GREAT NEWS...Right after filming this video (before it was released), the customer took our findings to the seller. They were unaware of the QX60's condition. They graciously refunded the buyer the FULL purchase price! There are good people in the world today!!!

Don't buy vehicles like Hoovie does unless you want to start your own KZfaq channel.

I work at a reputable Japanese brand dealership in the southwest and we’re completely okay with pre-purchase inspections on our used inventory. Do your homework, people.

I can understand why the other shop came up with the highball 20k$ estimate, it was a get this nightmare out of my shop quote, they didn't want to deal with this POS.

I don't know if everyone caught that. Wizard says service your CVT trans every 30-50,000 miles regardless of what the dealer of manufacturer says. That is 100% correct and that goes for all vehicles. Thanks Wizard for sharing your wisdom.

A loan on a 9 year old car.1st mistake,2nd mistake buying a nissan.

I’m glad the seller did the honorable thing by refunding the customer’s money but I have a hard time believing they didn’t know about the car history, especially with just water in the radiator.

a mechanical inspection is always worth the dollars, even if there is nothing wrong with the car, so you know as a fact. If you cant afford that, you cant afford the car, and if they don't let you take it to a mechanic that is the biggest red flag to run.

I only had a FEW customers come in for me to inspect a car BEFORE they bought it. And I was more than happy to do so because that is absolutely how you buy a used car.

I did a before purchase inspection when buying my current car, the shop told me the car was well maintained, so i bought it. I'm still rocking this car 7 years later, never had issues. A year after this, i bought another used car as a second car. Didn't inspect it before buying. 2 months later the engine blew up, and when I took it to the shop, they discovered that the frame was rusted beyond repairs. ALWAYS take the car to a shop for an inspection before buying, if they refuse, walk away.

As a person who has done a LOT of bodywork I can tell you without a doubt, 4 minutes in, that everything B pillar forward has been painted. This is a job for vehcor.

I used to sell cars way back in the 80s. I remember the used car manager could spend five minutes inspecting the car abd tell if it had been in an accident. Today CarFax will usually tell you if the car has been in a wreck. I think that Infinity was a salvage title and the woman who bought it didn't know.

"No one ever sells a car because it runs too good" I went with one of my troops to a local buy here, pay here lot to look at an RX7 he was in love with. Shiny and clean inside and out, looked great. The car pulled to the right really bad. I noticed when we parked it, it was impossible to line the wheels up with the parking stripes. When I looked under the car, we discovered this car was actually 2 cars that had been welded together just behind the B pillar!

Odds are this was an auction buy (most likely salvage auction) patched up just enough to sell.

We’ve never bought a used car without having it inspected first. If the seller balked we immediately walked (good rhyme to remember! 🙂) and we had our longtime mechanic do the inspections 👍

Even CarFax is not always complete - a pre-buying inspection is absolutely essential.

Thanks a lot for your blatant honesty 😊

Based. A coworker once asked me if I wanted to buy his 01 chrysler minivan. We took it to the mechanic together and it went on the lift....the entire undercarrage was rotted out. He had no idea it was so rusty and said he wouldnt sell it to me he was gonna junk it cuz it was obviously unsafe to be on the road.

I’m an autobody technician and speaking from my perspective the front bumper cover sometimes they just don’t match You have to remember when bumpers are painted for a car usually do them a bunch at a time They don’t paint two bumper covers every car rear bumper covers at a time So that paint might not particularly match because the bumper might’ve gotten shot with a different batch of paint. It might be the same paint code, but it could be slightly off variant.

i bought a 2016 versa note, hail damaged car with 15k miles. i did the cvt transfluid change every 40,000 miles like you said, and the car now has 160,000 miles going strong and my niece now owns it.

Unfortunately, Infinity is just a fancy Nissan and recent Nissans are JUNK...🤬

There are only 2 cases in which paying for a BEFORE purchase inspection is not necessary. 1. The car is brand new 2. You're handy and knowledgeable enough to do so yourself.

