How to buy a used car - DIY basic car inspection

In the market for a used car? Scared of buying a lemon? Need some basic car maintenance tips? Confused about CARFAX reports?

In this 9-minute video, Automotive Technician Mark Feather will guide you through some basic checks for you to carry out when buying a used car (or how not to buy a lemon!)

The aim of this video is not to delve too deep into technical detail, but rather to give you some basic practical checks. The video covers the following areas: external checks, effective road-testing and some administrative background checks you can perform to verify the car's history. A DIY preliminary inspection if you will.

We hope this helps you to find your dream car!

All proceeds recieved from the purchase of this video will be donated to the Kars4Kids Charity - who aim to provide for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of distressed and at risk youth. Please see www.kars4kids.org for more information.

We are a group of Entreprenurial Management students studying at The Red McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. We work in conjunction with field experts to produce high quality educational videos, with all proceeds going to charity.

Samantha Dallefeld is a business and pre-medical student who will attend medical school in the fall of 2008.

Philipp Degenhart is a German business student planning to graduate in the summer of 2008 and pursue a career in banking.

Tom Gowing is a British business student, with previous experience at Deloitte and Accenture, graduating in May 2008 to move into a career in management consulting.

Christian Hoya is a German...

Really Useful Stuff

04/08/2008

~ Tina

I bought my first used car last summer and really wish I'd known some of this stuff. These things are easy to look for but can really be indicative of the condition of the car.

Nicely Done!

01/12/2008

~ mully

I watched this video to give me ideas about selling my car. Very interesting things to look for in terms of both visual and test drive inspections, and CarFax is a most look website for any used car shopper.

Excellent job!

(Maybe you can follow up with a "How To Sell A Used Car" Mindbite?)

Good stuff

12/16/2007

~ matt

This is a handy overview of things anyone can do when looking at buying a used car. Some of them seem pretty obvious (cracked windows, body damage, background checks with CarFax), but others are a bit more subtle and I definitely learned some stuff that I would use when I look for my next car (or try to sell my own).

I really liked the visual lists, one thing that would be a fantastic addition to this lesson would be a downloadable checklist, maybe expanding on some of the points addressed. Also, I really wanted to see more clearly the problems that were being highlighted under the hood of the problem car. Some clearer closeups would be very welcome, since I was left a little unsure as to what I should be looking for.

Overall a solid lesson worth the price, there's room for improvement, but this is definitely the kind of thing I learned something from and would recommend to a family member considering buying a used car.

Well done Mark!

11/30/2007

~ tiger

I went to this guy for some help with my car the other week (engine problems...knew I should have bought Japanese!) A genuinely nice guy and great at what he does. Glad he gave me the link...his video is really helpful. Great Job, Mark!

Used car buying on a shoestring!

11/30/2007

~ jeffIOM

Take it from someone who has paid for plenty auto-inspections in the past - this video will save people a WHOLE lot of money. Good work, and a charitable cause :-)

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good video

05/16/2009

~ fredrick

this video made me pick up on a ton of things i would have otherwise missed today, like bumper damage and panel replacements. there can be some shady dealers out there. this is a great list of stuff. also check out at bottom of this link: http://www.googobits.com/articles/3011-inspection-checklist-for-buying-a-used-car.html

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