There are several key factors to consider when you are in the process of purchasing a used car for sale near me. These can make or break what you eventually consider a good sale or a lemon of a deal. Consider the following things before purchasing a used vehicle, or stick to reputable dealerships like Lucky Car Ducky.

Vehicle History Report

The single most important thing to pull is a history report. You can get this from one of several sites, including Auto Check, CarFax, and InstaVin, among other services. When you get the history report, carefully comb through the information about the used car for sale near me.

Salvage, Junk, or Events of Loss

Making sure your vehicle can pass this check in the history report is important. Vehicles that have passed through the gates of salvage yards have likely had serious damage. While the car may look presentable, it’s hard to know what the damage is. Your history report will use data from auto repair centers, law enforcement, insurance companies, and motor vehicle departments to determine what has happened to your car and the damage severity.

You should note that some junkyards re-market cars that have sustained no damage, so this isn’t always a guarantee.

Damages

The history report clues you on more than the big accidents on a used car for sale near me. This will also include hail, flood, and fire damage. It will also tell you if a previous owner had used the vehicle for other than personal use. This means rentals, taxis, Uber, and other uses.

Title Details

The vehicle history report will show when the title for the used car for sale near me was issued. This will tell you how many times a transfer has happened. Ultimately, a one–owner vehicle is ideal. If only one person has had it, there has been some consistency in maintenance over its life. While one owner is ideal, you should shoot for no more than two owners at most. The vehicle history isn’t always foolproof in terms of ownership changing hands. Some states require a new registry to be a ‘title event,’ making it look like a transfer of ownership took place.

Recalls

There are many recalls in the vehicle industry. Safety recalls can happen when the NHTSA considers some safety parts to be defective. If this occurs enough in a certain model, a vehicle recall will happen. If you take your car to an authorized dealer of the model, they will help fix the recalled parts.

To find these recalls, go to the NHTSA.gov website. You will find any open recalls and can look for the used car for sale near me you are considering purchasing.

Odometer

Everyone can agree that a car with lower mileage is preferable to one with over 100,000 miles. In a perfect world, rolling an odometer back would never cross a seller’s mind. As a safeguard, however, check the history report. Everything done to the vehicle will be in this report. You can reference the mileage from one oil change to the next here.

Get a Reliable Used Car at Lucky Car Ducky

The easiest way to get a reliable used car is from a reputable dealership. Visit Lucky Car Ducky in Fresno, CA.