rudemood12

alright, some of you saw my previous 'convince me not to buy this car thread' and this is a continuation of it. after looking around for the last month or so for a new car, im going with the car i originally posted about. before i throw down ANY money of course, im going to go test drive the thing and look it over, make sure they didnt 'accidentally' leave anything out of the description. its actually through ebay, but the seller lives somewhat local to me.

so my question is, what am i looking for as im looking this car over (inside and out), anything to listen for while diving and anything i should be aware of/things to keep in mind before/after completing the transaction? i know to make sure he has the title, that theres no lien holder, etc, but im sure there is more to keep track of that may be good to know.

any tips would be appreciated. pics will be forthcoming once im done with this.

ZW99GT

The thing to do would be to take it to a mechanic you trust. But if you know enough about cars, you could give a thorough look over. Make sure you check for any irregular gaps in the fenders, bumpers, and where the headlights fit into both of them. That would sometimes mean it was in an accident. Car fax would genreally rule out the wrecked part. I would suggest one of those. You could also check the air filter to see if it was properly replace/maintained. You could also take out a spark plug and check for any discoloration or disfiguration. Look underneath for serious rust on any of the steering components or frame. When u are driving down the road, let go of the steering wheel and see if it moves right or left. Slight movement isnt bad, but it doesnt need to jerk to one side or another. Stick ur finger inside where u pour the oil to check for sludge. Thats about all I can think of other than listen for any odd noises. Good luck, and what kinda car r u getting?

Dan04COBRA

You need to look for DAMAGE

Open both doors, feel the edges of the door, factory skinned doors have a nice smooth feeling, just a teeny tiny lip to it. Any doors that have been skinned from a body shop will look NO where near as clean, you will feel the overspray on the paint, you will be able to see the welds, puddy, sealers they used. Roll down the windows, if they tend to rattle or pop/creak, chances are the car has been hit at some point.

Feel the inside edges of all the fenders, around the hood, doors. If there is a round feeling, like tape marks or paint buildup, chances are she's been damaged and repaired & painted.

Pay attention to how the paint matches on each fender, most paint matches today are extremely accurate but it's never pefrect, look her over hard and you will be able to tell fairly easily. If the car looks TOO clean, chances are she's had some work done....

Really pay attention to the fit and finish of all the fenders & panels. Most repair jobs are extremely obvious at the front bumper/hood/front fenders. It takes hours of tweaking to make the gaps even and straight. If any gaps are wide enough to put the tip of your index or pinky finger in them, chances are...........

Pop the trunk, check the trunk for any welds, spot puddy, sealers. You will see what looks like..I don't know how to put it, like a huge glob of paint dripping down towards the taillights on each fender between the fender and seals. Take your fingernail and poke around, if anything feels soft or feels like with some pressure that you could leave a mark in it, she's been worked on.

Pop the hood, usually when the front end gets clipped and has huge repair work done, you can find the welds/spot puddy about an inch to 2 inches INFRONT of the strut towers.


As for mechanical stuff, get the engine nice and warm, shut her off and pop the hood, pull off the oil cap, does it smell like anything burning? You will get a touch of a fog/smoke looking substance that will come out when you first pull the cap off, but it should be HARDLY noticable.

Keep the car in neutral and rev the engine from the TB. Even bring a long screw driver with you, while the engine is running, hold the plastic end of the screw driver to your ear and put the other end over the valve covers and listen for loud ticks, knocks or any funny sounds. If you can reach, slowly rev the engine up and listen. You'll be able to hear a tick or knock just about anywhere on the valve cover and you'll be able to move around and locate it eventually. You should hear absolutely *nothing* besides the normal ticking.

Push in the clutch, leave the doors open, listen for the throw-out bearing as you begin to push in the clutch, let it out and let it sit, push in the clutch pedal less than an inch and listen for any squeeks, rattles or whines.

When you go for your test drive, get the car in third gear at a decent speed, hit the gas quick and if it revs up without accellerating to match the revs, the clutch is slipping.

Do the usual things like get on a flat road and let go of the wheel, see if it pulls side to side, hit the brakes and see if it pulls, pedal pulsates, wheel shakes or your *** jiggles.

The drivetrains on Mustangs have a rather *loose* feeling to them, they lunk to clunk and clank, but if you can really feel anything around your *** or it's really noticable, our transmission mounts really don't holdup to any abuse like to break fairly easy.

Matts00GT

take a magnet with you. Go around the doors and creases that are metal. If the magnet doesnt stick that means its been bondoed(sp?). Bondo means body work was done which means some kind of accident. Good trick I picked up.

rudemood12

as some side notes, i already ran a carfax, its clean. 3 owners, no reported accidents. its an 01 GT hardtop, auto. my main concern was if he beat on the thing, probably not as much as if it was a manual, i would think. from what i can tell, he (or someone before him) already changed the CAI, so someone obviously knew what they were doing (unless they came here and did it cause all the cool kids did )