[00:00] Get a welcome to Redrood and welcome to our ultimate used car buyers guide in five easy stages. We're here to make buying a used car as easy and as painless as possible. And hopefully stop you from making any horrendous and potentially very expensive mistakes.
[00:14] Anyway, let's get into it. Stage one. Okay, so first up, what sort of car you should buy because we see people buying the wrong genre of car all of the time. That's right. If you've got a bunch of kids and you need a
[00:26] people mover, obviously an MX-5 isn't the right car for you. The classic one we see is families buying four by four dual cab units when they have no intention of ever venturing off-road. Look, four by four dual cab units, they are cool at the
[00:39] moment, but maybe you'd be better off with like an SUV or maybe even a car. Now in terms of budget, if you've got to say a strict $10,000 to spend, you actually have $8,000 to spend on the car, because again, they need some money left over to swap the Redrood pay for insurance, maybe even get
[00:54] new tires. And also, it's a good idea to keep a bit of cash left over for a service after you buy it. And the stage five, which we'll get to later. Okay, stage two. So you've found a car
[01:07] that you really like and you want to go and have a look at it. The first tip is don't dress rich. If you look really, really wealthy, there's not much of a chance that the seller's going to give you a discount, is there? And take a torch with you as well and we'll get to that later in the video.
[01:20] Also, you know how it seems like only the really ultra beautiful people look good under fluorescent lighting, like say at a 7-11? Well, it's the same for cars. To find the problems, get the car under
[01:32] the most light you possibly can. Now, dust to dorm was a great movie, but it's a terrible time to look at a car. And so is when it's raining. You should just always avoid looking at a car in the rain, because it can hide all sorts of things. Now to make what to look for really, really easy, we've come
[01:45] up with a simple acronym, which is, which is paint, panel gaps, over spray, dense scratches, wheels and tires. Okay, paint, go over the entire car and make sure that the paint matches both in color
[01:57] and texture between all of the panels. Actually, touch the car. It should feel the same across all the panels. If for some reason you can't check the car out in daylight or under bright lights like these, use your torch and shine it on all the panels. It needs to match in color. If it doesn't
[02:11] match in color and if the texture is all different, why has it had an accident? Why hasn't it been repainted correctly? Panel gaps. Go over all of these panel gaps. They should all be the same gap. If it's really close here, but there's a chasm over the gap over there, why has it had an accident?
[02:26] They should all be the same across the entire car. Also, open and close everything that opens and closes. All of the doors, especially the sun roof if it has one, boot and bonnet, check it all. Over spray. As in spray paint over spray. Grab your torch, have a look up under the wheel
[02:42] archers, have a look inside all of the air vents and make sure you pop the bonnet and look around the engine bay. If you see spray paint over spray, that's a bad sign. It has been repainted. Not good guys. Also, have a good look at all of the bolts in here on the inner guards. If they're different or new
[02:56] or if the paint is scratched off, why? Dense and scratches. Now most cars will have a few little dents and scratches and how many you're willing to deal with is completely up to you. But remember, a few minor dents and scratches, it can give you some bargaining power when it comes time to
[03:08] negotiate the price. But insane that if any of the scratches on the metal work are back to the bare metal, that will require repair work and it even can corrode and rust. And if any of the scratches on the plastic parts are back to the plastic, again, it's going to have to be re-sprayed and
[03:22] that can be expensive. Plus, are the bumper and the grille and any plastic bits, are they attached properly? They should be. Wheels, some light scratching can be okay. If there's any major gouges or
[03:34] serious damage to the wheel, that's not okay. If it's bad enough, it can actually damage suspension components and affect the wheel alignment, which can have ongoing problems with tireless. Tires are the tires from brand names you've heard of because cheap is never cheerful
[03:47] and do the tires match across all four wheels and tires. If they're all mismatched brands and mismatched models, that's not a good thing. Because A, it shows that the owner is cutting corners financially and where else are they cutting corners financially. Next, I'll check the where patterns
[04:02] on the actual tire. If the where patterns are over the place, best case scenario, as Jim mentioned, might just have wheel alignment issues but worst case scenario, it might have suspension damage and that will cost money. Also, if the tires are worn on the outside of the tire, that means that the owner
[04:16] likes to corner really, really enthusiastically and that might mean they're a bit of a dickhead driver. Also, if the tires are so worn that they're nearly slick, that means that the car is going to require a new tire soon and that should get you at least $1,000 off the price. And if that all checks out,
[04:30] it's time to check the engine. Now, in the engine, it's time for another simple acronym, COC, which is coolant, oil and condition of engine. Coolant. Ideally, what you're looking for here
[04:43] is a nice fresh colour, usually red or green. Have a look in the overflow bottle, make sure it's full. Also, it'll be great if you could look in the radiator but just be super careful there. If it's hot and you want to do it, you could burn yourself. Oil. Pull out the dipstick, make sure there's oil line
[04:58] and is it close to the full mark? Have a good look at the consistency and the colour of the oil, if it's like a latte or a flat white, that's a no. Next up, the torque is critical for this bit. Have a really good look around the engine, rider in the back of it as low as you can and make sure
[05:12] there's no wetness or any signs of oil leaks. Condition. Basically, what you're looking for here is anything out of place. Have a look if there's any modifications, make sure they've been done properly and then start it up and have a good listen. Make sure there's no weird rattles or squeaks.
