Buying A Used Car With Rust
At Ride Time, we sell high-quality used vehicles that are free of damage from rust. We also have an 8-bay service centre. If you are buying a car from a private seller, or from another dealer and want it inspected for rust, we can help.
buying a used car with rust
Rot in the floors might seem like a problem for just old cars, but modern cars can be victims of the tinworm, too. Check out the complaints of completely rusted floors on the 2002 to 2006 Nissan Altima at CarComplaints.com, for example. That car in particular had major issues with catastrophic rust.
If you're buying a vehicle with less than 7,500 miles, make sure it meets these standards. Ask the seller or check the Vehicle Emissions Control Information (VECI) label in the engine compartment. If it shows the vehicle is certified for California emission standards, for sale in all 50 states, or for sale in the northeast, you may register it in Washington.
A curbstoner is a person who makes money from buying used vehicles and reselling them. They're unlicensed dealers who don't comply with state or federal laws. You have no legal protection when dealing with them.
Although older models were made before rust-proofing materials were typically used in the manufacturing process, the most-likely reasons for your car turning into a rust bucket depends on other factors.
If you live by the sea or have been driving in adverse weather you should try to give your car a quick rinse with water. A once-over with a hose will prevent the dirt and grime of the day settling on your paintwork and eventually rusting.
The days of strictly local car-buying seem as distant as $2-a-gallon gas. Today, used-car buyers can easily access millions of vehicles from Maine to California. All of which are a few clicks away on the Internet or a phone call away from a pre-sale inspection and a hauler that will bring that dream car right to your door. But some areas of the country are better than others at offering used cars that are worth the effort to go out of state.
We cannot expect every person to have maintained their car with the best rust-proofing materials. Also, once it is formed, it is difficult to stop rust from spreading. Therefore, checking for rust is one of the most important parts of buying a used car. But it is not an easy task even if it has already started to cause problems underneath.
Buying a new car can be one of the most tedious processes. Especially, if you are in the market looking for a pre-owned vehicle. While in both cases the main agenda is to get a product that is your money's worth, buying a used car can be a bit tricky. Compared to a brand new vehicle, buying a used car additionally involves looking for damages, engine condition, proper paperwork and the most important of them all 'Rust'. It is commonly considered a cancer of cars, and it's important to locate rusts as soon as possible. Here are the most common places to check for rust when buying a used car.
Given the increasing use of fibre and plastic material in the construction of car fenders, nowadays, rusty fenders or rocker panels are not very common. However, if you are planning to buy one of those older cars with a metal fender and side skit, it's certainly one of the places you need to look for rust. The most common reason for rusting is the dirt and mud that gets deposited under the wheel arch or underbody panels. So, it's important to clean those sections periodically. If the rusting is extensive it's best to avoid buying such a car.
The car floorboard is yet another important place to check for rust. In India, several of our cities face flooding during the monsoons, and the car floor tends to get wet quite easily. Most car owners do not clean them properly which lead to rusting in over a period of time. While most cars are covers with mats, if you find a car with rusting on the floor, it's best to avoid it.
The engine bay is also one of the common places where you can see rust formation. Now, cast iron is quite commonly used as a structural material and mounting points inside the engine bay and given the extreme temperature and conditions inside the engine bay rusting is quite common. Engine parts do get a layer of surface rust, but that's becoming less common as plastic replacing steel under the hood. So, a little surface rust is not really a deal-breaker if the mounts and bolts are in good condition.
Most exhaust pipes are made of steel and it can easily get rusted, while stainless steel is less susceptible to rust, Aluminium exhausts typically don't corrode easily. The place where you need to look for rust is where the tubing bends and joint that are welded. However, exhaust pipes are expensive to replace, but a rusty exhaust in a used car might not be a deal-breaker, as they don't cause any harm to the car's performance.
Given their placement, most car owners don't really ensure periodic cleaning and maintenance of the suspension unit, which means rusting is inevitable. They are expensive to replace, and a rusty suspension can lead to long-term problems leading to bad ride quality and even damage. So, it's best to avoid buying such cars.
