well as most of you know i sold my ranger last night and am looking for a jeep to replace it with. im looking for peoples opinions of what i should bring when i look at a new car and things to check. here's what i have so far. tire depth gauge flashlight rag paper towels a helper measuring tape and things to check: all fluids do a bounce test to see if the shocks are good tires underbody check for wetness around master cylinder, tranny pan, oil pan
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a floor jack so you can get under it easy, and a large peice of cardboard so you've got something to lay on. check it throughly for rust and fluid leaks, listen for any ticks or knocks while it's running and try to find where they are coming from, take it for a drive and make sure the trans shifts well, make sure the 4x4 engages properly, see if the owner has any service records & recipts for you to look over ( every vehicle i've had has had a "rebuilt" engine, according to the owner. without paperwork that dosin't mean squat!). also check the engine compartment and up under the dash for any hacked up wireing jobs and ask what it may have been for, you don't want to burn up driving home!
ive been bringing a flashlight and a rag with me. ive found some problems already and have looked at 2 jeeps so far. still no look. jeeps are high enough off the ground that i dont need a floor jack to get under them.
maybe a magnet, I know it's weird but its easy to see if a lot of bondo was used if the magnet doesnt stick.
Check the brake rotors for thickness & wear too. Nothing worse than getting a new vehicle that needs a brake job right away. Check the wiring under hood & all the hoses & belts. One tip my uncle gave me was to look around the seat bolts for rust. If there's a lot of rust there you may be looking at a vehicle that wasn't taken care of (cleaning) or worse... that's rusted through :huh:
Well considering that at the end of the year I won't have the school shop to use I will most likely just do brakes even if the car dosent need then right away while I have the resources to do it by myself. Than I wouldn't have to worry for 60k
