Why You Need To Check A Used Car's History Before Purchase

Buying a used car is fraught with difficulty, mainly because without knowing the full history of the car it is difficult to know whether the purchase is a good deal. Fortunately it is easier than ever before for a prospective purchaser of a used car to furnish themselves with a full history of the car they intend to purchase. It is now possible to run an online check on a car and have a full history in your hands in seconds. The history covers a score of things, but some of the main ones are lemon title checks, car accident reports, odometer tampering check and checking whether the car has been stolen. This article will look at these in turn at discuss some considerations when it comes to checking on the history of a used car.

The lemon title check simply checks whether the car was made the subject of lemon laws when it was originally purchased. Lemon laws enable a purchaser of a car to return it to the dealer and claim a refund if it proves that the car was defective and needed ongoing repairs. If the used car has been the subject of lemon laws it may be that it is still defective and should probably be avoided.

One of the most important checks is the car accident report. If a car has been in an accident, especially a major accident, it could be so severely damaged that it could have ongoing problems and need money spent on constant repairs. Unless a thorough check is carried out on a cars history a major accident history may never come to light.

A major concern for buyers of used cars is whether the odometer has been tampered with. A car that has had this done may have an odometer that shows a mileage much lower than the real mileage, and so will have suffered much more wear and tear than the odometer would seem to indicate. A vehicle history check will show the exact mileage of the car and so cut down greatly on any chance of odometer fraud. Ways of checking whether the odometer has been tampered with are covered in more details at http://www.vehiclehistoryworld.com

Sometimes stolen cars turn up in the used car market, though the dealer obviously won't say so, and may not even know himself. Buying a stolen car can be more than just annoying, since it could possibly be reclaimed by the real owner, but may also have been used in carrying out some other crime. Unless it is possible to prove that the car was bought used after the crime was committed, the new owner could find themselves facing criminal charges.

As can be seen, there are many pitfalls for the unwary when purchasing a second-hand car. However by doing just a little research and using one of the online checking services much if not all of the risk can be avoided.