Most lists of questions to ask when buying a used car run to twenty or thirty items. How many owners? Any accidents? Why are you selling? They are fair questions. The trouble is what most buyers do with the answers. They believe them.
A seller's answer is not the answer. Some sellers don't know the car well. Some know it and don't say. You can't tell which one you have from the answer alone.
So here are two questions that work in a different way. They are not there to get the truth about the car out of the seller. They are there to show you how far to trust the seller. The inspection is what tells you about the car.
Question 1: "Are there any known problems with the car?"
Ask it plainly, before you look the car over. Listen, and remember what you heard.
Then look at the car. Is a check engine light or another warning light on when it starts? Are the tires worn out? Is there a fresh drip under the engine?
Stephon, who owns Car Pro Inspections and still inspects cars himself, asks sellers this question. He has heard "the car is perfect" from a seller while a warning light was on in front of him. In his words, "something clear and obvious is wrong with the car and they didn't tell me that, which happens often."
When the answer and the car don't match, there are only two reasons:
- The seller doesn't know the car well enough to answer.
- The seller knows and isn't being straight with you.
Neither one helps you. Either way, you have learned that nothing else this seller tells you can stand in for a check of the car. As Stephon puts it, anything you ask them, "you gotta take it with a grain of salt."
And when the answer does match what you see? Good. Plenty of sellers are honest and tell you what they know. But an honest seller can only tell you what they know. They may never have seen the underside of the car, or what its computers have stored.
If you start to wonder whether a private seller is really a dealer, here is how to spot curbstoning.
Question 2, for a dealer or a shop: "Did you inspect this car? Can I see the report?"
Dealers often have their own service department look over a used car before it goes on the lot. A technician checks it and writes up what it needs. That write-up is one of the most useful pieces of paper about the car. In Stephon's experience, many buyers never ask to see it.
How the dealer answers tells you a lot. Some will hand it over. Some will say no. Some will show you a copy with parts blacked out. Stephon has been handed redacted dealer reports himself.
Here is why the list you see may not be the whole list. Someone at the dealership decides which repairs get done before the car is sold. The industry writes about this openly. One article from vAuto, a used-car software company, suggests dealers "set up a baseline cost for reconditioning" and "allow the Service Department to complete the work when estimates fall below the threshold." Above that line, a manager decides.
Stephon has watched that decision up close. The shop's technician lists what he found. The used-car manager reads the list as "a math equation": how much the store wants to make on the car, and how much it is willing to spend on it. Some items get a check mark. Some get a line through them. The buyer rarely sees the ones that were crossed out.
That isn't a scandal. It's how a business manages cost. But it means a dealer's inspection answers the dealer's question, not yours. The FTC makes the same point: "A mechanical inspection is a good idea even if the car has been 'certified' and inspected by the dealer."
Your salesperson is probably not a mechanic
The person selling you the car may know the trim levels, the financing and the warranty options. That is their job. Knowing how the engine works, what a diagnostic scan reads, or how many computers are in the car usually is not.
The training says as much. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says retail sales workers "typically do not need formal education to enter the occupation," and that people in car sales "get instruction on the types of vehicles for sale, sales promotions, and financing options." Engines and diagnostics are not on that list.
And the computers matter. Back in 2009, IEEE Spectrum reported that "even low-end cars now have 30 to 50 ECUs," the electronic control units that run the engine, brakes, doors and more, and that higher-end cars had 70 to 100. That count is from 2009.
So when a salesperson says "it's been checked, it's fine," ask the next question: checked by whom, and can I see it? That takes you right back to question 2.
What a history report can't tell you
A clean CARFAX or AutoCheck report is a good start. It is not an inspection.
Experian, which runs AutoCheck, says so on its own site: "not every accident or other auto-related incident is reported." The FTC adds that a history report "may list accidents and flood damage, but typically it will not list mechanical problems," and puts it plainly: "A vehicle history report is not a substitute for an independent vehicle inspection."
For the longer answer, read Is CARFAX accurate?.
Ask the questions. Let the inspection give the answers.
Good questions make you a sharper buyer. They tell you who you are dealing with. They don't tell you the condition of the car. Only a close look at the car does that.
That is what a pre-purchase inspection is for. One of our certified technicians comes to the vehicle, on the dealer's lot or in the seller's driveway, and inspects it engine to underbody, working for you, the buyer. Every inspection includes a mechanical and safety check, a dealer-level diagnostic scan (availability varies by make and year), photo documentation, and a road test when the seller allows it and it is safe and legal to drive.
If the report finds something, you have it in writing before you pay. You can take it back to the seller and ask for a repair or a better price, or you can walk away.
The FTC even suggests it for cars that can't leave a dealer's lot: "you may be able to find a mobile inspection service."
Buying a used car in the Atlanta or Orlando area? Call us at 833-644-0800 and talk it through before you buy. If the seller gave you their own inspection report, have it with you when you call. Then book your inspection at carproinspections.com.
Quick answers
What questions should I ask when buying a used car? Start with two. Ask any seller, "Are there any known problems with the car?" and compare the answer with what you can see. At a dealer or a shop, ask, "Did you inspect this car? Can I see the report?" How they answer tells you how far to trust them. Then have the car inspected.
Is a dealer's inspection the same as an independent one? No. The dealer's inspection is done for the dealer. The FTC says a mechanical inspection "is a good idea even if the car has been 'certified' and inspected by the dealer."
Is a clean CARFAX enough? No. In the FTC's words, "A vehicle history report is not a substitute for an independent vehicle inspection."