When I was active duty, one of the things I would do was go with any of the people who worked for me to look at any car they were interested in buying, particularly if it was a used car. I was able several times to prevent them from purchasing possible money pits. These are some of the things I would help them see. Remember to take a bright flashlight, some rags, an inspection mirror, and maybe a rug or cardboard to lie on while doing some of these.

BEFORE STARTING THE CAR

Check the car carefully. Don't skip the paint, it tells a story. The paint should be smooth and reflect a sharp mirror finish. Look at the reflection of the surroundings in the paint, the reflected image should look exactly like it does directly. If there are bumps or it is blurred, the odds are great that portion of the car has been repainted.

Open EVERY door, hatch, truck, hood, and window. Accidents can cause linkages to come loose, damage doors and other openings. They should all open easily and close without being slammed. Inspect how tight they close and that the doors, when looking down the side of the car, are in line with the body. They should not dip in nor protrude out from the car body.

Inspect the door jams. Typically, cheap paint jobs fail to mask the metal tags on the door jams. If they are painted, RUN from the car.

Look for disturbed carpeting, is the spare tire out of its holder, are all the ashtrays in place? Remember, one day you may wish to resell this car and these are what buyers will look for when you sell it as well.

Look at all the windows. Are there cracks, chips, and other damage? While chips may not be reason to not purchase, some states do not allow cracked windshields or they may dictate where cracks can be located. If cracked, heat, cold, and road bumps can make the crack "grow" eventually forcing you to replace it.

Look under the car. Inspect the shocks that are mounted on some bumpers. If the bumper has been hit, there are typically marks on the shocks to indicate they have moved. Inspect the shocks at the wheels, are they "wet;" this could indicate leaking shocks, they will need to be replaced.

IMPORTANT check with a local mechanic if the car is equipped with airbags. See if there is a way to confirm the airbags are correct and installed in the proper locations. There is widespread fraud today with people not wanting to buy airbags for vehicles that have had them deploy. Instead they either fill the

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