What's lowest score that you would recommend going ahead with the purchase of an older used car with higher mileage?
Hello, Amy Bailey! It's safe to say that cars with 50% or mode don't have major problems. Everything below usually requires some urgent repair.
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As a buyer looking at purchasing an EV, what do you specifically look at as a part of your inspection that's unique to electric vehicles?
Hello, Parker Thompson! As a buyer, you need to check the vehicle range when the battery is fully charged. That's the most reliable way to estimate battery condition. If you purchase Tesla you can also put it into service mode and look at all warnings or errors reported in the system. Other cars require special equipment to inspect electric components.
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I am looking at a 2014 Toyota Tundra SR5. It does have higher mileage, however, according to carfax is a one owner vehicle and seems to have been serviced about every 5000 miles. Is this a good buy?
Hello, Maria! Yes, it's a good choice but you need to make sure that the frame is not rusted - for some reason, there are quite a few heavily rusted Toyota trucks on the market.
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If someone buys the car I purchase an inspection on, (before its inspected) can I receive a refund?
Hello, Jasmine Offord! Yes, if the car is sold before it’s inspected you get a full refund.
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Do you or can you check for combustion gases in the coolant to check for possible head gasket issues?
Hello, Rob Sink! We check for water in the exhaust, bubbles (exhaust gas) in the radiator or expansion tank, coolant in the oil, and vice versa.
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We are considering a 2018 Kia Optima LX. It is below 60K miles, it has 2 previous owners. Its Carfax report looks fine to us. Do you think it is worth to buy?
Hello, Sheng! Yes, that is a good car. Just make sure that it wasn't wrecked and is well maintained by previous owners.
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What are your thoughts on buying a used rental vehicle? I’m looking at some Hyundai Konas from Enterprise Car Sales, all around 3 years old with 60k miles. Are they worth looking in to or a waste of time?
Hello, James! Sometimes we check rental cars and they are not bad, so that's not a red flag. But if the car was used somewhere in the North with cold winters the risk of premature wear is higher because some people might not wait until the car is warmed up before stressing the engine and transmission.
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Do you have a way of accurately measuring the remaining life of a hybrid traction battery? At what mileage/age would you start to worry about a Prius battery?
Hello, Tyler! Even a built-in car Battery Management System doesn't have accurate data - BMS adjusts and recalculates it every time the battery is charging. But it is possible to see if some cells degraded more than others and based on that to do some predictions about how long the battery can last. In general, it is better to avoid Pruises older than 10-12 years and mileage more than 150k miles.
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This may be too vague, but in general, what would be the % condition score you might give on a vehicle to where there's nothing critically wrong with it, and you might be looking at $1,000 or less in repairs?
Hello, David Fried! In general, a good car with a few repainted panels and some minor issues scores about 60-70%.
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Hi Oleg, you inspected a vehicle for me about a year ago. I’m looking to purchase a Tesla. Do you think they are reliable and is the maintenance reasonable? Also, do you inspect them?
Hello, Mekaila Davis! It highly depends on the year and model. Old Model S had issues with batteries and motors - it's risky to buy one of these. The newer Model S seems to be better but still, that's the car with sophisticated suspension and a lot of other electric equipment which sometimes fails. Model 3 and Y are more basic and therefore more reliable - so far they have very few issues. We can't check the electronic systems on Tesla but we can make sure that the car wasn't wracked, nothing is leaking and everything works.
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