Do NOT Buy a Used Car Before Watching This Video! 

I'm a mechanic, and I've still missed stuff on a used car. I hate used car shopping.

I used to do inspections. First question - "Have you already purchased the car?". If the answer was yes, I sent them on their way. It's supposed to be a "pre-purchase inspection" not a "post-purchase inspection". Anyone who does the latter is going to be upset at any honest inspection, which is at that point a repair consultation, not just a smiling "look what I bought". Too many tears.

Finished test driving a used car at a dealership. Sat down with the sales puke and they pulled a file from their drawer and said "Wow, we just spent $1700 reconditioning this car." I asked to review the invoices and told him it was 4 copies of the same invoice for an oil change and front brake pads-- at retail prices. After reaching the negotiated $10k price for the car, I asked for the second key fob and found it didn't work, even the technician couldn't get it to work with their programming tool and a new battery. A fully programmed replacement key was $400, which the dealer begrudgingly negotiated off the $10k. Two morals to the story: 1. Check the second key AFTER negotiating the final price, 2. Like Dave said: check every knob, latch, button and switch.

I sure wish I lived closer to Uncle Dave’s shop. He would definitely get my business.

THAT'S the most THOROUGH car inspection advice I've ever gotten ! GREAT job guys !!!!! I've been a car guy all my life. I'm 65+ and an old drag racer from long ago and I've probably owned more than 40 cars in my life including a very few family cars since married with children for 35+ years. SOOOO REALLY appreciate you guys Dave and son's !!!! Keep up the good work !!

That’s what I love about my 2005 cab and chassis duramax. Hand crank windows and floor shift 4x4. Also a “detuned” engine (which is fine for me). Has 300k miles all original drivetrain. Wouldn’t trade it for the world. Good simple pickup.

You need another video for people selling a car and warn them about scams that buyers do to get a discount. For example they'll Ask seller to pop the hood and start up the car and when The seller is not looking the scammer, Having done his homework on that particular model car, will unplug a wire or sabotage something minor something just enough to make it run crappy. Then try to beat you down on the price saying that they have to put money in it to fix it.

Check the door jam for paint thickness, that usually tells you how thick the body paint was from factory and rarely gets repainted unless they are doing a full resto. Also a ton of GM vehicles mainly trucks and suvs have their under hood emissions, a/c, and other labels on the air box and the area by the hood latch so a blank hood doesn’t always mean new hood. If you’re looking for a specific car make sure you check where those are supposed to be before you claim the hoods been replaced. Also in the mechanics section I hope there’s a place where it checks for catalytic converters being OEM, aftermarket, proper aftermarket, and straight piped. I have seen a 2022 sold with wrong aftermarket catalytic converters, the small dealer lot down the street was taking the catalytic converters off every car they had and putting a generic 30$ one. Let’s just say they went out of business and they were doing it in Cali so I’m sure there was jail time or hefty fines 😂.

@dave with all the manufacturers moving towards these high mileage maintenance intervals could you please publish a recommendation for maintenance intervals from your point of view, based on your experience. I would even benefit from a print out or maintenance booklet I can keep in my truck. I’m old school that way! 7.3 Powerstroke owner here, I’ve always changed my oil every 5k miles, and I change all other fluids (brake, coolant, trans, diff, power steering and transfer case) every 30k miles. Just curious what your perspective is. Thanks.

You nailed it. This information is very useful.✌️😎

I did this for a friend and found the dealer was trying to screw my friend who knew nothing, I found all the repairs they tried to hide and lyed about!

Dave your videos are some of the best on RU-vid with so many tips for free, thanks for your hard work.

God bless you Mr. Dave, I just wish I had found your channel before I spent 9 grand on a 2006 4Runner that has a rear differential crumbling worse than carrot cake that’s been left out, but next time I’ll be ready for them used car salesman

VIN search doesn’t always show services on the vehicle. Good to know how to spot a fallacy presented as a good product.

Uncle Dave is like a used car salesman’s worst nightmare 😂

I was having a bit of a look at some 4wd's here in Australia a few years ago. Took a Colorado for a drive and checked the blow-by. As soon as I unscrewed the cap it shot it out of my hand haha. When I got back to the used car yard I told the salesman about it and he called a mechanic over. The mechanic tried to tell me it was just the rockers flicking the oil up and out the filler hole. I just laughed and walked away.

It's a SIN that this Channel isn't on Television!!! WEALTH OF INFORMATION!!!!

I have always check the engine dip stick before cranking to see the color or water in the oil and pull Trans dip stick and smell it to see if it has a burnt smell

Always check under the oil fill cap. I looked at a 2005 Toyota sienna with 55,000 miles on it. The car superficially seemed OK but went under acceleration. It had no mid range power. And it would not climb in 8% grade more than 45 mph. When I gotonto the flat again I went wide open throttle in the engine kind of lazily went up to 4500 and then shot up to red line and shifted. It turned out the thing was sludged up inside and the variable valve timing was messed up as a result. When I pulled the cap off of the oil fill, it looked like a Weber barbecue inside. I walked away from that one because I knew it would be a problem.

