Beginner’s Guide to Car Buying: What Should We Check When Picking up the Car?

For experienced drivers, buying and picking up a car should not be a big problem, but for novices, there are still many issues that need to be paid attention to when picking up a car. So, what should we check when picking up the car?

1. Check the Appearance of the Vehicle

• Check the car paint

To better check whether there are scratches and wear on the car paint, it is best to park the car outdoors in a well-lit area and walk around the car body to have a look. You can also touch it with your hands to check.

• Check the window glass

There is a mark on each piece of glass to indicate the production date, type, manufacturer, and other information of the glass. So we can use this formula to see whether the window glass of our vehicle is consistent with or similar to the production month. If the difference is too far, then the glass has most likely been replaced.

• Check tires

New tires all have lanugo hair, and we can observe the degree of wear of the lanugo hair. Generally speaking, new cars will undergo a period of road testing before leaving the factory, and there will be some movement during transportation from the factory, but generally speaking, the number of kilometers traveled will not be too many, and the tire hair will not be completely worn away.

• Check the trunk

The main thing to check is whether the trunk is clean and tidy, and whether the cover is flat. Furthermore, check whether the tools provided with the vehicle: spare tire, jack, triangle, etc. are all in the trunk. Many people tend to ignore vehicle-mounted tools, and it will be very troublesome to find them at a 4S shop later.

• Check the engine

Open the hood, check the factory date, and see if all parts of the engine are clean, especially the corners. If the vehicle is driven over, these areas can easily harbor dirt and are difficult to clean. Secondly, check whether the engine oil and various oil fluids are sufficient.

2. Check the Vehicle Interior

• Check the car lights

Car owners can ask companions or staff to assist in checking the car lights, one operating inside the car and the other observing outside the car. Check whether the low beam, high beam, brake lights, fog lights, etc. can work properly. These are relatively common car lights, some car lights are easily overlooked, such as door lights, reading lights, vanity mirror lights, storage lights, trunk lights, etc.

• Check wipers, windows, sunroof, and rearview mirrors

Check whether the wiper sprays water smoothly and smoothly. If there is any leakage or abnormal noise, you can ask the 4S store to replace the wiper blade. Check to see if the windows and sunroof can open and close smoothly, and if there are any obvious abnormal noises. If you have a car with an electric rearview mirror, you should also try to see if there is any abnormal sound when opening and closing it.

• Check the center console, air conditioning and audio system

Check whether the center console is clean and whether the buttons are sensitive. Focus on checking the air-conditioning system. Put your hand close to the air outlet to feel whether there are obvious changes in the air-conditioning temperature and wind speed adjustment, and whether the noise is loud. Try to see if the angle of the air outlet of the air conditioner can be adjusted smoothly, and check if there is any peculiar smell from the air conditioner.

The sound system is also an area that is easily overlooked. We mainly check whether there is any noise in the sound quality of the speakers and radio. Whether various interfaces can be connected smoothly. For a multi-speaker system, you should pay attention to whether each speaker can produce sound normally, and further check by adjusting the high and low frequencies, left and right channels, front and rear sound fields, and mixing mode of the speakers.

• Check the seats

Generally, new car seats are wrapped in plastic. Car owners can remove the plastic on the spot for easy inspection and to dissipate new car odors! Secondly, check whether the seat can be adjusted smoothly forward, backward, and up and down. If it has seat heating and seat ventilation functions, you can also turn them on to try the effect. Furthermore, if the rear seats can be folded or folded, the adjustment should be tested.

3. Test Drive

If possible, conduct a small-scale test drive in the 4S store to check starting, acceleration, steering, braking, etc.

After starting, observe whether the speed, water temperature meter, odometer, etc. on the instrument panel are normal and whether the indicator lights are clear. Pay attention to the mileage on the dashboard. It is within the normal range of a new car if it is less than 50 kilometers. The lower the mileage, the better.

After starting the vehicle, listen to the engine for abnormal vibrations and high and low noises, and try to see if the gears can be switched smoothly, whether the continuous shifting is smooth, and whether there is any lag. If any problems are found during the inspection, be sure to make it clear to the 4S store on the spot and resolve them before picking up the car to avoid unnecessary trouble.