By Diane Lee (WSPA)
In South Carolina if you buy a used car and it breaks down the minute you take it off the lot, you’re stuck. That’s why it’s so important to take some key steps before you buy so you don’t end up with a lemon.
We hear a lot from people like Mark Jones who are told one thing by a dealer, and then learn the truth after they paid.”
“They told me that the car hadn’t been through any type of salvaged, but the underneath of the car had rotted out from water,” said Jones.
Mechanic Michael Morris with Cottman Transmission in Spartanburg, says the biggest problem he sees with used car sales, are when sellers try to hide noises by putting thicker fluid in the engine, or worse.
“I took the differential cover off of a Chevy truck and it was packed full of bananas. And the bananas of course got hot and it became this hard brick thing in there, and… it made it through the next sale, and he was out there literally prying bananas. And we’re not talking about 3 bananas, it was packed in probably 4 pounds of bananas,” said Morris.
To get around that, always have an independent mechanic check the car.
And if you’re buying from a dealership… Paying a little extra to get it certified can protect you.
Also if you haven’t heard of curbstoning, listen to this. Sometimes those individual cars you see for sale on the side of the road, look like they’re from a single seller, but really that person has bought up a bunch of wrecked cars and is trying to unload them, without even owning the title.
When it comes to payment, be weary of any seller who only will take cash.
And before you walk into a dealership, you’d be wise to get financing from your own source, so you can compare it to the dealer’s.
Jones made sure when he bought his next used car, he had a mechanic look it over before paying a dime.
