Things to know when buying a used car

Here are some tips to guide us in the purchase of a used car: buying a car that is two years old and selling it when it is four years old protects us from the worst problems; in fact, a car starts to be considered old from the fourth year onwards and we will always have had a car in excellent condition with minimal expense.

For zero kilometer cars, the best time to buy is at the end of the year, when dealers can offer heavy discounts.

It is a good idea to check the market trends online before making a purchase, but be careful of online scams; there are many ways to verify the truthfulness of what is promised to us; focus on full options and automatic transmissions. Remember that a dealer must offer us a warranty of up to two years, something that a private seller does not have to do: this can be a deciding factor in evaluating a purchase; they may also offer us the possibility of financing.

Let's do an external check-up of the car, starting by evaluating the condition of the paint, the alignment of the body panels, the correspondence of the front and rear lights. Check the junction of the fenders to the frame to see if there are any signs of repainting.

Inside, check the wear of the pedals, steering wheel, and gear lever - which can be easily replaced - but the entire interior must have a consistent level of wear, including the seats and their padding. Check the condition of the radiator and the engine: even a perfect condition can be a sign that there is a hidden problem; check the condition of the fluids, inspect the wear of the tires and rims.

Make sure all the warning lights come on regularly; if any of them do not come on, it may have been disabled to mask a problem. When taking a test drive, turn off the radio to listen for any strange noises; pay attention to the condition of the clutch in cars with manual transmission.

After the test drive, accelerate to see the color of the smoke: if it is black, the fuel supply is not properly regulated, if it is blue, the engine is burning oil, indicating serious problems. Test all the services and make sure the car is not sold before a major service or expensive repair.

Of course, we must have all the documents in order, with the inspection done on time and especially the original spare keys.