How you can tell if a used car has been tampered with

Buying a used car is a tricky business and almost everyone has heard of a friend or acquaintance making being deceived when buying a used car and finding out about faults that require expensive repairs.

We talked to the guys from Scout My Car to find out more about how to make sure you don't fall for the most common traps.

1) The Paint

Image courtesy of Autoz Qatar

The easiest way to cover up scratches, rust, or filled areas is by covering them with paint. Fortunately, this is one of the easiest things to detect when you inspect a car.

At Scout My Car, every inspection includes measuring the paint thickness around the car to assess whether body parts have been re-painted. This is done with a paint thickness gauge, but there are other ways for you to find out. Paint job often aren't seamless and can be detected by putting your face close to the car and looking for seams along the cars body. The color of the resprayed areas often also varies slightly from the original, due to the shorting drying period.

2) Filled areas

Image courtesy of SNMRC.org

Similarly to repainted body parts, filled areas indicate an issue with the body work. This can range from a small dent, to rust, to accident damage. Instead of properly fixing these issues, the affected areas or often simply filled and repainted.

The easiest way for you to detect this if the car is by using a small kitchen magnet and checking the body of the car every 20cm. If you detect an area where the magnet doesn't stick, this might indicate that the area has been filled. However keep in mind, that more modern cars use aluminium, which isn't magnetic.

3) Using metal sheets

Image Courtesy of GTÜ

If the damage to the body is extensive, some tricksters may use metal sheets to cover the damage. This is more difficult to detect than if filling mass is used.

The easiest way to detect this is by comparing the car to manufacturers images and looking for deviations. Another way to detect this is by checking the gaps between parts (doors, bonnet, etc.). If the gaps aren't consistent, and differ significantly, this may suggest accident damage, a sloppy repair job, or the use of metal sheets.

4) The underbody

Image courtesy of Promotor

The gear box, drive shaft, exhaust and most of the important body parts are only accessible from under the car. This is why underbody checks are absolutely imperative. Most con-salesmen won't bother covering up damages under the car. The most important things to look out for are rust, and leaks. Nothing under the car should be wet or greasy, since this would indicate a leak.

5) Test drive

Test driving the car is a great way of checking for symptoms of bigger issues. Firstly, make sure that you can test drive the car in silence, since you'll have to listen for any unusual noises coming from the engine, the gear box, or the tires. Try all the gears, test the engine at high and low RPMs and listen to the brakes.

Next, assess how the car handles. If you let go of the steering, does the car stay in its lane or does it drift to either side?

6) The tires

Image Courtesy of Dunlop

The condition of the tires can tell you something about how reliable the seller is. Generally, the tires on an axle should be the same make and the same age, to ensure that the grip on both tires is the same.

In order to check the age of the tire, you can look at the DOT Number on the tire. In this case, the number is 3815, which means its from calendar week 38, year (20)15.

You should also check the tire wear and the depth of the profile. Tires that are too worn out will need to be replaced, and this can easily cost you thousands of dirhams.

Summary:

By following these 6 steps, you'll be able to get a general idea about the state of the car, but this can't replace a thorough check. Use car inspection services like Scout My Car will ensure that you know everything you need to know about the car before making a decision. Similarly, they will also list all required repairs and the costs, as well as recommend a buying price for the car based on their findings. The starting price for a Scout My Car inspection is AED 399.

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