Thank you so much for looking out for the the people my dude. We are blessed to have a teacher with knowledge. 🙏🏼

Under most circumstances I agree, a before purchase inspection is wise. In Decrmber I was forced to replace my old Volvo 240. My late mother's next door neighbour was forced to stop driving at the age of 95. I bought her 20 year old, always dealer serviced Toyota Corolla. When i agreed to buy it, she had her son take it to the dealer for its mandatory safety inspection. It failed because they claimed it had 2 rust holes. Her son went to 2 body shops. One said scrap it. The other said they would buy it. I took it to a fruend who does body work. He could not find holes anywhere. I took it to a shop I know is very famous for finding problems that really should be overlooked. They found nothing at all wrong, not even a warning about surface rust! The car drives like new despite 20 years and 100,000 miles. Even before purchase inspections can be seriously misleading.

I bought my 2 latest cars MX- (or Miata in the US) & CX-5 both completely unseen from a trusted mechanic. With the latter one I had 2 warranty issues, fixed without any discussion. And for free. Repeat customers, repeat business & stand for your reputation and integrity as a mechanic shop. Where people work like in a shop, things can go wrong & errors will be made of course BUT if it does, help your customers out & they will come back. And spread the word, best marketing tool ever.

This is a great warning to people not omly buying used cars but aftermarket parts on eBay and Amazon!! If the price is too good to be true it probably is!! No it definitely is!! You can no longer trust anyone selling something at way below market value!! Great video

Why don't do people a BEFORE-PURCHASE inspection instead of a POST-PURCHASE inspection?

There is a guy in my neighborhood who has been trying to sell this exact same car for like 6 months now. I always wondered why nobody jumped on that beauty at first glance. Very clean, shiny, clean interior and everything. And now I know why. Everything that glitters ain't gold.

Thank you for your blatant honesty. There aren't a lot of automotive technicians and shops that can give a reliable assessment.

It's very good you put these vids out for people.

Car bumpers are often different colors because the bumper is typically made of plastic, while the rest of the car is made of metal. Paint applied to different materials will create a slight color variation because of the different surfaces. Plastic also expands differently than metal, so the paint on the bumper has to flex more, resulting in chemically different paint.

PPI is a good idea but even there you have to be careful. I took a car to my mechanic for an inspection and he missed the fact that the AC didn’t work. Fortunately, the selling dealer stepped up and fixed it for free but I wonder, what was I paying my guy for?

I looked at a car once because it looked like a good deal online. When I checked it out in person I popped the hood and it had a replaced engine from the junkyard. They definitely didn’t mention that online and I basically had to interrogate the salesman and manager to get them to admit the engine wasn’t original.

The painted letters/numbers on the front subframe prove that the original subframe was replaced by one from a wrecking yard. That Infiniti was in a substantial front end accident that damaged the original subframe. Look at the subframe at the 7:30 point and following.

Thanks Wizard. This is why I always advise a private seller that I am going to take a car guy (me) to go over the car before I buy a used vehicle. If the seller says no then I pass cause that is a warning sign. If they allow it, I still proceed with caution. I once had a car that had the ECM bring up another VIN when I scanned it. Seller denied anything being done, I walked away. With all the shady people out there, just never know who to trust.. Tip: Always go with 1 or 2 additional individuals when meeting and have one stay in the back seat with phone ready in case something pops up. Never know nowadays.

You aren't kidding people get pissed when you find damage and flaws. I just looked at a Solstice that, to me, was obviously rear ended and poorly fixed. I got kicked off the car lot. Not asked to leave, ordered off for a simple "thats kind of a big gap" comment.

"They should be all identical". Reminds me of my 1983 Olds Cutlass that had both metric and American standard. I needed three wrenches with both measurement systems to change the alternator. Yes, it did come that way from the factory.

That look under the hood is very informative. Your trained eye spotted things that the untrained eye would miss. That wiring harness is definitely alarming.

Thank you, I seen a video about "Omega" it bought a tear to my eyes. When I bought my ZR1 in 2005 I did a PPL before purchase. I had ppl's done on 4 ZR1's and was told don't buy. One seller refuse to let their ZR1 get PPL. I don't care what anybody say, get a ppl it will save thousands of dollars. Mr.Wizard is right on. Nice video.

