Buying a used car is not always as simple as it may seem. Anything that has been previously used for its intended purpose has a history that you know very little about. There's a lot of trust required when looking at a pre-owned car and being able to tell if it has been damaged or repaired requires a keen eye.
Related: Ultimate used car inspection checklist
Fear not though, as with a little time and careful inspection, you will be able to get a better idea of the vehicle's history - provided that you know where to look, and what to look for.
Dealership History
We often get asked how to go about checking the history of a used car and many buyers expect to be able to find this at a dealership level. While this is sometimes possible, it's not always the case and you will only have some record of the vehicle if the previous owner always returned to the dealership (and often, the same dealership) for all the repairs and accident damage.
Unfortunately, South Africa doesn't have systems in place that track the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of a vehicle the way that you would find in the USA or UK and accidents or similar are not fed back to the licensing department and associated with the vehicle registration or VIN.
This shouldn't stop you from trying though and, armed with the VIN, you can contact the vehicle's manufacturer dealership and enquire. It will be best to call the dealership of the last service listed in the service book as not all dealerships will share this information between all branches/outlets.
You are fully entitled to request a multi-point inspection from an independent third party when putting in an offer to purchase. The dealership will most likely charge you for this report but if you're serious about buying the car, this will go a long way in giving you the peace of mind that you're looking for. Dekra or similar will be able to assist with this.
How to check for damage on a used car
Spending some time inspecting the car thoroughly will help you ascertain whether or not the car has been in an accident. Here are a few of the things to look out for.
- Mismatched panels and panels that are a different colour from the rest of the car. This may be slight and plastic bumpers will often look a little different to steel panels, but any glaring inconsistencies, especially from side to side, should be cause for concern.
- Different colour/age lights or trims. The left headlight should look the same as the right headlight and the same goes for left and right taillights. Newer plastics indicate that there was a replacement at some stage.
- Inconsistent paint finish or textures. Running your hand over the paint or looking at it from an angle will be able to tell you if the car was painted or repainted in a particular area. All cars have a wavy, orange-peel paint texture but a super smooth or very wavy texture could indicate that a panel has been resprayed.
- Missing or misaligned badges. If the badges are missing or seem skew, this could indicate a haphazard repair on that panel.
- Inconsistent panel gaps. Run a finger down the gaps between the doors and the fenders and between all the panels. You will quickly be able to feel if the gap widens, narrows, or if the panels are not sitting flush. This points to a panel having been replaced.
- The paint doesn't match the mileage. If the front bumper and bonnet are free of stone chips and the car has some heavier mileage on it, then it shows that the front was resprayed. This doesn't always indicate accident damage (the previous owner may have addressed the stone chips) but you will have to compare this to the way that the rest of the car has been maintained.
- Check behind panels. If you lift a carpet, especially in the boot area, or pull back a trim panel and see wrinkled or hammered metal, then the vehicle has been repaired. The metal behind the panels should be smooth and free of creases. Check the trim panels themselves as well, taking note of broken clips or cracks.
Mechanical
While it's always a great idea to take someone with who knows engines and mechanicals, you can also look for obvious signs of accident damage or repairs.
- Check the engine bay for new parts. Parts that have been replaced will look newer than the components alongside and around them. All the parts should match. This goes for bracing, trim pieces in the engine bay and particularly in the suspension. All suspension arms should be the same age and the same colour.
- Mismatched parts scream "Repair!" Where there is more than one of something (shock absorbers, tres, etc.) they should all match. One blue shock and three yellow ones are a clear indication that something has happened in that corner of the car. The same goes for the wheels - all the wheels should appear to be roughly the same age.
- While you're there, check for leaks and clear signs that major components have been replaced by using the same identification techniques - if it looks too new, you want to know why. Don't be alarmed to find a new oil filter or new fanbelts though; these are part of a service and should always look fairly new.
