| By :
Dirik Hameed
There are many things to be wary of when considering buying a used car. It would not be wise to ignore the way a car was treated by its previous owner. One can get clues about this by observing the wear of the interior and inspecting the exterior for small dents. However, another good source of information is the service or repair history. Repair history might come from vehicle background checks on the internet, using the vehicle identification number, or the repair bills might have been saved by the previous owner. Either way, these are valuable sources of information. Poor driving habits, such as frequent jack-rabbit starts, hard braking or cornering, or riding a manual transmission clutch can cause a lot of wear and tear on many parts of cars on sale. Repair history can give some idea of whether or not such driving habits were done by the previous owner. Lot of cars get in small accidents and then are repaired. Some repaired dents may not be a problem. However, some accidents can do structural damage that make the vehicle less safe to drive. If the only the external damage is repaired, the lowered value of the car is hidden from view. Many people do not take care of their cars even when they are not driving. Some cars never get their oil, oil filters, or air filters changed. Others may not keep enough coolant in the cooling system. Skipping these simple maintenance steps can do serious damage to the engine over time. Some mechanics are better than others. If the repair history shows that the vehicle has been routinely worked on by a mechanic or company that is not trusted, there is not a lot of reason to believe the vehicle has been well cared for, even if the previous owner had good intentions. Meticulously kept service records are an indication that the previous owner was an even tempered and organized person. Such a person may be less likely to have bad driving habits, except perhaps riding on the clutch. Such a person may also have been good about getting the right maintenance jobs done at the right time. The real issue is that the many little problems that you cannot see now may add up to a big problem down the road. Years of bad driving and lack of repair may take an engine close to the breaking point just before it goes up for sale as a used car. The service that was not done by the previous owner may have to be done by the next owner. The type of service needed may also be more costly by that time. Service history show not only how the previous owner took care of the car, but also a lack of records may indicate how that owner neglected the car. Used cars can be a great value if it is in great condition. Service records are an important part of making sure the car is in great condition inside and out.
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