Yes I agree, all engines will blow out air and throw out a bit of oil. However, some more than others, if the oil cap flies off, then I know there's probably more blow by, no?

How would you guys recommend I inspect the wear on the engine then? It is a sports car after all... so I am expecting some wear. So far I have been getting a flashlight and looking around for leaks anywhere and then removing the cap and comparing it to other cars to see which has the greatest blowby.

Also, the blue/black smoke is a good recommendation, but no car with 50 000 km will have colored smoke unless the oil had never been changed since day 1 :p

Should I just get a real mechanic to check the car? Would they even be able to detect a worn engine lol?

It is also important to note that I only buy CPO vehicles

oma

Yeah I was trying to leave it at the learning experience instead of the focusing on the details as well.

A PPI done by a competent mechanic will give you the real condition of the vehicle. Compression tests suck to do on these cars so they are harder than most.

CPO really doesn't mean squat expect that the dealer paid some money to certify it to mark up that investment for more profit on the sale of the vehicle. I've found CPO vehicles with obvious problems in the past.

You can not check for wear from the outside of the engine. These things stand up very well so wear at 50K will be almost impossible to see.
If you have blowby with enough pressure to blow a cap off you will not be able to see the rear of the car from the exhaust smoke no matter how clean the oil is. Simple as that.
Get a real mechanic to check. They can do some things you can not. Not of the old wives tales of diagnosis actually work as well as people claim. Also get the maintenance records for the car. Those will tell you more about possible wear than anything you can look at short of opening up the engine. If they don't have or won't produce records be wary.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll have a mechanic check out the vehicle. Thanks for the help people :)

Lol, I had that happen to me once. I went to look at a used CSRT4 locally and was interested in it for sure. Salesman gave me one look and asked for a credit check (28 yrs. Old btw). When I asked why he said "We dont want young people tearing up the performance cars on test drives. If you were serious you'd let us run your credit."

I said alright, walked to my cammed GTO and rolled on out. As he walked by me, mouth gaping, I said "This thing might have a little more performance than your shitbox caliber, huh?!"

Bought my CSRT4 that following weekend from another dealer. Traded in a TBSS. I just needed a daily beater.....

Credit checks are not the norm for a test drive, especially a cheap car like these things.

I do not dress up, but with his age it will help. The only one I was ever given the run around on was a new 06 Corvette. Was at the dealer getting some other stuff done. The sales man knew the chances of me buying one was slim to none.

I had the reverse age thing happen when I bought the FRS. I was just killing time getting an oil change at the dealer next door and wandered in. I spent about 45 minutes looking in, under and around the car in the show room. I even popped the hood an looked at the engine. All the time the salesmen all just stood in a small group chatting and watching the scruffy old guy in the Marilyn Manson tee shirt look at the sports car. I was in no hurry so I just waited for the one sales person that had at least hello finish up with her current customer. When she was done I just walked over and said "does nobody here want to sell a car?" when the rest all of a sudden sprung to action I said "no not you guys she can make some money". I bet that even dressed as I was if I had looked at a Camry or Tundra I would have had somebody beside me at the speed of light.

TL;DR

Walk into the dealer with the person who will sign the contract before asking for a discount. Far too many people negotiate, then walk out never to come back. Offer them the actual commitment on the spot in exchange for your request, otherwise manager and/or salesperson might have previous recollection in similar dealings where customers just went from store to store. That really sucks for them and indicates poor communication. In general, they might not have a good read on you as a customer but if you sit down with the salesperson and tell them what you told us I am sure there will be an understanding. They are writing the order on the condition that you test drive the vehicle, bit premature IMHO. Purchase subject to inspection and credit (when your father MUST participate). Your father really needs to go in with you IMHO.

Edit: I see it is a used car and you are being kinda weird diagnosing things with the engine that I might question Get a mechanic to inspect to finalize sale. If you are unsure of condition, wait for something else.

Better for you AND the dealer!

PS I hear Quebec is sometimes pretty shady with used cars, so yeah.

These are not serious people.

Go somewhere else.

With all the BS I am guessing this far from being the finest car in the city and they are playing on jacking up your emotions to get you psychologically invested.

Expand your search and be patient.

When I visit a car dealership the first time I ask for the sales manager. Hearty handshake, smile explain what my purpose is. And then I ask to work with the best sales guy/gal they have.

I kinda think they just do it on rotation because the folks I get to talk to make me wonder how they function in modern society.

But when it comes time to buy it’s all done through the internet team... by best bid.

For all the nonsense one experiences in the car lot, it’s amateur hour compared to shopping for a home mortgage. There are some real sharp angles used by these people ... mostly not to your advantage.

A colleague and his wife found dream house and thought they had locked in mortgage rate and were ready to close.

On closing day they were told they had some negative stuff impacting credit scores and the rate going forward would be far higher than was initially presented. Incredulously, they signed anyway.

Every mortgage rep I have talked to since I have warned that if any funny business then no deal. And I would look into legal remedies. No one ever f@cked with me.

Disagree. it depends on the business...

Test drives can have an affect on your credit score. It all depends on the particular FICO number used (I think they are up to #9), but different FICO numbers are used for different things.

Regardless of buy or not, if you go test drive the $60k car/truck, that is an indication that you potentially want to buy said $60k car/truck, at least to the lenders.

In the end, it is all invisible to you, but behind the grand scheme of the credit score rules (made up by the banks), all they see is risk.

The more cars you test drive, the more "risk" is involved as you are showing interest in what is perceived as a "possible purchase".

I know the credit score thing is a bunch of smoke in mirrors, but test driving cars, whether one or alot, cheap or expensive, will have some effect on your credit score. How much is hard to tell.

plenty of articles on the topic.