior condition and tyres that are the two main ones for me i think. The interior can only be down to the previous owners wrecking it. Exterior, anything can happen and wouldnt be the drivers fault all the time; a few light scratches and stonechips wouldnt put me off.

 

[pugheaven]

Before the VRS i went to see two 2007 Cupra's and both had sticky, horrible gunged up dash/radio buttons (yuck!) and the seats looked like people had gone to the toilet on them and had sweat tide marks all over them..

HOLLLLYYYSHEEEETTTT... was it owned by a Sumo Wrestler lol. Man, that's gross lol

 

[mranderson]

I always test drive.

 

[Jez]

Rules i will try and stick to;

1) Only buy privately from its original owner so that you can see the situation the car has been in from new, and assess the owner, their house, their manor-isms, their attitude.
2) Only buy cars with full main dealer service history.
3) Only buy cars with full main dealer maintenance history.
4) Only buy cars with premium top end tyres, purchased from a normal source.
5) Only buy cars which have had any MOT advisories sorted by the main dealer at the time the advisories were issued, and therefore were not left unchecked.
6) Test every function of the car, drive it to a motorway up to well in excess of the national speed limit, through all of its gears. Manually shift through all of the gears using the cars tip function. Check reverse operates normally and shifts as expected.
7) Assess the type of mileage the car has done by assessing the condition based service schedule.
8) Check all of the history with the main dealer network, confirming times/dates as much as is possible.

Never let me down before, and leaves me with cars with no unknown owners and a good idea of the background of the vehicle from new.

 

[jaybee]

How do you tell the general condition of a car? I'd look at "general" things as has already been stated. I certainly wouldn't be jumping to conclusions unnecessarily mind. For example, people above have stated that tyres are important. Well yeah, you would certainly want to see good quality tyres on a performance car, but on a family hatch back, I'm not sure I'd care on the brand so long as they weren't bald. Not that my family aren't important to me. I just think you don't need to pay hundreds per corner to be able to drive safely.

[*]Wheels/Alloys - Curbed? Refurbed? If so, it's someone whoc an't park properly and that usually means tool lol

Or that their wife drove it sometimes. Doesn't mean it's been neglected. It means the wheels have been scuffed/curbed.

[*]Engine Bay - I'm a little anal about engine cleaning... if it's been steam cleaned (could cover oil leaks) and usually means it was a mess in the first place. Clean engine bay to me, "usually" means someone who cares (but not factory clean unless modified car). Will check oil BUT at the end of the day probably just changed anyway so you'd never know if gaskets etc have gone really unless you look carefully and take out for a test drive.

I've never cleaned any of my engine bays unless I've spilt something in them. Waste of my life cleaning an engine bay. They are made to be dirty.

[*]Scratches - Not rust as that is not necessarily a sign of neglect but a lot of scratches can be, either never hand cleaned only through car wash (no no) or general don't care. Scratches sound for a lot.

Doesn't mean a car is bad though. It might have been scratched at a supermarket car park. I for one can't afford to claim every time someone scratches my car.

[*]Brake Pads - Low means either running to sell or muppet.

Assuming by low you mean "low but within spec", I can't see how that's a problem again.

[*]Interior - Scratches/ Rips and general condition. Interiors now generally last years so for me if carpets are ripped and seats have tears or leather all faded etc, speaks volumes.

Speaks volumes? What that a car has been used? So what? This would be obvious from mileage as to whether it is wear and tear or neglect. You'd expect again more wear on a family people carrier than a 911.

[*]Knocking - And nasty bumps. bangs etc and then anyone saying it's always done that... yeah whatever.

Don't buy it then? My car has several things it's always done.
But I do draw the line at when people state that something is an easy fix. If it was easy, it would have been done usually. Like when I go to buy cars with engine management lights on. That's annoying.

 

[Greboth]

Treat it like a good woman, have a look around before approaching, have an even close look round once there, check under the hood before going for a test drive and if possible get underneath to properly check the oily bits.

a lot of what you look for depeds on the car I think. Picking random cars but if your buying a zafira for the family around, a few scratches little dents that you get frol supermarket, not branded sport tyres etc can be forgiven in my book as long there isnt any strange noises from engine or suspension and isnt signs of rust on sils, chassis or bottom of the doors. FSH depends on age of the car, most cars I have owned or know people who bought have had FSH for warrenty period but not after that. Why would I pay hundreds for a full service when I can do it myself it doesnt mean the car isn't looked after just as well. Conversly buying a second hand DB9 then I would a lot more picky about scratches, tyres, FSH.

Edit: For avoidance of confusiong, obviously the wear and tear of tyre, tread depth etc is important considerations but to be put off by the brand of tyre I think is ridiculous.

 

[King Damager]

The only current issues my car has that I feel would effect resale is it has one scratch on the back panel, and some chips around the key slot that have been there since I owned it.

The other thing is reverse is a bit iffy. That said, I've heard from ford dealers that reverse is notoriously bad (rather, have a friend whos parent is a dealer, than gone to them and asked why reverse is bad when trying to buy a car and they've just told me 'it's standard on fords, don't worry). How true that is or not is still something I'd question mind.

