Guide to Used Cars: How to Choose the Best

Buying a brand new, late-model car with all the comforts and luxuries you’ve always wanted is everyone’s dream for a vehicle.

Unfortunately, sometimes (most of the time) the budget doesn’t allow to acquire these little jewels, and if we want a car, we have to resort to the used car market.

Demystifying the used car

The used car has quite a bad reputation within the automotive market. It is often associated with defective junk that its former owners just want to get rid of, taking a few pesos from some unsuspecting buyer.

And while there are those, the vast majority of the market is made up of vehicles in good condition, whose owners are struggling financially, or simply need the money to finance a new vehicle for new needs (bigger, more efficient, etc).

The reality is that the used car has many advantages for those who are looking for a vehicle with the 3 “b”. This is reflected in the numbers.

Here are four advantages of the used car: The used car is cheap: Used vehicles can cost up to 50% less than their new counterparts.

Mileage will dictate the final price of the vehicle. But beware, high mileage does not necessarily indicate a cheap “dumped” car if the rest of its accessories are in perfect condition.

The used car is already tested: many times, when buying a new car, we do not know the real quality of the model until we have already driven a certain amount with it.

The first 5 thousand kilometers are key to determine the quality of a car. This is where the used car has an advantage, because most of the times it has already traveled that much.

This means that the used car is a “watermelon”. If at the time of purchase it has not presented major structural or engine problems, you are looking at a reliable machine for at least a couple more years.

The used car needs less paperwork: when you buy a used car, many necessary vehicle documents have already been processed, and you will only have to take care of them and renew them when necessary.

Patent, Road Permit and Technical Inspection are included in the vehicle, which will save you cumbersome paperwork and some money as well.

The used car allows more negotiation: when you buy a new car, the price is determined by the car manufacturer, according to the equipment it has, and there is not much to do about it.

This is not so with used cars, where the customer can always haggle or get a better deal with some bargaining skill.

The pre-check: the last frontier

Of course, not everything can be so wonderful. There are used cars that are real disasters, as well as unscrupulous dealers who will try to plug you in with useless junk. To avoid those bad times, the ideal is to do a pre-check.

To do this, you should take the vehicle to an independent mechanic’s shop, which will determine the real state of the car.

What to look out for?

The most important thing when checking the actual state of a car is to look at the gas emissions, the engine parts and all the electronics. If none of that fails, we are looking at a healthy vehicle.

Gas Emissions: Watch out for the smoke

The smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe says a lot about the state of a car. “It must always be white and uniform in color. If it has bluish or black tones, it is because the engine is burning oil and there are parts that need to be changed,” says Autú.

In addition, experts advise to start the car and pay attention to the noises it makes when it is running. “As a general rule, a car in good condition always starts in first gear and without any loud noise”, they add.

Electronic box: always with scanner

José Ignacio Bravo, mechanic and partner of the Autú workshop, reveals a common trap in some mechanical workshops. “They say they’re going to check all the electronics, and they show some wires and nothing else.

This check cannot be done without a scanner, therefore, the user must demand this type of check for his vehicle and no other” he warns.

The reason is simple: the scanner is the only one capable of detecting electrical faults in the vehicle’s electronic systems. The wiring of these systems rarely provides information about the condition of the car used.

The engine and its parts: the trick is in the color

When it comes to identifying whether or not the car’s engine is in good condition, the most important thing is to determine whether its parts are original or alternative, as well as which of them have been replaced. To achieve this, it is essential to look at the shape and color.