6
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Buying an older car. How to decide on the balance between age and mileage?
Maintenance records are key. Look for a large book of receipts, going back as far as possible.
Make sure you know what the main maintenance issues are on the car; e.g for Subaru, they need a timing ...
- 8,702
5
votes
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Buying a car without a service history?
This is something like buying a large farm at a great price with just one glitch: the owner tells you there may be a couple landmines hidden on the property somewhere.
With this amount of lack of ...
- 5,225
3
votes
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What are the potential causes of a single cylinder loosing compression?
Besides compression it could be fuel supply (clogged or failed injector), a bad spark plug or cable, a problem with the ignition system, a loose cam cover, and other things. As you say if it was a bad ...
- 16.9k
3
votes
Buying an older car. How to decide on the balance between age and mileage?
Well its not a bad thing getting a pre-owned vehicle but some factors are to be kept in mind before spending your cash for the same.
Kilometers or miles it ran
Parts to be renewed or parts to be ...
- 31
3
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Car Ethics, Book Value and Disclosure when selling older cars
Usually the book value is actually a range of values, and your car will fall somewhere within that range depending on it's condition, mileage and extras.
If it's only a single value, then I'd expect ...
- 28.7k
2
votes
How should I modify a car to live in it? How risky are used cars?
For a vehicle to live in you would be much better off with a van. Even a fairly large estate car will have much less internal space for an equivalent floor area.
Another key consideration is that ...
- 1,586
2
votes
What is the procedure of buying a new car?
I'm not sure this question falls into "Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair" but generally the procedures are similar across states with some variations.
In California there is an official ...
- 12.1k
2
votes
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Torque wrenches of the same force but different head size
Normally you buy these things by their torque range and by the sockets you use. It helps to get an overview of the torque range you need in the future.
It also happens seldom that two wrenches with ...
- 8,448
2
votes
Accepted
Advice on buying this car that has been in an accident
Take it to a car lot that has an identical vehicle and compare. I did this once and was shocked at the difference between a wrecked and non wrecked. Also obviously drive it and see if it tracks good ...
2
votes
Car Ethics, Book Value and Disclosure when selling older cars
Around here we have Kelly Blue Book. It will list values in perfect, good, fair, or poor condition.
perfect - low mileage, minimal wear and tear.
good - this is the category most well cared for ...
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2
votes
Things to look at before buying1988 xj40 jaguar
An XJ40 weighs nearly 2 tons, so no wonder it feels heavy. It has power-assisted everything so the steering shouldn't feel heavy, so you might have a leak in the power steering circuit.
If it has the ...
- 4,412
1
vote
measurement for car seat space
You want the hip room measurement, not leg room. Hip room measures the width of the seats.
However, the specific car seats you are installing plays a huge part in this. There is at least one brand ...
- 781
1
vote
Accepted
Should I be concerned about van with rear coil spring replacement after 85k miles?
Nearly certain the spring failed by fatigue at a defect. Likely a "one of". Metallurgical defect of inclusions or wire drawing most likely ; small chance of manufacturing defect like a ...
- 3,678
1
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Should I be concerned about van with rear coil spring replacement after 85k miles?
Well tire wear is normal. Certainly by 85K the vehicle should have gone through at least one set. But why only the one tire? Perhaps there is an alignment problem or other suspension issue related ...
- 12.1k
1
vote
Determining amount of owners
By the looks of what you showed, it looks like its most likely that AutoChrck and Carfax just have a different way of categorizing the data.
Based on the AutoCheck Glossary they don't have any ...
- 3,264
1
vote
Determining amount of owners
I do not know if this applies in every state, but in my state (PA), the last two digits of the title number indicates the number of owners.
That is, the initial title issued on a vehicle ends with 01....
- 131
1
vote
Is it a good idea to buy an old car with low mileage for reliability?
Speaking out of personal experience, I'd say check for the 'diseases' of that particular modal.
Also judge the current owner, is it an old person, that just uses it for groceries and keeps it clean ...
- 570
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Is it a good idea to buy an old car with low mileage for reliability?
This question does feel a little like shopping advice so may end up closed.
To my mind, there are three possibilities that would explain why a 1997 car had covered so few miles;
It's covered ...
- 23.4k
1
vote
My new Yamaha Mt07 has mixed tyres, is this wrong ?
BT023 is a model designation of a Bridgestone tire. 180/55ZR17 M/C(73W)(Tubeless) is the size and speed/load designation of the tire. The rear should also say BT023 somewhere on it, and the front ...
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1
vote
Accepted
My new Yamaha Mt07 has mixed tyres, is this wrong ?
Unless its a sketchy re-tread tire, any tire will almost certainly have identification marking on there someplace. This question here on stack seems to suggest mixing brands isn't the end of the world,...
- 1,646
1
vote
Is there a reputable list of well rated van models and/or engines?
I understand that you want information about US market vehicles. For that, I may not have a satisfactory solution, as I know nothing about the cars sold only in the US market. However, some car models ...
- 14.5k
1
vote
What clues are there to identify real mileage?
Check for holes drilled in the bodywork where taxis tend to mount their permit plates ...
A friend of mine bought a citroen bx and was really happy he had a low miles car.
Until he showed us that ...
- 34.6k
1
vote
Car Ethics, Book Value and Disclosure when selling older cars
So far as the UK is concerned, I would say you definitely need to declare anything which makes the car illegal - but most sensible buyers who want a car to use (rather than one to break up for spare ...
- 2,944
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