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What Should Be Done Next After Buying A Used Vehicle?


Pubsamare

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Hello guys, this is my first post in AL!


First of all, I must thank everyone here at AL for sharing so much of valuable content. Specially to 'Saturn' whose guide was a great help for me to buy my first vehicle, which I bought today.
So, my question is, what should I do first after buying a used vehicle? (Other than getting the transfer registered at the RMV)


PS: I'm sorry if this is a repost, I serached AL but couldn't find what I was looking for.

Thanks in advance.

Pubudu

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There could be many answers to your question depending on the model, type and the age of the vehicle but if I were you this is what I would do assuming an auto transmission fuel injected gasoline vehicle and assuming that the previous owner has not given you any previous maintenance records and you do not observe any obvious problems. Remember the items listed below are not in an order of any priority.

1. check tyre pressure and inflate if necessary.

2. change engine oil and ATF.

3. check coolant level. change if necessary. keep a note on the coolant level to see if there is a loss.

4. lubricate door hinges and power window mechanism.

5. go for an engine tune up. You may have to change air filter, spark plugs, and in some cases the fuel filter.

6. get the AC system checked ad serviced. change cabin filter if necessary

7. check the battery water level. fill up if necessary

8. check the condition of the serpentine belt. change if necessary.

9. Fill the tank full with gasoline and note the odometer to see what the fuel consumption is.

10. If the car has a timing belt change that too. Remember the assumption " no previous maintenance records".

and perhaps the list can go on....this is what came to my mind immediately.

You do not have to do all this if you can rely of the previous owner's information. Good luck with your new vehicle and welcome to the forum.

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Thanks a lot for the prompt and detailed reply Rumesh88. The car is a well maintained one with maintenance records. Previous service was done about 1000km back next is due after another 4000km. It is a manual by the way. A civic EK3 ferio vi with 3 stage vtec to be exact. :smilie_liebe9:

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Thanks a lot for the prompt and detailed reply Rumesh88. The car is a well maintained one with maintenance records. Previous service was done about 1000km back next is due after another 4000km. It is a manual by the way. A civic EK3 ferio vi with 3 stage vtec to be exact. :smilie_liebe9:

Then there is nothing much to do just enjoy you EK3. Congrats ! it is a fine car no doubt. When the time permits just get the power window mechanism and door linkages cleaned and lubricated including window rubber guides with a silicone lubricant (like the product by W*rth). It is really worth doing it once in a 2-3 years time for you will really enjoy when the windows begin to open and close in total silence. Take care of the T-belt as VtecE has pointed out.

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Hello guys, this is my first post in AL!

First of all, I must thank everyone here at AL for sharing so much of valuable content. Specially to 'Saturn' whose guide was a great help for me to buy my first vehicle, which I bought today.

So, my question is, what should I do first after buying a used vehicle? (Other than getting the transfer registered at the RMV)

PS: I'm sorry if this is a repost, I serached AL but couldn't find what I was looking for.

Thanks in advance.

Pubudu

Go to a temple ... or even better take your mother-in-law to anuradhapura :mosking:

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<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="maheshw" data-cid="255352" data-time="1390326242"><p>

wow congratz on your new buy....what about posting few photos here :party-smiley-019:</p></blockquote>

I second it. I'd love to see it too.. :)

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Soory about the silence during the last 2 days. Had a bit of a trouble with the car. :sad-smiley-068:

Well matroska, that is exactly what I did last thursday, I went to Kandy. (With my mother, not the mother-in-law :speechless-smiley-004: ) Unfortunately, on my way back I had to face the problems!

While coming back, at Galigamuwa, at 8pm, the car started over heating. The plastic tank in the radiator was blown. Luckily I had stopped in front of a service station which was known to a cousin of mine. I left the car there and came back the next day, and took it to a local radiator repairman. His suggestion was to replace the radiator and did some patching up with a metal glue to help me get back to colombo. While coming back, at Yakkala, the car again started over heating, to find the patch work was also blown. Luckily this time also I had stopped near a garage. (coincidence or did the pilgrimage pay off? :sport-smiley-004: ) With the help of the owner of the place, I got the radiator to a local place, got the radiator cleaned and replaced the plastic tank. Apparently some one had tampered with the tank and had damaged it perviously, and it was damaged at that point. After replacing it, the car worked fine, no heating issues, radiator fan was working. So I left the garage and thought my problems were over.