I like to make sure the car is ice cold when I start it

Scammer car curbers are rolling back speedos/replacing instrument clusters with low mileage ones and selling the autos to honest buyers.

Why does the “blow by test” of taking the oil cap off only work on a diesel? Why does it not work on gas engines?

Listen to Uncle Dave.. he knows his shit.

Question 1: is the title clean?

Its Actual Value as IS = $1500 Bucks {+}

Phantom sticker is for body panel etch theft protection. It's a dealer added market up item. Not necessarily a replaced hood. Also, those cheap paint depth gauges aren't that accurate. The factory paints cars in stages. Doors, hood, bumpers, etc. are all painted away from the main body/chassis. So thickness will vary especially on vertical and horizontal surfaces. I always look for non oem parts as a sign of collision. Checking door jambs is a good place to check for paint depth too.

And always get a CarFax

if this guy knew anything about after market paint finishes, he could easly tell by looking at the finish under his florecent lights in the shop.

The dealership knows what problems a vehicle has and just try to hook customers and then sell the service needed, they will never admit if a vehicle has problems. It's sad that people get bad vehicles without any warranty. Vehicles are way over priced in the United States compared to every other country in the world. EPA requirements, safety standards,..... The list is endless Dave. I see many new vehicles with dual fuel, LP and gasoline, diesel and LP. LP is quite possibly the best fuel for internal combustion engines because it's very clean burning, the combustion is not as violent as diesel and gasoline is. That alone extends engine Life and durability, fewer unburned hydrocarbons. Electric cars are quiet common, Hafal, BYD , Porsche. BYD seems to have a commanding market share here in Thailand but I have only been in the Hafal for a 2 block ride. It was nice and comfortable, ac worked fast. It was a hybrid of some type, electric and gas I believe. I don't know what Toyota has going with diesel engines but I see hundreds of them, charter services sight seeing, 10 passengers and a driver in great comfort. Great presentation Dave I always enjoy seeing your videos man.

Hoped to have a peek at that list. Too bad it's behind a paywall.

Happened to me I was only 18 but I learned my lesson now I got a s550 with 25k miles thanks Dave

I wish i knew about dave before i got my truck… man o man have I learned a ton! Thank you to dave and the amazing techs

Ya I got a story 😅 I recently purchased a 2012 Nissian juke s purchased it as a fix it car witch I knew so first thing it had a turbo squeal ended up needed the turbo intake pipe tightened that fixed that had a oil leak on timing cover come to find out had a pin hole in the cover took it off took it to a welding shop got that fixed put it back on no more leaks while I was at it new timing chain and guides and everything decided to drop the oil pan cause the Nissian jukes are a problem with the covers and chains metal had lots of metal in the oil pan and magnets got it all clean and put back on decided I need to change CVT fluid drained it and dropped the pan cleaned metal and magnets had lots of metal fragments got that all put back decided to also replace the valve cover gasket and check to see if any metal go up top and it all looked good than we needed to tackle the vibration shake when apply brakes put new rotors and brakes on all 4 and that fixed that than I did a coolant flush and another issue it had was it would die randomly ended up being from the past owner they didn’t tighten the ground strap on the engine fixed that issue know the cars wonderful and so far very reliable we’ve driven it 3,000 miles with zero issues also just took it on a 5 hr trip and it did awesome 😂

I do like Daves life energy !

The window switch is no joke. It happed to me. Same with making sure all the doors lock

Dave...that File was Free a few days ago...now your Charging for it!?

You wouldn't just vote for a politician who is your favorite color, so we shouldn't do that when buying a car either.

the amount of orange peel on these body panels is ridiculous, especially being a 100k cadillac

Would you recommend getting one of those car scanners that shows if there may be any faults with it or is it just a waste of money?

I'll always buy new, I want know where it came from, how it was treated and then I can keep a log of everything I do to it.

The other thing you need to check is under the seat, is it rust or not, if rust so the car have a bad time through the flood

"Don't go there with some flashlight that doesn't really shine".... as Dave pulls out his free promo light from Hobo-Freight!!!! Hahahahaha. Just teasing you Dave!!!! Great stuff as always!!!! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Love your videos, Dave but I just wanted to say that on my GMC Sierra, I had to replace the roof because of hail damage. The truck runs great.

