learn
Buy like a pro
Resources
Vehicle Inspection Sheets – How I Stay Organized & Remember to Check Everything
Every week I scrub through thousands of cars, inspect hundreds and bid on dozens. Using a vehicle inspection sheet helps me stay organized, while keeping a cars condition at the top of my mind when it rolls through the auction lane. This is extremely important being that I have less than 10 seconds to bid on and buy the car!
Although you wont be anywhere close to this volume or speed, using a checklist will help document and organize your own inspection, whether it be in someone’s driveway or on a used car lot.
The following sheet is one I recommend to buyers at the consumer level. You wont be able to check off everything on the list, nor does it cover everything. It does however, cover many of the major, costly components that an average buyer can get to during an inspection.
I hope you find this sheet helpful and good luck with your car search!
(click on image below to download)
Vehicle Code Scanners – How I Pick the Healthiest Cars That Save My Customers $1,000’s!
Virtually all modern cars (think 1990’s and newer) have whats called an On-Board Diagnostic system or OBD. The OBD is a system a car uses to self-diagnose itself in real-time, where it saves any issues that it notices in the form of a “code”. As an example, when your engine light comes on, it’s because a specific code was stored in your OBD. The OBD port is almost always located under the dash on the driver’s side of the car.
The most modern version of the OBD is the OBD-II. The OBD-II system is almost universal across all makes and models. Think of it as a common language that cars speak, with the codes beings the actual words spoken.
Tapping into a cars OBD is like going to the doctor for a check-up, getting a full panel of blood work done and more! It helps me cherry pick the healthiest cars to pass onto my customers, which ultimately helps save them thousands of dollars in future repairs.
OBD “scanners”, the tool that actually reads/pulls the code from the car’s OBD system, come in various sizes, abilities and prices. Without getting too far into the weeds (there’s plenty of info out there if you’d like to), I want to jump into recommending my personal favorite consumer-level scanner, Blue Driver.
Check out this great video by ChrisFix, who gives a rundown on how it works! You can also buy it HERE on Amazon!
I should note that a code scanner is not a turn-key solution to all of your car diagnosis and repair needs. It will however, put you far beyond the average car shopper.
I hope you found this helpful and best of luck with your car search!
Contact
Connect With Me
Don’t be shy. Send me something. A question, I’ll answer it.
RIIM Motorcars
Info