On the way I had to stop and till then the heat kept below the mid point. But when I stated driving again, the heat started to climb and I just managed to get home before it went too high. Then I found that the radiator was empty, and there were no signs of leakage from the radiator.

So my guess is there is could be a problem with the radiator cap which is the cause for the reduction of water, and the resultant over heating may have caused the tank to blow initially. At the last instance when I stopped the high pressure could have caused the water to leak through the radiator cap as the water is not circulating.

Any way I am planning to take it to a mechanic on saturday. (I had to leave the car and come back to work today. :sad-smiley-068: )

All in all my first experience with the car was not a very happy one, but still, the driving experience was great except for the heating issue.

I would really appreciate any suggestions of you guys to help me fix this problem. :sport-smiley-027:

Sorry about the really long post, guess I needed to release my stress.

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By the way I did make a mistake too. Apparently the previous owner had only used water, and no coolant.

To quote Saturn;

Quote:

- if the vehicle is hot you may be able to open the radiator overflow tank (be careful) and check if he uses coolant.

Not using coolant indicates:
1. Owner is an idiot
2. Radiator has leak and owner is topping it up with ordinary water.

Either case, don't buy the car.

/End Quote

I did not think this would be much of an issue and thought it would be ok if I use coolant, guess I am an idiot too. :speechless-smiley-004:

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According to your story you may have an air leak in your radiator cap or in the hose to the fill up tank. Do you see any abnormal grey color floating stuff in the coolant. Fill up the radiator full when the engine is cold, mark the fill up tank coolant level, start the car and let it idle until the temperature comes to the middle. Observe for leaks for a few minutes while revving up occasionally. Now the coolant level in the fill up tank must have gone up slightly. If you do not observe any leaks, shutdown the engine and let it cool down. The coolant level must now come to its original position. If not you you have an air leak in the cap or the fill up tank hose. However, there is another possibility for the same observation. That is when you have a small compression leak through the gasket to the coolant path. That's a bit of a serious thing.

Edit: Saw your next post only after posting above. He must have used water because there must have been a coolant loss. I thought you said there were maintenance records. Any records of radiator repairs?

Edited by Rumesh88
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Nope. NO radiator repairs. The person who owned it before the person who sold it to me had replaced the radiator ( Which badly tampered with and mended here and there as I noticed while it was being cleaned yesterday). I did notice some air leaking from the radiator cap while the radiator repairman pressurized the radiator under water after replacing the tank. I observed the radiator opening while running the engine after filling it, there was no bubbling, and the engine oil level was at the expected level and not abnormally high(after the engine had cooled down). Could that rule out a gasket leak?

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You mean there had been radiator repairs but no records! Owners seems to have hoodwinked you left to right with his maintenance records then. BTW you cannot rule out the possibility of a tiny fracture of the gasket that easily. Such leak may only appear at high engine temperature and RPM. You cannot observe an opened radiator cap under those conditions. However if you had an air leak at the cap when the radiator was pressurized why was it not attended to then and there?

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I also feel that I may have been mislead. The person who repaired the radiator said there was no hurry to replace it and also not to replace it immediately till a gasket leak is ruled out. (said the engine could be damaged if the cap is replaced as the gasket leak would increase the pressure inside the engine) I'm not very familiar with how these things work, and it was his word that I had to go by at that hour.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hello again guys,

Sorry about the long pause to update. I took the car to a mechanic. (to Indika at Kolonnawa as recommended by some of the AL members. He really is a good and a knowledgeable person.) Found out that water was leaking from 3 places, the water pump and 2 hoses, and an oil leak from the crank seal. To be on the safe side, did a full check up, and replaced several parts. All together the car was in the garage for 2 weeks and and the repair did cost me a fortune, but now she is doing much better!

And Rumesh88, thank you very much for your valuable inputs. As per your suggestions, I did get the door linkages cleaned ( actually replaced the door pins), and silicone lubricants did do wonders and the windows are working great. I also did a tune up(from Mr. Dhammika, again as suggested by AL), and also wheel alignment.

Tha car is doing much better now. There is a small knock when accelerating ( I was told it is advance knock or something). The timing appears to be ok, as checked by my mechanic and by Mr. Dhammika. I was told not to worry about it. I would really appreciate if you guys could shed some light into this.

Thanks a lot for the all the help!

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