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How to find out if your used car has been in an accident. Well how about finding out if the used car your planning to buy has been in an accident.

You can prevent buying a used car that has been in an accident by doing just a little bit of homework before you decide to buy that particular car.

Car-Fax is a service that can give you a vehicles complete history for a small fee. Car-Fax is universally recognized in the automotive industry for accurate information from the time that the vehicle was produced, up current times.

Car Fax will pick up if a vehicle has been in a major accident, or that the title status has changed. A vehicle with a clean title, does not exclude it from being in an accident, however if it has a salvage title you can be assured that it has. Remember a vehicle with a salvage title is worth less then fifty percent of it's value or more.

The Department of Motor Vehicle can also assist in running a vehicle history report by inputing the vehicle identification number.

When looking at a vehicle always have it parked in the sun. The sun is the best light to see if a panel, fender, or hood has been repainted. Also the sun will heat the metal, and the smell of fresh paint can last for months before it hardens.

Body shops are dirty, and are some of the most toxic business's on earth. Body shops are messy, they have little quality control, and most do poor work. Look for the dust. Body shop dust is a key indicator if a car has been in a body shop. The dust will be in the vents, door jams, and will stick to any rubber component on a vehicle. It is almost impossible to get rid of the dust, a white fine powder.

This dust is very present in the engine compartment. Most body shops do not steam clean the engine. The simply use an air gun to get rid of the dust, but the dust just keeps landing in other areas.

Never buy a former daily rental car. Over sixty percent of all rental cars end up in a wreck, or being damaged by a driver who hits an object, or other item that can cause a vehicle to incur damage.

Most states have laws that if they know that a vehicle has been wrecked it most be disclosed prior to the sale. This applies to dealerships, but not private parties, so buyer beware. That cute little car of your neighbors could be a salvaged or wrecked vehicle.

Being in the automobile business for the past forty years, many new cars go to the body shop before they are sold as new vehicles. Dealerships have accidents, and lot damage. The bigger the dealership the more the lot damage. So this rule applies to new as well as used. Look carefully for masking tape, razor blades on the floor, over-spray, and just plain slop.

Many accidents may not have hurt the drive ability of most cars, but vehicles that have been in major accidents could have frame damage. When a vehicle has frame damage, this presents allot of not so good safety concerns. Many handling and performance issues can and will occur.

If your personal vehicle ends up in an accident, make sure that you clean every inch of the vehicle so there are no signs that the vehicle was in an accident. However, based on the amount of damage, your insurance company will report the damage loss to reporting agencies such as Car Fax. Good luck and good driving.

Learn more about this author, Doc Lane.
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