How to buy a used car?

You must not go to see the car all alone. The seller will “push” on you, trying to present his car better than it really is. With some friend of yours it will be easier not to be affected by seller’s words. And the more people look at car, the bigger the chance do see defects is. Such small defects can affect on the car’s price.
Argument, that you will need to spent money to repair such small paint scratches is a good reason to ask for lower price. Try to find out if the car was repainted or not. If paintworks were done, that means that there were some body works. If they were not done very well, there is a chance that you will need to repeat painting in future.
Different stickers and inscriptions sometimes is nothing more than an attempt to cover some problems. If the car was not repainted, there must not be any paint spots on rubber or plastic parts. Compare the paint under the hood with paint on the other parts. If car was in accident there are always some marks of it, but they could be masked. Look under the mud spots and for folds on metal. Don’t be afraid to get dirty.

All doors must close similarly, with same sound and same pressure. If it is not so, probably there was an accident. Check the wheels. There must be no deep scratches on them. Tires must be worn out the same way.
Then you open the hood there must be absolutely no smell of fuel. Put your attention on engine. Fresh oil or fuel spots are bad sign.
Oil in engine must be transparent without the slightest impurity and small black impregnations. Put attention on all rubber details of engine, there must be no cracks in them.

Now, put a newspaper under engine (you will find out why you need it later). Ask car owner to start engine. There must be no strange sounds. Engine must start without problems at once. If it does not – it needs repair or regulation. Wait for the start of the fan. It must work for a while and then turn off again.
Go inside and push the acceleration pedal. Engine must increase its turns quickly and without any suspicious sounds.

See for a smoke from exhaust pipe. There must be no smoke while engine is running, and it will appear then you press the acceleration pedal. Black smoke means that there is some problem in fuel system, blue one – oil leaks into engine. Well, this colors may differ and not good sign of problems in cold and wet weather.
Turn off the engine and put the key into the second position. Oil pressure indicator has lighted up at once – the engine is pretty worn. Good engine holds the oil pressure up to 5 seconds.

Now, then basic engine tests are over, its time to look on the newspaper that you put under the engine. If you see any spot of oil or fuel on it – be sure, engine need repair.

Look carefully on different alert lamps. Some of them could be simply removed by owner to hide problem from you.

Get out of the car and look on wheels again. Compare the distance between car’s body and tires. It must be the same for all wheels.
This advice is not all and they not guarantee that you will have no troubles with used car. But they can prevent you from buying car, that will need repairs and extra money from you very soon.