felecia187when buying a new car used , you may think this is simple and it is if you know what to avoid and look for some of these things are really simple to implement , i start out by going to see the car or truck makes no difference the same things work , you will need to take a white cloth with you no not to see how clean it is ,if the car is running when you get there leave because this shows they had trouble starting the car so check if the motor is warm to do this open the hood , now that you are under the hood check the oil , put the oil on your fingers and rub it between your thumb and finger if you feel any metal shavings continue looking for another car some people will change the oil first this may not a sign of bad could be good that they take care of the car , check your other fluids see if the battery terminals are dirty and see how mush oil there is on the motor the more oil the great the chances are there is an oil leak , start the car , now go to the back of the car and place your white cloth over the exhaust pipe for a couple of minutes if you don't do anything else here do this one , if the cloth is a shade of blue your heads on the motor are gone , if the cloth is black your rings in the motor are gone , if the cloth is white good deal the thing about this test is that you can't change the out come not even if you changed the oil , another one is for people who live in cold climates when you get there if the motor is cold the weather is cold and you get in the car and it starts with no problem then buy the car i like to do this when it is -40c check the tires mileage is not a big thing with some cars 2000 and newer crownvictoria can have over a million km on them and i would still buy it newer motors last longer with older cars around 70,000 km is great mine was 73,000 km whit cloth was white  it needed new brakes $40.00 and tires $300.00 and the way i went did the brakes my self classic cars need work so be prepared to do it your self or pay to have it done the car was $800.00 this is a score for me yeah . i found it in a back alley ,if you are a women don't let anyone pressure you just walk away , now women buy cars because they are quite men buy cars because they work , if you are a women take a male friend with you after all it is your money , know what to look for set a budget don't buy a yoda i like cars with bigger motors v8 because they last longer in older cars if you spend $1,000 a year to maintain your car this is cheaper then buying new i like my cars paid for not paying long term for them there are deals to be had but you got to do your home work , never buy a car from a business that has a fence around it , enjoy