Has This Car Been Totaled

If you are like me then you don’t enjoy the process of buying a used car. I enjoy driving it, but the whole process of bargaining and looking at several cars isn’t enjoyable to me. I hate trying to guess whether what the seller is telling me about the car is true or not. Unfortunately we have to drive cars and we all have to buy used cars throughout our lives.

I can remember the first time I saw a car driving down the road and it was pointed one way, but going another. I was a little boy and I thought what is wrong with that car? My father went on to explain how the frame had been damaged, and that the car was dangerous to drive.

In this case it is quite easy to see that the car is not functioning properly and will cost you a bunch of money in the future. But some cars that are lemons are not that easy to spot. How do you know that you are getting a good deal?

The first place to look to check if the car has been totaled is the title. If a car has been totaled by an insurance agent then state law normally requires for them to stamp the title. If there is no evidence in the title, then you will have to do some more investigating! This can be quite easy and anyone can do it.

The one thing that I see all of the time is over spray on the taillights. This is a sure sign that the car has been repaired and repainted. I don’t know why the seller doesn’t scrape it off, or buy a new one. I have looked at several cars that the seller swears has never had any damage done to them, yet there is paint on the taillight cover. Do you think that it came out of the factory like that? No way! If the buyer isn’t open about a small fender bender to explain the paint then they are hiding a much more serious problem and I wouldn’t buy that car.

Another place to look is the lines where two parts of the car come together. For example, you would want to check the crack between the front fender and the hood. If one end of that line is close together and the other end is far apart then you know something is not lining up right. Something has probably been changed and isn’t fitting like the original.

Don’t forget the obvious by asking the owner. Be smart when you do this and ask more detailed questions if their answer doesn’t satisfy you. For instance if the car has had a harmless fender bender the owner will probably tell you, there is no reason to hide that bit of information. If they try to hide the fact that the car has been in an accident that normally means that the car has been in a serious accident and they don’t want you to know about it.

I was in the market for an SUV last year. I had looked at a few and had started to get tired of the process. As I began looking at another one I noticed that this particular vehicle had a lot of scratches, and it didn’t seem to have been taken good care of. I walked around the car and noticed paint on the taillight. I didn’t tell the seller that I saw it, but I asked if there had been any fender benders that they had to repair. He replied that nothing out of the ordinary accident that we all experience. I didn’t pressure him any further. I didn’t like the car anyway. But if I did, he would have had to have given me a more detailed answer to his occasional accidents.

I hope that you will take these tips with you when you buy your next used car. Buying cars is something that we all have to do, and is most definitely a part of our life. So, be smart and enjoy the process. Do you homework so that you can drive a car that you know is in good condition and that you can be proud of.

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