Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattstermh
Thanks for the reply. I'm a young guy and only purchased one other car. I'm not positive I know how to spot owner abuse other than how the interior looks, feels and smells.
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Signs of "abuse" can be tricky. My car looks like the front bumper was hit by several shot gun blasts, there is a big chunk of the splash pan under the rad missing, the engine compartment looks like I left the hood open in a dust storm and I have little nicks all over the place from highway debris. To look at it you may say "oh now that is an abused car" but the reality is that this is all just signs of heavy highway use and the car is probably one of the least beat on found on this forum. About 98% of my driving is straight line highway with the cruise on, I have 40 years of MT experience and it has probably only seen red line about half a dozen times. All maintenance has been done by the dealer (they are a good one) and I have not had one of the common "issues" that we see so often.
Meanwhile their are cars that look pristine but have had the living shit kicked out of them and are lucky if half the required maintenance was ever done or if done was even remotely done the right way.
The moral of the story is that it is very hard to tell if a car has been beat on. If you can get info on the previous owner it can help.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scenic Driver
Have a pre purchase inspection done by someone that you trust
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This is the best way to go ^^^^^