7 Expert Steps to Buy a Used Car Without Costly Regrets

Why you should: This is a good opportunity to determine whether the vehicle is worth the asking price, and whether you can detect any problems with its drivetrain, steering, suspension, brakes, or other important systems. If you’re considering multiple vehicles, try to drive them all on the same day so you can compare them more easily.

Why you should: This will help you avoid surprises when you register the car.

What you should do: Make sure the seller has the vehicle’s actual title on hand. Examine the document for signs that the vehicle has been wrecked, repurchased under a state lemon-law program, suffered flood damage, or had another problem. Many state title documents include that information, but if your state doesn’t, check the vehicle history report (see below).

Next, verify that the odometer statement on the title matches the number in the car and that the vehicle doesn’t have any outstanding liens. If the dealer doesn’t have the title or won’t show it to you, consider a different car or a different dealer.

Why you should: A vehicle history report is a collection of documents and records about a used car. It provides an overview of the vehicle’s history, from the time it was purchased through the current owner. These reports often detail whether a vehicle has been in a crash, its maintenance records, and how many owners it has had.

What you should do: Car dealers and savvy private sellers will pay for these reports—from Carfax or AutoCheck—to make their cars stand out to shoppers. Along with total-loss information, the reports might include warnings about odometer tampering, collisions that weren’t a total loss, and any outstanding recalls.

The seller may pay for and provide a report, but you should still get your own. Expect to pay $45 for a single Carfax report and $30 (plus tax) for an AutoCheck report. As an extra precaution, you can go to nicb.org to get a free VinCheck report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau and carsforsale.com to get a free report from the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS).

Why you shouldn’t: Though helpful, vehicle history reports aren’t perfect. There are many reasons they can miss accidents, flood damage, vehicle theft, and other events that can seriously affect a used-car’s value and your decision about whether to buy it. 

What you should do: Remain vigilant about conflicting information. These reports might be missing information because the services rely on data from insurance companies and police departments. But the owner might not have reported a crash or other incident to an insurer or the police. One reason is that the owner may not have had collision coverage, or may have chosen to pay for repairs directly. In addition, damage to rental cars may never be reported because rental car companies often self-insure. Last, after an incident occurs, it can take months for it to show up on a history report. By that time, the vehicle may have been repaired and resold. So make sure you get your own professional inspection.

Why you should: There may be safety recalls for the vehicle you’re considering.

What you should do: First, go to CR’s Car Recall Tracker or nhtsa.gov/recalls to research any open recalls. You’ll need the vehicle’s 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Recall-related repairs are made free of charge, but the work must be done by a new-car dealer that sells that brand of vehicle. If you find any recalls for the VIN, ask the seller to provide receipts showing that the fixes have been done. You can also go to a dealer for that brand with the vehicle’s VIN to ask someone to check whether the car has had the recall work done.

Consumer Reports recommends that you not buy any vehicle with an open recall. Make sure all of the recall repairs have been completed before you take possession.

Why you should: Because you never know what you might find out.

What you should do: If you’re buying from a dealer, ask whether you can get the name and contact information of the previous owner. Unless it’s a former rental or leased vehicle, you can often find the former owner’s name on the title, or you might get lucky and find it on a document in the glove box or elsewhere else in the car. Don’t believe a dealer who tells you federal law prohibits the dealership from revealing former owner information. In fact, some states—including Kentucky, Maine, and Massachusetts—require dealers to turn over former owner information if it’s reasonably available.

Why you should: Even if the car looks clean and the seller promises it was driven gently, you should get an expert opinion on its roadworthiness.

What you should do: In a hot used-car market, it can be a challenge to have a vehicle inspected by a reliable mechanic. With so many people looking for cars, sellers don’t need to accommodate requests like this. Still, it’s worth asking whether you can do so.

“If you can, have a mechanic experienced in auto bodywork and accident repair give the vehicle a detailed inspection,” CR’s John Ibbotson says. The results of this inspection will give you ammunition to negotiate a fair final price. Either you can get a lower price because you’re going to fix the problems the mechanic identified, or you can offer to pay their price if they fix the problems. Of course, you can ask that the problems be fixed and then continue haggling over the price.

If the seller won’t let you take the car for an inspection, you’ll have to decide whether you’re okay with making an offer without one. If the owner lacks sufficient maintenance history documentation, you may want to skip the offer and find another car.