Used Car Buying Tips - How to Check Your Tires and Brakes

While you may not be savvy enough about cars to inspect all of a car’s technical aspects, here are five tips to use when checking out the tires and brakes on the used car you are thinking of buying:

1. Checking the tires is relatively simple. First, look at the tires and make sure there is tread. If not, you need to ask for new tires (or you will be paying for them soon after you buy the car). Look at the valves too and make sure they have covers.

2. Make sure you look for the spare tire. Is it what you expected to find? It is also very important to be sure that there is a tire jack and tire iron in the car. Find out now before you need it one day.

3. During the test drive, be sure to test the brakes. Give the car a hard stop from about fifteen miles per hour. It would be even better if you can test with a hard stop from a faster speed, but given road and traffic conditions, this may not be possible. The goal of this test is to see how the car stops.

4. If possible, park the car on a hill or at an angle. Use the parking break to make sure the car stays parked. While you are inside the car, put it in neutral and see if the car rolls downhill (it should if you are parked at a steep enough angle). Also be sure to check the emergency brakes.

5. You can check the shocks by driving a few feet and braking quickly. If the car rocks, the shocks may be worn.

If you use those five tips when you are out shopping for a used car and you will end up buying a good car. Obviously, there are other considerations to make, but these five tips give you a good place to start.

Did you like those used car buying tips? If you did, I have plenty more.