Used Car Buying Tips

Hot Cars To Check In Reno

The once-over that I gave the vehicle seemed quite thorough at the time, but in retrospect it was actually pretty feeble. I thoroughly looked at the outside of the car for any issues. I looked around the interior of the vehicle, and quickly looked under the hood at a bunch of parts that I didn’t understand. Then I drove the vehicle down the road for 10 minutes before signing a few documents and handing over the asking price. 

When Things Went Horribly Wrong

It didn’t take long for me to realize why that vehicle was listed at such a good price. I left their house and proceeded on my 20 mile trip home. About 10 miles into the trip I realized the car needed gas so I stopped at the next gas station I came across. While filling up my new car I realized that there was a clear liquid leaking from underneath the vehicle. I was a little concerned, but from what little experience I had I pushed it out of my mind and assumed that that was normal. 

I got into the car and over the next couple miles the engine temperatures began to climb dramatically. They got so hot that the vehicle would just shut off randomly, and I would have to jump out and push it to the side of the road. This occurred 3 times before I actually made it home. 

The Things I Should Have Looked for

The sad thing about this story is that there were plenty of signs available to me, if I only knew what to look for. While examining a used vehicle you should always lift up the oil cap. When you pull the oil cap you should look at the underside of the cap for any white foam, and try and see if there is any down in the oil reservoir. 

It’s also important to take a close look at the engine coolant. If the coolant is a dingy brown color there is a good chance that the head gasket is shot. This is because the coolant mixes in with the oil and you end up with a mixed solution in the engine, and in your coolant reservoir.

Always make sure to pull out the oil dipstick when looking over a car as well. By doing this you can make sure that the oil has been changed recently, and more importantly you can look for any creamy residue on the stick that would point to coolant being mixed in with the oil. 

The last check that you can do is the one that I would have noticed on my ride home if I knew anything about head gasket problems. Simply start up your vehicle and let it run for 10 or 20 minutes. Pay close attention to the temperature gauge during this time. If it starts to rise toward the top of the gauge your head gasket is most likely shot and you will have to get it replaced. 

The Problems a Blown Head Gasket can Cause

While a head gasket is expensive to replace, fixing this issue is nothing compared to fixing all the damage it will cause if left alone over an extended period. There are a number of components in your vehicle that will be strained due to this issue. The most expensive issue that it can cause is cracked cylinders in your engine or other major engine failures. However, that is not the only thing you have to worry about. Your expansion tank could also explode from the mixture of water and oil. You could even lose some of your radiator hoses to this issue if it is left unchecked. 

If you are looking at a used car for the first time and you notice any of these issues find yourself a different car. Repairing this issue will cost well over a thousand dollars in most cases because of all the labor that has to occur to change out the relatively affordable head gasket. 

Car Title Mayhem

Avoid Buying Used Cars that Don’t have a Clean Title

You have to be very careful if you decide to buy a car that does not have a “clean title”. Most of the time, a car loses its clean title when it is deemed totaled. Most of the time, a salvage title is given to a vehicle that has been in a very severe accident that causes structural damage to the vehicle. It can also happen if the vehicle has been flooded, or very severely rusted.

Coming Back from a Totaled Vehicle

Salvaged Title

When a car has been deemed totaled owners can bring them back from the dead as long as they are willing to fix all the problems. Under the current laws, when they fix these cars up they have to take a different title to let future buyers know the situation. The titles are known as a Salvage Title, a Flood Title, a Rebuilt Title or a Buyback Title. If you see a title with any of these names you need to figure out the story of that vehicle before you buy it.

Learn the Story

Unless you have a reason to trust in the person who is selling this vehicle to you, you can’t believe the story that they tell you about the car. Instead you have to find out what happened to it from a secondary source. One of the best sources that you can get is a car report. Car reports are usually very cheap to obtain over the Internet, and they will give you a full break down of all the information that they have on the vehicle.

The two details that you should be paying attention to when you are looking over the history report is any possible accidents that occurred and any inconsistencies with the odometer. There should be an accident shown on the report that led to the vehicle being totaled. Make sure that you avoid any vehicle that took severe structural damage to the frame, or vehicles that were damaged in a flood.

Possible Problems

When you purchase a vehicle in Reno Nevada that doesn’t have a clean title, you are asking for problems with it. Not only will you risk dealing with a vehicle that is not structurally sound, but there could also be issues with things like resale value, insurance coverage, and getting financing.

Many insurance companies are not willing to accept a vehicle with a salvage title, and the companies that do are going to want more money to cover the vehicle because it is more of a risk. The companies that accept you will also give you a hard time about actually paying much money toward the vehicle in the event of an accident. They will argue that your vehicle is not worth much because of the past damage that it has incurred, no matter what condition it is in today.

Most of the time it is just better to avoid a vehicle that does not have a clean title, when you are shopping for used vehicles. Make sure that you always ask to see the title before you agree to give them any money or to sign any paperwork for payment of the vehicle. Avoid these vehicles at all cost and you will improve your odds of finding something reliable, and hasslefree. 

                    

Why We Chose Lexus

LS 400 a Great Car

The Lexus LS 400 was one of the most well-known and respected luxury vehicles of the early 90’s. It was the car that Lexus launched their brand with, and it is still being made today. Learn a little more about why the LS was such a respected vehicle, and you will develop a whole new level of respect for the company that produced it. 

