When searching for a used car or truck you’re going to have a ton of options; and the thing with buying a used vehicle is that its future reliability depends on how the previous owner took care of it. Most new vehicles are leased so your used vehicle purchase will likely be a lease return. Because of this, there will be little proof of previous maintenance, or what type of driver owned the vehicle. Vehicles can be reconditioned and made to look brand new, but you’ll never know the condition of the mechanics. And NEVER believe what a person selling a used car tells you. If they do not have paper proof, likely, it is not true; even if they swear that the vehicle you’re looking at was their grandmothers and she rarely drove it and kept it in the garage.

So, how can you know what vehicle to buy? We have come up with three simple things to look for that will give you an insight to the vehicle’s past no matter what you are told or how good it looks.

• Wipers are cheap, easy to replace, and available almost anywhere. They make a HUGE improvement to an owner’s safety, visibly and driving enjoyment. To that end, this is the first thing to check on any used vehicle. The reason being, anyone who does not replace their vehicle’s wipers likely does not spend money on any other kind of vehicle maintenance or vehicle care. This is also something that most car dealers never check before putting a vehicle on their lot. If the wipers are in rough shape or worse yet, are actually broken, the vehicle you’re looking at has had a rough life and may not be such a good deal.
• Headlamps are very expensive to replace and are nearly impossible to repair or re-condition. A person selling a used vehicle will rarely pay to replace their headlamps and therefore they usually show a vehicle’s true history. If a vehicle’s headlamps are scratched, pitted, foggy, have moisture in them, or if one headlamp is in different condition from the other, the vehicle probably has a history that does not tell a good story.
• Windshields, as most dealers have figured out, are a tell tail sign of a vehicle’s past. Windshields scratch easily when wipers are not replaced and they chip and pit from road debris; however the cost to replace a windshield is covered by vehicle insurance. If you find what looks like a steal of a deal, but the vehicle’s windshield is worn, scratched, faded, chipped or cracked, you might want to reconsider buying. Given the importance of a windshield to the overall safety of a vehicle, if the previous owner would not pay their deductible to replace their windshield or did not pay to have the correct coverage, it is fair to conclude that they also saved money on other vehicle costs and maintenance.