Hola señor Dave!!!👋👋Car lots going to hate you and there’s plenty of those crooks out there 😢just waiting for a victim unfortunately the Hispanic community always falls victim of those crooks 😢😢😢I hope everyone takes advantage of the information and we educate ourselves and learn how to prevent a disaster 😢😢😢…Saludos!!!! 👋😃👋

Yeah, but then you have to have a shop you trust to do an inspection. Not everyone is as honest as Dave.

There should be a DISCLOSURE by the dealer if repainted

Great Video. You must be careful when buying a used car. I'm sure that Cadillac was banged up and repaired. The paint depth has too many variations.

Hey Dave, great video! Will you be doing one for purchasing a diesel truck? Thanks for all you shared with us.

No thank you! You couldn’t give me one of them new pieces of well wait a minute actually yeah you could give me it and I would immediately sell it so I can buy something of quality something that wasn’t made in the 90s or even the 80s older, much older and simpler

Ruff...who let the dogs out

Do not buy a melon! 😅

A good body shop will replace those under hood labels. And the roof isn't necessarily a baseline for paint depth, hail damage is almost always repaired. Ive sold enough roofs.

I recently purchased a 2012 tiguan. It had 83,000 miles on it. Since purchasing it, I've replaced all the tires, the control arms/calipers locked up so I just replaced pads,rotor,calipers and control arms on the front suspension. The intake manifold needed to be replaced a month ago. Oh and the panoramic sunroof had a leak so I had to pay to have the lines unclogged. I am so thankful that I bought an extended warranty. Between the intake manifold and control arms and bushings it has paid for itself already.

Great idea sharing you vast knowledge and experience!! On a separate topic altogether , you have to get rid of that indy car engine sound on your videos and replace it with some diesel clatter, i mean jeez after all thats what you do best!!

Man I bought a 5000$ car. Had to put about 1000$ of work into it. Thing works great 2 years in the making 🤙🤷🏻‍♂️

NEWTOYEW ...that's what I always say 😅😂

Also bring high power white flash light so you can see imperfections and damages.

What are your thoughts on the 24 Toyota Tundra Reliability ?

I have been watching your videos and shorts for quite a while. Love all the info and in-depth info! Do you have any opinion on 2014 toyota tundra? I own one and love it, but she's at 144k. Would love some insight on what to watch for and also what to change out within critical operating parts.

Just for a reference, you should do a new car inspection of a vehicle sometime, while many used vehicles are total crap, the fit and finish on some new vehicles is a joke, and I am not just talking about low end vehicles, I have walked away from new cars because trim was hanging loose from clips, body lines didn’t match up, body seams were open or closed and so on! I have even seen a new car with 50 miles on it have a rod knock! So buyer beware doesn’t only apply to preowned and used cars, it applies to all cars!

This is a great starting place but get yourself a mechanic if you are serious about a used car to check it for you to avoid concerns as he states. For example, they can do things like check for a pulsing exhaust. If they are suspicious, they can check for bad valves by holding a piece of paper (or dollar bill) over the tailpipe. If it is pulled in at all, the valves are probably bad, and the engine will need an overhaul. Use a mechanic you can trust if you cannot use them in Utah.

Dude, anyone that believes this guy with regards to A LOT OF THE INFO he’s talking about, is very uninformed of what’s really going on with a car. There’s so many factors why paint meter would be off on different panels that doesn’t mean “the whole car has been painted”!! This guy will take your money, tell you a bag of tales and make you worry about buying a good used car by wasting your time going around looking none-stop making you worry about things that are maybe, maybe nots.

I really wish I had this when I bought my car in 2021 and was stuck with it bc of the bank so I had no choice but to go broke to fix it and struggle afterwards to survive, I've saved this car from so much but I'm definitely going to make the 600 trip to come by at some point because although this car is awesome now there's a really weird acceleration issue that happens randomly but I have a feeling you guys should be able to find it! No place I've taken it to tries any longer than 30 minutes and give up "wait till it happens more" well I don't wanna risk getting stranded or an accident caused by it..(has almost happened a few times lol)

First used car I bought was in high school back in the 90s. It was a 70s dodge dart. It had a v8 318. Had a carburetor, no fuel injectors. No sensors of any kind. No computer. No catalytic converter, only a muffler. Had a Generator NOT an alternator. It ran beautifully and was extremely easy to fix. 😊

Not to rain on the parade, but Cadillac doesn't put stickers on their hoods. They go on the support frame above the radiator

I was looking at a car that was a little pricey. It had an immaculate carfax, but was from the rust belt. I put it up on my lift and the whole underside was rusted. I ended up with the sales manager and he offered me $100 off. It's very insulting how they played dumb and I wish I could have warned the poor customer that bought it

Don't buy anything newer than 2015, and make sure it doesn't have signs of fatal problems. Head gasket, bad trans, rod knock, etc.

I bought a used 14 accord they declared 2,500 in damages . Well, the fender gaps are all off mysterious dents . The original owner, I got so many questions. Perhaps certain people shouldn't own automobiles ever. I bought that in 2019 minimal maintenance. She's a little rough around the edges.