The Goal of the Lexus LS 400

Since Toyota was focusing the launch of their new luxury brand “Lexus” around the LS 400 it had to be advanced enough to convince people that Lexus was one of the best luxury brands out there. In order to achieve this they set four different goals for themselves. The car had to be much quieter than the competitors while reaching a higher top speed, being better on gas, and even more aerodynamic than other premium offerings. The company picked Mercedes Benz and BMW as their two primary targets to beat. 

Succeeding

The first Lexus model was supposed to be faster, quieter, more aerodynamic, and more fuel efficient than the Mercedes Benz and BMW competitors that they fought against for customers. Through all of the company’s hard work they managed to succeed on every one of those areas. Their car was more aerodynamic than the competition with a coefficient drag rate of an impressive .29. The car featured a slew of technology to keep the cabin as quiet as possible and it was noticeably quitter than mid-level offerings from either of the two competitors. Thanks to a clever engine design the vehicle was also more fuel efficient and more powerful than the flagship cars from either Mercedes or BMW. 

The Engine and Transmission

The engine of the Lexus is what allowed it to pack so much power while being relatively fuel efficient at the same time. It features a 32-valve, V8 engine with 250 HP. The 4.0 liter engine was built in an oversquare design, making it very powerful and relatively reliable as well. 

Lexus LS 400

The Transmission was based on a brand new design that was an electronic automatic with four different gears to shift through. 

Other Technical Revolutions

Being better than the other manufacturer models in those four key areas was not enough for Lexus, they also added in several features that weren’t seen on many luxury vehicles at the time. An electrochromic rear view mirror is one of those features. The mirror senses the amount of light coming in through the back window, and it will tint the mirror when there is a lot of light shining in to prevent glare. 

There was also a very classy electroluminescent gauge, that was backlit for easy viewing at night, and it used a holographic effect to display the information out onto the dash of the vehicle. 

Another feature that buyers really took note of was the automatic tilting and telescoping steering wheel. The wheel was much easier to adjust with the automatic features. Although it wasn’t a major factor on driving performance, it is a small feature that made it more pleasurable to own. 

The LS 400 was wildly successful in the United States, and the model surpassed the sales of both BMW and Mercedes Benz a little over a year after the vehicle began being sold in the country. That original model later became one of the most reliable, and sought after used cars in the country, and it was included on several lists of reliable vehicles that are known to drive well past 200,000 miles. 

There has been four generations of the LS since it was originally released, and there are plans for future generations to be developed as well. It is still one of the most popular models that Lexus has although they have released many other models in the last 20 years. 

Lexus Reliability Ranked by Consumer Reports

When the idea of Lexus reached the United States in the late 80’s most people thought it was ridiculous. They assumed that a Japanese luxury car company with no experience wouldn’t stand a chance against the likes of Mercedes, Cadillac or BMW. Now that Lexus has been around for a while they not only compete with these brands, but many people believe that they have surpassed them in many cases. A Stealthy Beginning Lexus originated from a secret project that the executives of Toyota began working on. They gather together in 1983 to begin a project known as F1. Basically they were trying to see if they could create a luxury vehicle that would outdo the current luxury vehicles of the day from other manufacturers. Why Lexus? Lexus was ultimately created to expand the customer-base of Toyota. They wanted a piece of that premium market, where they could gain high-paying customers with a demand of a top-of-the-line vehicle. The Massive Effort behind the LS 400 The Lexus LS 400 is still sold today in one form or another, but it was the original sedan that launched with the brand in 1989. The luxury model was the result of a massive amount of work and over $1 billion in resources. There were a total of 450 different prototypes created before they ended up with the model that they released with. The team that took care of all this work was also quite massive for developing a single vehicle. There were 1,400 different engineers, 2,300 technicians, as well as 220 support workers who took care of all the assembling work. This team worked hard for six years before helping Toyota come up with their final vehicle for launch.

This would be the vehicle that showed everyone that a Japanese company could launch a luxury sedan in the United States and compete with the best names out there. Hitting the States with Force The Lexus 400 was launched in the United States along with a multi-million dollar advertising campaign making sure that everyone knew exactly why they needed to get the car. It received a relatively positive response, and it beat out both the mid-sized models for BMW and Mercedes-Benz. What impress people the most was the fact that the $55,000 BMW and $63,000 Benz were being outclassed by a vehicle selling for only $38,000. The LS 400 was viewed as an excellent value for the features and performance that it has. In their first year of operation alone they were able to sell 16,000 of the luxury cars to people across the United States which is exactly the figure they were shooting for. Branching Out Their first year of success gave them enough courage to start branching out into other markets besides the United States. In 1990 they began releasing a small number of vehicles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and Switzerland. They also launched a sports coupe, the SC 400, and released a second model of their original vehicle, the ES 300. Lexus is a well-respected brand today, and they are known for releasing quality vehicles. There have been several occasions where they recalled groups of vehicles voluntarily to make sure they took care of customer complaints. In less than a decade Toyota was able to build up a brand new brand, and launch it to such levels of success that it ended in a lasting brand that people know and respect today, it is one of their best success stories.