Used Car Shopping? A Handy List: The Top 10 Vehicles Most Likely To Have Been In An Accident

With new cars so steeply discounted and deals ready to be had, I'd go with a new car over used at the desired price point. Sure, you may be buying a Focus instead of a 5 year old 3 Series, but...

The general public truly does not realize how many "horrors" go out to auction that are bought for cheap and retailed as virtually being CPO. The used car mills like CarMax are especially notorious for selling less than ideal cars as fantastic, barely driven models.

And this is why we love you, Matt!

I have yet to buy a used vehicle though I came close and I'll tell you all this: It was not a fun endeavor just because you don't know what lurks beneath.

We dump bad cars to auction and never look back. With the high number of lease returns, we have plenty 2-year-old cars to put out on the used lot that we typically dump all other trade ins.

The lease returns have typically been serviced by us and we know whether or not recalls have been performed.

Sure, some trade ins are desirable (pickups, muscle cars, crossovers), but we try to make sure that if we put them out they don't bite us in the ass.

If customers drive in with a salvage title vehicle, we simply will not take it.

"The general public truly does not realize how many "horrors" go out to auction that are bought for cheap and retailed as virtually being CPO" Boy isn't that the truth!! Over the years in this business I have seen horror stories involving 'pristine' cars purchased at auction.

Have you ever gone to Barrett-Jackson? I've seen people buy some "classic" thing only to find that the rust throughs were fixed with bubble gum.

I'm fine buying junk IF I KNOW IT'S JUNK.

We did an Iso Grifo I found in the south (of all places) that was Swiss cheese. We did a lot of fabrication on it and restomodded the drive train by throwing Corvette parts at it. We sold it as an "incorrect" classic i.e. it was 100% true to stock look, but most of the car was far from original.

Yeesh, swiss cheese.

Added factoiod - don't get too excited if you see a 3 yr old Black ext, Black int, premium car on a manufacturer CPO site (Escalade, GL450, S550, 750i, A8, Range Rover, etc) with very low miles for its age.

I guarantee you that while the car has only driven, say 22,000 miles over 3 years - for ever hour it spent actually driving on the road, it spent 4x as much time parked, with the heat/AC cranked up and the engine oil cooking, while the driver waited for the owner to come out for his/her ride.

Get one of those and you will be in disbelief at the 4 year mark when it starts leaking fluids like a sieve because the gaskets and seals got cooked while it idled. Also, expect the AC to die at the 4 year mark also. You have been warned!

If the vehicle is not black/black its probably ok though - as nobody gets chauffeured in a diamond white escalade with a tan interior!

I hadn't thought of that, but it's true.

Conversely, decommissioned Crown Vics from the police with a zillion miles tend to go on forever.

Also - check the Transmission Fluid in all Automatics - if it is something other than red - or "slightly" to the orange side (The dye they use isn't the greatest" - be warry. If it is already to the brown side - walk away - especially if you can feel grit in the fluid.

THe overwhelming majority of automatic transmissions go from Manufacturer to salvage year after a lone life - without any Automatic Transmission maintenance. However - once badly overheated either through slipping clutches or through radiator failure - the end time is clicking - AND - today - these computer controlled 8-10 speeds are way up there often approaching $5,000.00.

The very first thing I do with ALL my automatic cars - is to install an external transmission oil cooler. The other thing I recommend is have an early first fluid change. No matter what mechanical device than has metal on metal contact - there will be a certain amount of normal wear - BUT there is more at the beginning due to production differences in parts. Since almost all current automatic transmissions are shifted by SOLENOIDs (which are simply magnetic switches) - the solenoids attract the metal wear - and start to get clogged. Removing the first fill - changing the filter - and filling with the required correct fluid (THere are a lot of them today - and some you may have to get at a dealer) will give a better shifting longer lasting transmission - and it continues to amaze me that few manufacturers recommend an early(1 year) service. I do the same with engine oil although that filter is better at preventing metal contamination.

@TomM, you do realize that checking the ATF no longer is as simple as pulling a dipstick, right?