Won't need much to safety

People advertise used vehicles this way, that's why you should always get a pre safety before you buy. Yes the vehicle may drive well but the ball joints may be shot or drag links or idler arm. The brakes seem to work good but the pads are almost gone and the rotors are badly grooved. The struts may be seized up or a caliper is seized. I have a running joke with a mechanic friend of mine. His answer is"Do you know how many times I've heard" Its in good shape , it won't need much for safety" ? I sold a 2001 Sierra, went over it myself and did all the brakes and parking brake shoes , then took it for a safety. The parts cost me $1.99 for a light bulb side marker I missed. Not all vehicles are like that ! So as to the other post , I would neve buy a vehicle without seeing it and looking it over( Even if they say Won't need much to safety)

Your state must be different, I really dont know what you are talking about.

Buy a car or dont, whatever.

New stuff is too expensive to own after the warranty is done, and old stuff is a beater, going to be stuff wrong with it or why is it for sale.

Paul

Paul , I am in Ontario. All vehicles that are sold have to have a certificate of mechanical fitness or you can't register it. If someone is buying a vehicle here , they should take it to a shop for a "pre safety" in other words have it looked over , assessed and a quote on what it needs and the cost for certification. So many buyers are told the vehicle is good and it won't need much for safety and then the find it needs $1500 or $2000 in repairs to bring it up to standard. It is always wise to have a vehicle inspected before you buy it, it costs $80 for a pre inspection here in Ontario and its money well spent. On the other hand the best way to buy a used vehicle is if the owner has it "saftied" already. I bought my last two pick ups that way.

I sure agree its good to safety inspect a car before forking over big bucks to purchase (or even if its your current driver) either at the very least by yourself if competent and comfortable or a reputable professional mechanic you trust otherwise. Of course its a persons own life and money and their choice if they do otherwise, even if myself or others here may think different.......

God Bless America, I proudly support our Nation

John T

If you're not mechanically inclined, and don't know what you're doing, it all comes down to two words.....Buyer beware.

The normal wear and tear stuff is pretty predictable.

What you have to watch for is sloppy body work, combining 2 wrecked cars to make one.

A friend of mine several years ago bought a car from an individual.

Looked like a really nice car, someone did an excellent job on the paint and body, but it was only skin deep.

Come to find out the air bags had been popped, along with the auto tighteners on the seat belts. Would cost thousands to get just that part right, let alone what else was hiding as for structural damage.

He ended up selling it at a huge loss but he was honest about what they were getting and why it was so cheap.

Glad I wasn't involved, not sure if I would have caught all that or not.

Here in Texas it is legal to do such. As long as it will pass inspection (an emissions test, quick test drive, check the lights, brake function, tires, etc.) There is not any specific law against sloppy repair, other than a shop letting themselves be exposed to a lawsuit should something happen, very unlikely they could ever be found.

But technically when a car is declared totaled by an insurance company, the title is voided and a salvage title is issued if the car is going back on the road. About all that does is alerts anyone that the vehicle no longer carries blue book value and gives a lender a heads up before it can be used as collateral.

Never heard of anything called safety .No inspection in Florida.

My sister moved from Ohio to New York State a few years back. She had to get a safety inspection to get license plates. Sounded like they went over it pretty decent. It cost only like $20.00 ? I said no one is getting out of there without them "finding" something to repair. They got her for a ball joint cost over $100.00 ? Was it bad who knows ? but at that low price initial fee I doubt it as they had to make up the fee for the time spent somehow. She would not know and I was clear back in Ohio. Be really nice to know for sure if it was a racket or if they really did catch a potential problem early on .

Different states have different rules, I used to live in New York state, every year all vehicles and trailers had to be inspected. State certified inspection facility, lived near one that did not do any repair work only inspections. I think it was $20 for an inspection, it included an emissions check depending on if it was required for the vehicle. Most places would inspect until it failed and then stop. You would need to get what failed fixed and then start the process over again. I now live in Ohio, every other year depending on county you need an emissions check. They will not do it if the check engine light is on and they are not repair facilities at least not in my county.

Or you could say "OK then just sign this statement that you will pay for anything over $200.00 in repairs". It is easy to parrot cliches, such as "when you buy a used car you are just buying someone else's problems". That may have been true 60 years ago when my father traded every other year, but now cars easily go four times further and last easily for ten years. Many people still like to trade every-other year and that is fine if they don't mind spending the extra on depreciation, and dealer commissions etc. Myself, I don't like new car shopping, so I prefer to run a car for 6-8 years and put my money where it will grow instead of into something that is worth less every day.

When I was younger and look at a used vehicle, and the owner said it wont take much to certify. Or needs nothing to pass an safety inspection. Id reply good , then you go get it inspected and if it passes Ill give you your asking price and pay the inspection cost. Or I want to take so many dollars off your asking price . Nobody ever took me up on my offer. I bought many junk yard refugees over the years , and fixed them to pass inspection. But I am done with that crap. I dont want to be the last owner of anything anymore.

(quoted from post at 10:19:58 03/01/21) Paul , I am in Ontario. All vehicles that are sold have to have a certificate of mechanical fitness or you can't register it...

Click to expand...

The simple thought of a gooberment "inspection" of my vehicle would be enough for me to get ready to openly revolt.

I brought a van a few years ago on auction. No mention of driveline problems. When I picked it up they said it had a little bit of a shake. Got about to 25 mph and it felt like the front was about to fall off. Slowed down, it stopped shaking. Accelerated again, no problems until I hit a bump in the road then more shaking.
Only way out was on the interstate due to construction. Before I got three miles the guts of the steering gear box fell out. Scary ride. Got it stopped inches from the Jersey barriers.
Repairs cost less than two hundred dollars. Turned out to be a good running van.

I'm never the last owner, don't have room to store em all. The recycler is the"next" owner. Bet he doesn't keep them either.

My van is seventeen, my Tahoe is twenty
and my Suburban is twenty eight.
My first car was the newest vehicle I ever
got for myself. Since then I've gotten
progressively older rides.

Kind of a sore subject at the moment.

My 10 year old pickup is giving me random error codes and shutting down to limp mode. Where it only run 1200rpm, or about 25-35 mph.

Nothing actually seems wrong.

The code most often is cam shaft sensor error. The sensors have been changed 3 times now in 8 months. The wiring harness was just changed. And driving down the state highway, there I was against at 30 mph in limp mode.

The co outer is getting fed something wrong and coughing up that code, but what is actually wrong? Some broken wire in the remaining harnesses? A bad solder on a computer board? Could be totally unrelated to what code it is coughing up.

What a mess

If it would stay broken they could find it. But it comes and goes over time.

How do I trust my pickup when it was 20 below and snowing the past week? That gets to life or death......

Do you think I could sell my pickup in your country? I. Sure if I ran it through whatever inspection a couple times, one of them it wouldnt act up?

Frustrating.

Paul

Your diagnosis sounds like a MAF sensor. Try cleaning it with MAF sensor spray cleaner.

(quoted from post at 11:16:51 03/01/21)

(quoted from post at 10:19:58 03/01/21) Paul , I am in Ontario. All vehicles that are sold have to have a certificate of mechanical fitness or you can't register it...

Click to expand...

The simple thought of a gooberment "inspection" of my vehicle would be enough for me to get ready to openly revolt.

Click to expand...

1948Case, aren't you the tough guy!! I'll bet that you can give us all kinds of conspiracy theories about what the gov't is doing with all the information that the 98% of vehicle owners in the US and Canada are giving up. I know that not all states have inspections but you better not move to a different state.