To begin with, we must say that buying a used car is always a bit of a risk and a step into the unknown. No one at 100% can ever guarantee that the one he specific The car being sold has not been in a car accident or someone has not messed with the speedometer. So let's take a look at how not to get fooled and how to detect whether the used car we are looking at has not been wrecked.
Almost all of us have probably experienced a bump or at least a scraped bumper in our driving career. Almost every car has had such accidents and there is no need to worry about them. Just because a car has a new windshield or lights does not necessarily mean a fatal accident, but maybe just a flying stone or a light "bump" in the parking lot.
The problem occurs when a car is damaged on one of its supporting parts. In such a case, the repair must be carried out only according to the manufacturer's valid regulations. This is usually quite expensive. Therefore, it often happens that the car is simply straightened and the damaged part is puttied and painted. Unfortunately, this shoddy repair results in a reduced safety of the used car. You can prevent this with our used car inspection. So what should you watch out for?
Clutches
First of all, always check all the joints on the used car you are inspecting. Check whether the size and diameter of the joints are the same everywhere, whether the joint is narrower on one side of the hood and wider on the other. Also check all the doors, including the ones on the trunk. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens, especially with car manufacturers of poor reputation and quality, that the joints will be slightly wavy from the factory. Therefore, this inspection is certainly not 100% accurate, but with reputable brands such as Volkswagen or Toyota, there should be no problem with this. For example, our used car inspection has more than 170 checkpoints.
Paint strength
Another indicator that something is wrong with your car is the thickness of the paint. But how do you measure the thickness of the paint on a used car? A paint thickness gauge can be purchased for just a few hundred crowns and measuring with it is very simple and can be done by even an amateur.
The thickness of the paint on a new car is around 100 μm and the thickness of the painted part will be somewhere around 200 μm. If the device measures even higher numbers, there must have been some real wildness and someone had a good time on the measured part. The fact that some part of the car was painted does not necessarily mean a major accident, it could really just be an abrasion, hailstones or just flying stones.
Airbag
A slightly more laborious, but more effective method of identifying a wrecked used car is to check the airbag.
Every airbag should have a production date, which can then be compared with the production date of the car. The easiest way is to check the driver's airbag, which can usually be removed very easily and quickly. So if we find that the driver's airbag has a different production date than the car itself, it is almost certain that the car must have been badly damaged, because airbags do not immediately go off when you lightly crush them.
Glass, lights, seat belts
Just like with the airbag, all the windows on the car have a production date. So if any windows have a production date that is younger than the car itself, they will definitely need to be replaced. In contrast to airbags, replacing the window, especially the front one, is one of the most common service tasks, mainly due to flying stones. So this is just another tip, in reality it can be a trivial matter that will ultimately help us more than harm us. Actually, the same applies to the lights. Replacing the lights can have many trivial reasons, such as wear, moisture, dullness, or even a crack from a stone. The situation is a little different with seat belts, which do not deteriorate that much and are not at risk of damage from any external influence. Their replacement may be necessary in a car that has been damaged in a traffic accident. These and many other traps will help to reveal our Used car inspection AUTOMATO. But it's best to buy a car that has already been tested and AUTOMATO certificate.
