Help me out if you can please... test driving a car Wednesday night

[anonymousmoose]

Hello all, I'll be test driving a WK Statesman V6 from a Toyota dealer on Wednesday afternoon.

As this is the first car I'm seriously considering (have a VX for the past 4 years) for quite a while I dont want to be 'ripped off'.

I want to make a list of what to look for, can you all please give suggestions? What common things can I look at.

I went past the dealer tonight with no salesman there and I noticed on the rear door the chrome strip was bubbling. Its not really noticeable unless looking close. Not sure if this means anything.

Are there any common signs of engine wear? Rust etc?

I suspect the car was an ex-company car and used a lot as the steering wheel leather is starting to fade.

Any advice would be great! I only got until Wednesday to take it all in.

[Ozzie]

First off check the log book to see that its been serviced its whole life.
The log book should also contain reciepts of work that has been carried out on the car (if any).

Check the owners manual to see where the car originally came from. If it came from a coastline then check for the usual signs of rust ect...
Find out about previous owners. Sometimes the previous owners are oldies therefore you will have problems if you put your foot down and give it some.
If they were "P" platers then you may have problems with the diff ect... (stereotype)

Ask the dealer to not bull**** around and tell you the truth about the negative sides to the car (if they know)

Test drive it.

If your happy with the car and the price then consider it. If not then keep looking.

[alien]

Ozzie, my VR was owned by an oldie who used it only every couple of weeks basically on the freeway. Engine had an easy life and when i got it it had heaps more power than stock VR's had!

anonymousmoose, check under the bonnet too quickly check to make sure there isn't any oil leaking from the tappet covers. Also check for coolant leaks near the gearbox and from the side of the vehicle engine bay. Commodores are prone to those sort of problems. Check under the car to see if it's been leaking anything too.

When you take the car for a drive make sure you floor it too to make sure it has the power. Even if you dont race you'll want to know the engine can perform and is right. And make sure the Air Conditioner works too, it should switch to cold air within about 30 seconds, and when you pull up to the lights it shouldn't stall the car. If you've got a mate who knows even a little bit about mechanical stuff take him too. Having two people against one salesmen intimidate them and you can also usually get it cheaper :P If your not happy with the car or it's leaking make sure you let the salesman know. They'll probably arrange to get it fixed (on my old VR the salesman only made about $100 profit due to everything i wanted fixed, and the fool also threw in a full tank of fuel, so he made basically nothing).

[anonymousmoose]

I went past the dealer again last night (I'm not obsessed, its just very very close to my house) and had a look under the car. There seams to be some water from were the front seats are on the ground. Could this be air-con or maybe coolant? Not sure if it could have been from the air-con as it looked like a fresh puddle and it was about 7:30pm and they close at 5pm.

[alien]

AirCon is generally water that comes out. It should have evaporated after about an hour and a half. Seems like that would be coolant, in which case it's probably the heater core then if it's coolant.

[anonymousmoose]

AirCon is generally water that comes out. It should have evaporated after about an hour and a half. Seems like that would be coolant, in which case it's probably the heater core then if it's coolant.

What does that mean 'heater core'?

[alien]

It's also known as the Heat Exchanger. Basically the main part of the heater and air conditioner. They just warm up the air or cool the air (you have 2 one for air con and one for heating). They sit just n the dash right behind the engine (trace your coolant pipes from the water pump through to the dash and that will show you where it is).

[anonymousmoose]

ahhh thanks... so I take it its a bad thing if this is leaking?

[alien]

Um, i'm not sure how much mechanics charge to fix it So no idea. Not totally sure but it could be a leak from the inlet manifold. I know the supercharged versions have a thermostat at the rear and so when there is coolant leaking at the rear of the motor it's the thermostat or the inlet manifold. However the standard V6's have the thermostat at the front of the motor. Check the coolant level in the reservoir, you should be able to see a bit of coolant if it's right. DONT check it if it's hot! The steam will burn you.

It's still all fixable, just dont know how much mechanics charge. Maybe give your local place a call and just explain where the leak is and get them to give you a rough guide on how much it will cost to fix what they say could be wrong and then suggest whats here and see what they say to fix them if they havn't mentioned them. If that makes sense :S

[VYMAD]

Also check your coolant for signs of oil, oil for signs of water, and i always take off the oil filler cap and run my finger under the rocker cover to check for any "sludge." If its an auto then the fluid on the tranny dipstick should look nice and red-pink in color and should not smell like it's burnt. In the day light check the water underneath, it may just be air-con condensation. Check that the coolant in the overflow bottle is green in case some idiot has just put straight water in it, in which case clear water under the car may in fact be radiator water.

[SAV_117]

check the paint and check it well alot of dealers try and do some dodgy touch up jobs lol when its been raining its easier to tell

[alien]

No SAV_117, you dont check a paint job in the rain. It's usually darker than in the sun and you can miss things! You can tell quite a bit by just looking at it on certain angles.

Although watch out for the dealers who use white out on white cars to patch it up (yes there are ones that do that)!

[SAV_117]

i was referring to when the rain runs down on the paint and doesnt run down in a straight line and tends to go AROUND the touch up which i noticed on 5 cars when it was raining obviously sun would be good for other things

[anonymousmoose]

I drove the car but didnt end up buying it. We got the dealer down to $17,000 but I wasnt comfortable.

There were a few things about the car.

1. when switching the aircon vents it made a louder then normal noise
2. the back stereo/sub made a horrible noise, when turning off the stereo the noise stayed for about 10 more seconds
3. It veered left more then it should. Also had uneven tyre wear.
4. Needed new tyres very soon.

I would have bought it for $15k. $17k was a good deal (the dealer said he will fix the issues) but my gut said no.

The dealer also said he will wholesale it tomorrow for $16,500 so he wont go below $17,000. He offered $6,000 trade in on my commodore VX 2000 V6 exec 136k km.

I might get a stateman though, personally I thought the V6 engine wasnt too bad.

[SAV_117]

u could get a bit more on your VX privatly though

[paknponys]

grats for saying no. alot of people would have folded. i did and now im stuck with 170 a week repayments ahahahaha