One of the biggest warning signs that a dealership has engaged in spot painting of a vehicle is a small but notable difference in the color of paint from area to area on the vehicle. Places with different textures or where the paint seems to be thicker or thinner than on other surfaces of the vehicle could also be warning signs of an attempt to paint over rust.
The problem with just covering up vehicle rust is that it can continue to spread and damage the vehicle. If there is enough of it before the dealership painted over it, your vehicle may not have the longevity and resale value you expected when making the purchase.
The first time you try to wash your vehicle or take it to your own mechanic for some work, you may learn about the rust issues. Having your mechanic record the damage or taking photographs or video with your phone to show your unexpected discovery will serve as documentation of the undisclosed issue with your vehicle and the questionable attempt to cover it.
A good place to start when buying a used car is to talk to a reputable dealer. Long-time dealerships with good histories won't risk their reps by ripping off their customers. With any dealer, ask if the car you're eyeing has been damaged by floods, and get the answer in writing. Anything less than a firm "no" or any hesitation to commit to that answer in writing are causes for concern.
Rust and corrosion are often visible. Look for signs of corrosion on metals both inside and out. If you see rust on screws, door hinges, hood springs, trunk latches or brackets under the dashboard, for example, you know those metals had significant contact with water.
Take a visit to the Wrangler and Cherokee forums, and you will see that people are buying Jeeps left and right with anywhere from 90k-150k miles for what you might think are crazy prices. When in reality, the Jeep fanatics know that as long as the vehicle has been well-maintained, those Jeeps could easily last for another 150,000 miles.
A qualified used vehicle inspection might be useful in this instance. An inspector can tell if a vehicle has an excessive amount of rust for its age. They also know which nooks and crannies to look into for rust and other defects that an inexperienced eye might miss.
Most people assume that they can quickly spot damage that would affect its value, but unfortunately, some dealerships will actively try to hide issues from potential buyers. For example, the dealership could have purchased a used vehicle from another buyer or at auction that has substantial cosmetic rust damage.
Rather than replacing the affected parts or treating the rust to avoid the risk of it spreading, they might just paint over it to hide the cosmetic issues. Do you have any rights when you discover significant rust damage on a used vehicle you recently purchased?
The best case scenario when buying a used car is to identify the sweet spot where depreciation flat lines (or close to it), but where the car still has lots of life left. One one hand, this is a crap shoot. On the other hand, this is not a crap shoot because you have the internet and the internet has open source data sets!
I do the same thing to compare used cars. In NE cars do not last as long as in other parts of the country (once they start really rusting, good luck getting them to pass inspection) so it really matters how many drive-able years are left. When researching to purchase a new tacoma to replace my husbands 15 year old one, I would dived the purchase price by how many years they had left to be in reasonably good shape. I found that 4 year old trucks were the sweet spot. The cheaper older trucks actually cost more per year then the newer ones. My theory on why that happens is that most people looking to buy used are trying to keep things to a certain price point (10k) and that creates greater demand for the older trucks and raises the price.
We too live in Vermont, and the one serious issue we find with our aging cars here is body rust from winter road salt. We get our cars oil undercoated every year and nonetheless have had to retire them all before their mechanical failure when they failed inspection due to compromised body integrity (rusted out). I would be cautious about buying an older car in snow country.
Generally we find that the newer, low mileage/used vehicles cost around 0.20 cents- 0.35 cents per km. Variation does seem to be due mostly to size of vehicle/engine. We did have one lemon in this the newer low mileage group also. But at the end of the day this is where most of our vehicle purchases happen. It is not just about the money- but the relative piece of mind with a newer vehicle in a remote area with a disabled child. We do have CAA but it is just really really difficult being stuck.
I prefer used older model with low mileage. I bought a 2008 Subaru forester for $10k but it only had 58,000 miles. I hope it will last another 8-10 years and my 13 year old will drive it as her first car. I figure we generally spend $1500 per year when factoring in purchase price, maintenance, depreciation and life span. Not bad, if you ask me. My last car was a Toyota Corolla and that averaged less that $750 per year. I think with patience you can find a low mileage older vehicle that will last for years and cost relatively little per year. 041b061a72