The method to get really familiar with a new-to-you car is to give it a good hand wash. All the intimate details will appear in front of your eyes as you slide the wash mitt over every single panel. Details you’d otherwise miss on first inspection during the purchasing process.
It’s how I found out the windshield side moldings on my recently-bought 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI are surprisingly perished. It’s going to cost $100 to buy brand new OEM replacement, which isn’t too bad. The car must have been parked outside constantly with its previous owner. I also found out one of the wheels has a slight bent, though it balances just fine with the new tires I put on, so I’m not going to worry about it. For now.
Minor flaws are what you must tolerate when buying a used car. Even the most stringent of owners cannot avoid some form of deterioration to their cars. What isn’t tolerable is major flaws that are detrimental to mechanical operation. These days it’s far too easy for people to offload cars to CarMax or Carvana that are in need of major maintenance or fixing. Used car buyers have to perform due diligence.
Good news for those of us in California. A new law states buyers of used cars under $50,000 - from a dealership - can now return the vehicles within three days. That’s ample time to schedule a visit to a mechanic to look over the purchase. Any major red flags found is then an easy decision to give the car back. For what remains a person’s second biggest monetary purchase in their lifetime, a purchase inspection is a must do.
I bought the GTI from Carvana, which has its own seven day no questions asked return policy. After picking up the car, it went the very next day to the local Volkswagen dealership for inspection. There were some items needing fix, but none out of the ordinary, or catastrophically expensive. Needless to say, I still have the Golf.
It was all yellow.