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I'm going out with my daughter to look at a car for her. She's an adult, she's buying it, I'm just along mostly for moral support. Doing the dad thing. However, it's out of my wheelhouse, and I want to make sure we don't miss anything.

What sort of things to you look for or check when shopping for a used car?

Do you have any suggestions?

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[-] snooggums@piefed.world 5 points 1 month ago

Make sure tire wear is even. Uneven wear can be cheap or massively expensive to fix depending on the issue.

Drive it from a cold start to make sure it sounds and feels good at all engine temps. You or your daughter needs to drive, not the seller.

Ask a lot of questions and if they don't seem forthcoming with answers then don't buy it.

If a trustworthy shop in your area does inspections on used cars for a reasonable price it is worth the money. Found out about some difficult to see structural rust problems and a leak that would be expensive to fix that saved me from purchasing at one point. If buying from a used car lot then definitely check their reputation and get any guarantees in writing.

If at any point there is a feeling that something isn't right don't buy. There are always more cars out there and falling in love with a used car before buying will endup costing more than it should.

this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2026
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