[05:27] If the car's taking all the boxes, time to get inside. Now, first up, look at the odometer on the car and have a look at how many miles or kilometres the car has done. The condition of the interior should match what the odometer says. If it's saying 60,000 kilometres but the pedals are all worn,
[05:41] the steering wheel is horrible and the seats are falling apart and the plastic looks super old, there's a chance that the odometer may have been tampered with. That's a really bad sign. If not, if it hasn't been tampered with, it means that the owner has just treated the car like trash and
[05:54] potentially abused it. But on the flip side, if it's like this car, this has done 460,000 kilometres but the interior actually feels quite good. The seats are good or the plastics are good. The pedals look good. It's a good sign that the owner has actually cared for the car. Also, get in the back seat,
[06:09] have a good look around and check the condition of it and the boot. Have a good look around in here, check the condition of everything and check the spare. Make sure it has one and make sure there's air in it. Next up, go and have a coffee. That's right. Look, it's at this point that a lot of people start,
[06:23] the emotions and adrenaline starts bubbling and you conveniently start ignoring some of the red flags. So it's really important just to take a moment and calm down and have a solid think about what it is that you are doing. Have a good think about any of the concerns you might have had and see if
[06:38] it's genuinely worthwhile taking the next step, which is potentially a test drive. Now, if you have going to chill that and you're still loving what you're looking at, let's move to stage three. Okay, the test drive, before you go anywhere, adjust the seat and adjust the steering wheel
[06:55] and the mirrors, make sure you can get comfortable. If you can't get comfortable at this stage of the game, do you really want to buy that car at all? Okay, then start up the car and before you again go anywhere, check that all the buttons and everything works. Turn the lights on, try the indicators,
[07:08] check the air conditioning, try each fan speed and the hot and cold functions. Do they stay hot and cold? Do they work at all? Now, this is really important because a broken air conditioner can cost thousands. Then it's time to go for a drive. As you're driving, turn the stereo off. Have a listen to
[07:25] the engine, can you hear any abnormal engine sounds, any rattles or squeaks? Then how's the gear change in a manual? It should be smooth and not too inaccurate. It also shouldn't fall out of gear, and with an automatic, it shouldn't go hunting for gears at all. Again, it just should drive smoothly.
[07:40] How's the steering? Have a listen for any bumps or rattles, and if you can, go to a big open space like a car park and maybe do a few circles in opposite directions. Have a listen for any unusual drive train sounds. Then find some bumps and listen for any clunking or grinding or just bad
[07:55] sounds coming from the suspension. When you're driving and accelerating, make sure it accelerates smoothly and doesn't have any flat spots. Also, rev the car out all the way to the red line and see if there's any smoke coming out of the back. Smoke is bad. Also, come off the gas and again,
[08:09] see if there's any plumes of smoke. Again, smoke bad news. When you're braking, make sure the car doesn't pull to the left or the right and make sure it doesn't have any vibrations through the steering wheel. Again, try all the buttons, especially while you're on the drive. If it has cruise control,
[08:24] does the cruise control work? Does adaptive cruise control work? Do any of those safety features that warn you of lane changing or anything like that? Do they all work? If it has a button or a function, press that button. Does it bloody work? Now, as you're doing all of this,
[08:37] get a feel for the car as well. Is it comfy? Is it enjoyable? Are you enjoying your driving experience in the car? And if the car's still ticking all the boxes, let's move to stage 4.
[08:49] When you get back from the test drive, have a good look at all the service books. Make sure they're all up to date. And if there's any work been done to the car, have a good look and make sure there's receipts for it. Guys, this is really, really critical. Having a solid service history is so, so important.
[09:02] If there are any question marks about the history of the car, that could be a huge red flag. Now, if things are still looking good, it's time to move on to stage 5, which is potentially one of the easiest steps for you. Book a pre-purchase inspection. Now, guys, this pre-purchase inspection,
[09:18] it is absolutely critical. I nearly bought a car recently because it ticked all of these boxes. It was checking out perfectly. I booked it in for a pre-purchase inspection with Jim. We got it up on a hoist, and as soon as we got under it, you could see that the car had had a huge accident,
[09:32] and even worse, the repairs were incredibly dodgy. So bad, in fact, they were genuinely dangerous. If I hadn't had this pre-purchase inspection done, I most likely would have bought the car, and I would have bought a complete disaster. Another thing to check is, does the vehicle
[09:45] have any finance against it? You don't want to be buying someone else's financial debt. Yeah, if that checks out, it's time to negotiate on the price of the car. Once you start negotiating, guys, don't be a dickhead. Don't low-ball the seller. Have some respect, but at the same time,
[09:58] don't get ripped off. Now, guys, this was just a quick overview bias guide. If you want to farm more detailed description, jump on redriven.com because we're going to have one within our cheat sheets for a full breakdown of every specific detail, there's also going to be a really easy to use
[10:12] checklist to go through when you're buying your car there as well. And if you've got any tips or any used car buying horror stories, let us know in the comments below. Now, guys, as always, if you enjoyed this video and you're enjoying redriven's content in general, can you please hit those like,
[10:24] subscribe, and bell buttons, and share our content as much as you can. That'd be a huge help. We'll see you guys next time. Good luck with that new car. See ya.