Personally, is it clean, is it cared for, is it in good condition. How does it sound when driving. Some things are a big give away. Either a test drive or as a passenger isn't a bad idea. Test drive you can find any issues yourself, drive as passenger you can see what kind of driver the current driver is...

kd

 

[Jez]

Edit: For avoidance of confusiong, obviously the wear and tear of tyre, tread depth etc is important considerations but to be put off by the brand of tyre I think is ridiculous.

On the contrary, i think the brand (not only the brand, but also for how much and where they were purchased) of the tyre is very important, it speaks volumes about the owner and is another clue to how the owner is as an owner. The tread level is absolutely of no consequence to me at all, i can simply replace the tyres after taking ownership.

Nobody replaces a tyre before it is worn out, not even careful owners who have lavished the car with every penny it has ever asked for.

 

[Greboth]

If the brand of tyre makes the much difference to you then do you ask for the brand of brake pads? oil? oil filter? air filter? petrol used? I mean god forbid someone should use normal 95 octane fuel instead of Shell Optimax! Obviously on a modified car the brands used can actually be a selling point but for a normal standard hatch/saloon I just don't see it. Why not go all out and if the car is kept clean ask for what brand of polish, wax and shampoo is used on the car.

When I said tyre tread depth and wear I was thinking more in terms of uneven wear or scrubbing not just general wear.

Edit: Forgot to add, how does price and where you bought the tyre got to do with anything? If you paid £100 for a Bridgestone or found a place that had a special offer on so was only £70, Oh noes burn the witch!

 

[Rilot]

On the contrary, i think the brand (not only the brand, but also for how much and where they were purchased) of the tyre is very important, it speaks volumes about the owner and is another clue to how the owner is as an owner. The tread level is absolutely of no consequence to me at all, i can simply replace the tyres after taking ownership.

Nobody replaces a tyre before it is worn out, not even careful owners who have lavished the car with every penny it has ever asked for.

^^ this
I would never buy a car that was wearing budget tyres no matter how good the rest of the car looked.
Budget tyres means that the owner either couldn't afford, or didn't see the benefit in having premium tyres. If that's the case, where else has he tried to shave some cash off? Cheaper oil? Pattern brake parts? etc etc.

When buying nearly new, I would even go so far as to only buy a car that was wearing the same tyres that it would have been wearing at delivery. That usually means that they have just taken it back to the supplying dealer and said "Tyres please". This is a good sign.

 

[Jez]

If the brand of tyre makes the much difference to you then do you ask for the brand of brake pads? oil? oil filter? air filter?

The parts will all be OEM, point 3) was that i would (try to) only buy a car with a full main dealer maintenance history.

Edit: Forgot to add, how does price and where you bought the tyre got to do with anything? If you paid £100 for a Bridgestone or found a place that had a special offer on so was only £70, Oh noes burn the witch!

Buying a good car is all about profiling the owner down to the last detail. Where he bought the tyres is important, it is another element of the assessment, as is the owners house, and his demeanor. The point is not the number of pounds spent, it is whether the purchase made sense and whether it "fits", were they fitted at the local ATS branch? were they fitted at the main dealer? did he try and cost cut at all, anywhere?

 

[Tom_ed1987]

Aside from generic things such as interior wear, it depends entirely on what sort of car you are buying imo.

I mainly buy old performance cars and have a couple of rules that have served me well:
- Avoid buying anything from brap brap gangstars Bradford
- Buy from an owner who has had the car 3+ years and is capable of stringing a sentence together
- Look for evidence in the history that they don't mind spending decent money maintaining it.

If I were buying a 3 year old BMW my criteria would be totally different.

 

[tom_nieto]

I think it hugely depends on what sort of car you're buying as had already been stated. Jez makes some extremely sensible points that most people would assess almost subliminally (owner factors). A lot of what has been said applies to performance or high end cars. If you want a bargain shopping trolley then you might overlook that small scuff... Although why not buy one that has been well cared for for bit much more cash?

 

[rodenal]

An owners naivety (i.e paying more than they had to for the same thing) would tell me a lot about them too, but none of it would relate to the condition of the car.

In the main Jez makes some good points particularly things like getting a feel for the owner, tyre brand or when advisories have been sorted etc. Judging a car on whether the owner has never went anywhere other than the main dealer for repairs or paid over the odds for tyres is quite frankly silly though.

Should you be buying an Aston then perhaps this makes sense, for a fairly run of the mill car it's overkill.

 

[eatcustard]

So if I get my car serviced my my local garage means I don't look after it, even thought they are better than a main dealer spanner monkey?

So if I get my car repaired my my local garage means I don't look after it, even thought they are better than a main dealer spanner monkey?

So if I dont get top of the range tyres, I dont look after it?

If my car has a stone chip, god help me I must treat it like dirt.

Common scene is what you need
Is body of car straight
Tyres even wear
Interior clean
Engine bay clean
Does it drive as it should
etc

 

[Rilot]

It depends on the budget I guess. If you're looking at a £500 banger, any service history is a bonus and then it's down to is it straight, tyres OK, does it smoke? Etc.
With a £20k used BMW its all about history.

 

[-westy-]

If I was spening significant amounts of money on a car, It'd be all about the service history, previous owner etc etc. However I've only ever bought cheap cars; so for me, the overall condition of the car itself, MOT advisories and some service history. At a lower price point, you buy on condition. I always ask for the Document Reference number from the V5 so I can bring up the MOT history, see what it's failed for/had advisories for etc.