If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true.
Hi, I'm Petra, I'm a mechanic,
and we're going to look at what to look for
when you want to buy a second-hand car.
Engine department.
So in the engine compartment,
you can easily see if, you know, it's been maintained nicely.
The battery connectors are clean, they're not corroded.
The engine itself doesn't seem to have any leaks,
the bolts and nuts
look as if they haven't been tampered with.
This is the dipstick, so you check the oil level
that's for sure.
So you take it out, clean it
and then you put it back in all the way,
when you take it out,
there is an indicator here, on the high and low,
so it should be somewhere in between here.
And this is where the oil is filled in.
It's a good idea to look at this.
If it's sort of yellowish-whitish,
and there's some foam in it and all this
there's a good indication that the engine might
have leaked water inside so
that needs to look nice and clean.
Touch the engine slightly and make sure it's not,
it's not hot or warm.
You know, when you want to try
and see if the car starts nicely
and the battery and everything is fine,
you want to make sure that the person who's selling the car
hasn't started the car earlier.
And then you have to look for the VIN number,
and I think the VIN number here is on this tag here,
which is the identification number for the car.
And there's also an identification number for the engine.
So those two numbers should always align with the contract
that you do and the check that you do,
so you make sure the car is not stolen.
The tyre has a date when it was manufactured.
So it shouldn't be older than six years.
This one is 2017, so that's good,
otherwise it gets brittle.
The tyre should also have enough profile left,
three four mm, so enough thread left
and should wear evenly.
So if you see this is worn
much more on the outside than on the inside,
then you need to check your wheel alignment.
So that's something you have to take into account as well.
All right, inside the car, are the seatbelts in good order?
I think if you bring someone along to check the lights
you could now go through the lights
and through the switches and everything.
I would check my windscreen and the mirrors
and make sure there's no cracks,
just in general everything in the car that's there
and everything that's available should really work,
otherwise it's going to cost you money to fix those things.
I'm just going to turn the car on,
to listen to the engine sound.
And see how quickly it turns on, it sounds good.
So when I turn on the car,
the first thing is the sound, like, is it loud?
Is the exhaust broken?
Is the engine rattling?
Sounds good really.
I would go for a test drive now.
Handbrake feels good.
Let's go for a test drive.
Transmission sounds OK, it feels smooth.
The steering, I just try it
to see if it's wobbly or if it feels too loose.
If I go round a tight bend,
and if I go a bit faster, I can also feel,
get some feel for whether the wheel bearings are OK.
There's no clunking sound.
I would still do a test drive
where I can do at least 80 kilometres per hour.
Something like that on a faster road to see if the car
produces any noise.
And if you're totally unsure,
arrange with the buyer to go to a mechanic workshop
that you've made an appointment with.
Get this car checked out.
Put on the hoist, get the mechanic to do an assessment.
I guess with everything you buy is
switch on your your sense for this person, right?
Switch on the people sense and find out,
is this person genuine and honest about selling the car
and giving you all the details about it?
If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true.
So that's it,
there's a few things you can look for when you buy a car,
good luck.
See ya.