Selling a pdf on car inspection car Angel has been teaching what to look for for years

I never buy used, despite the price, and depreciation, its all a gamble regardless if it was maintained properly.

I kinda respect the hustle but come on buying a guide FOR buying a used car when you can find the same results and answers using AI search, google, bing, literally every other website gives you this information for free, which he, just used under his own branding, to sell you a guide that in my opinion, is probably basic fucking common sense. Come on man…. Talked all about this like it was so important but it was just another way to take advantage of the views you’ve been getting. Sad

I've got no problem buying a one or two owner, high milage vehicle as long as there are service records. I've seen far to many folks buy off the dealer lot used cars that are straight up nightmares.

I was expecting a brand check .! What's up ? Dependable brand check . ! Real simple if it's used there's something wrong with it ! 6:05

There arent any good mechanics near me that I trust...and car dealers around here wanna give you a 10 minute test ride and sign the papers. My buddy just got burned badly on a used truck 6 months ago.

I'm afraid of used cars that are "too clean". Shiny engine... Nope. I'm pulling covers off.

Why are all the great ,truthful mechanic always out of state ? such great and clear use car advice, i had no idea you could test if a car has been painted,great job guys.

... He says, in front of a 57 Chevy! (Just kidding Dave, you ARE the MAN!)

I worked in a body shop. The body can be parts from three different cars. The roof can be cut off and put back on. The B pillar on a four-door can have a pi wedge cut out and replaced. A front clip or a rear clip can be totally cut off and put back on.. we drill all the spot welds, match the factory welds, and match the seam sealer. Collision specialists can make a car look like it came off the showroom floor. You would have to be a collision specialist to recognize what is original and what isn't. You can buy a whole body or truck bed. From the sail panels to the middle of the rear doors is a different car. We used to do it to take up slack time in the shop. Buy a car from a person you know who bought the car new.

I bought a 2013 king ranch with 98k on it drove it 300 miles the motor blew 3.5 eco boost

Rather kick myself for not buying one than regret bringing one home

Purchased for future reference. AUD45 is cheap for the video alone

People think Carfax will save them from buying a car in an accident. They are sadly mistaken.

I went to a car lot 2015 and found a nice truck had 300 in line 6 a 93 shot bed ran good went to work got off around 6 was on my way home did not have it 8 hours and the transmission went out and the car lot gave my money back and put a repo report on me because it broken down transmission shop said it was full of metal grindings and it was one of the automatic transmission that had a plat for a pto on the side

I heard you many times say "its free". Now I see you are selling it for $29. NOT COOL.

I have bought and sold a few trucks/SUVs. I’ve never seen a buyer get under it and take a look. Just because it’s in the south doesn’t mean it’s never been up north and isn’t a rust bucket.

Hello sir I am mechanic. I am from India 🇮🇳. I am your big fan🎉.. .....osm talent

thank you for the advice! this comment is algorithm food

Lol i inspected my car better after the fact, had to do another oil change, replace the rear tail light, front bulb, body mounts are dry rotted, bought them need to swap, i found that they replaced the center seat with a light brown one lol and the rest is light grey i must have vision issues, missing one bolt for that seat, they reordered me some rear door handles that were missing, the truck is missing bokts for the headlights lol... So yeah my initial inspection was shit

Lets goooo Dave 👍. Show em how it’s done!

Also please remember to verify the interior, the center consoles and glove box can/ will crack which will cost heavily if you want oem replacements

If you want brand new buy brand new.. You are not going to get perfect vehicle.. Make sure the engine is good

What happens if you buy a car from carvana then you cannot just go up to the place and ask them to bring the car down the vending machine thingy

Interesting as a mechanic you know American cars are generally money pits with its few exceptions.

Listening to dave is like the exact opposite of listening to the service manager at a dealership.

Great inspection tips The sad part is there are lots of people out there that will put the screws to you and their own family this country is very evil Everyone should be praying to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this could be the last election here we are in deep deep trouble

Thanks Uncle Dave!

Dave I've really been watching you guys closely on 6.7 Powerstroke everything. I've had 2 7.3's and they were UNBELIEVABLE !!! I've been raised on the family farm and we learned to do excellent maintenance or suffer the consequences. I'm trying to do my best on this '17 6.7 I've had just a couple years, but it's making me a little nervous to see all those problems you've shown and experienced there. Plus a close friend told me something that went out on his and cost him a pretty penny to fix !! So I'm not sure about doing the delete thing after my warranty is out. But probably will. Sounds like total BS what the government has done there again as usual.

Dave, you’re the man. Seriously.

Glad you giving out good info

Maybe the paint thickness was complete crap because it’s a Cadillac?