I heard that expensive sound the second You started that thing. Classic drying JENCO crapmission…. That sound at one point cost me 3500$ thanks NIssian….lol😊

I felt pretty lucky with the Mechanic that my father knew for decades as my old 01 Merc started rusting out at the wheel arches. Really went beyond the value of the car to fix, Hooked me up with an audi estate diesel for a great price, no rust issues and took the merc off my hands for trade, It only had some worn badges with the age/UV wearing them down and needed a few replacements. Mechanically great for 110k with the full service history. About $100 later and an afternoon with a heat gun the things looking absolutely fantastic and the saving going from premium octane petrol into a diesel has saved me some crazy cash. If you've a family mechanic i'd always ask what kind of stock they've got if they do keep some cars in stock or know any customers trying to sell. He's no Wizard but the man knows what's reliable and hasn't let either of us down in all these years. 4 months in and so far so good. Videos like these make me so darn thankful to have someone like that. Couldn't imagine buying a car, nevermind taking a loan out and then finding out it's been in a wreck. That's just terrible for everyone involved. Last news you'd wanna give a customer at the shop too i'd imagine. So glad the buyer managed to get a refund on the thing! Not often you see a happy ending to this, That's the Wizard way!

Im with you on those charcoal canisters, my Outback has one that's clogged, everything is so rusty that there's no way to get it off without breaking all the bolts off and they're so expensive (and the car is 25 years old) that I just disconnected it so that the fuel filler works properly again.

Car dealers sometimes get caught out themselves. I used to work with a girl in the UK who bought a Suzuki Vitara from an independent dealer. At some point in the future she took it in for some work, and they loaned her an identical Vitara which they had taken in as a part-exchange. When she went back to collect her car, she parked the loaner next to her own car. It was only when one of the staff went out with her to give her car back, they noticed that both cars had the same licence plates on them. Turned out some low lifes had seen her car when it was for sale at the dealership, gone and stolen an identical car, and cloned her car's identity, including false VIN plates. Then they were cheeky enough to trade the stolen car in at the same dealership. Her car was legitimate, but the dealer had inadvertently accepted the stolen car as a trade-in.

With all of these scamming shops and stealerships around, I'm curious what The Car Wizard would do to find a shop that isn't a scam. I think it would be a great video for those of us who wish we could be your customer. Personally, I would love if there was an "Omega Certified" or "Car Wizard Certified" award that shops could earn so that we know what shops around the country are trustworthy.

Thank you Car Wizard for sharing your wisdom! 🙏

Hi from 🇬🇧. I bought a MK1 focus RS some years ago, it pulled awfully under hard acceleration, had it tracked, reset nothing fixed it. Changed front tyres it was fine. Had mismatched front tyres. Must do on performance cars.

Hi wizard from England, love your vids, we tend to do all this before as normal over here, even checking reg num for problems thru a app, but ye we all fully check cars and really hard to sell to much crap, somebody will spot something, seems you guys don't do any diligence

Refreshing upisode ! NO COMMERCIAL ! Bless your heart !

Good tire shops have a tire lathe - so if you have 3 tires that say have 70% tread - you can get the "replacement" tire milled down by a few 32nds to maintain the same outside diameter (or maintain the same revolutions per mile for a less rounding prone measurement).

Yep! I agree. 👀 over that vehicle before you buy it. And! Because i used to work at 3 dealerships long ago. Ask your salesman if you can get a technician there to raise the vehicle in the air so you can get a GOOD L.E.D. white light and look over the underneath the vehicle. Yes! The dealership is obligated to do so. Its the law.

This is a great video and highly topical with what happened with a car I was looking at at work (car sales/engineering). The car - a VW Polo GTi initially looked fine but after spotting the battery not secured in the trunk raised my suspicions. And the damage to the bulkhead, suspension struts, the floor and sills was horrendous and it had been doctored up to look nice to unsuspecting people. With research we found pictures from a year ago of it being seriously smashed at the front and it really should not be on the road.

I had a car inspected recently before even test driving it. I found out that the seller was trying to hide many issues like oil leaks by pressure washing under the hood, he somehow passed a smog check even though the scanner picked up an engine issue and the light engine was not on. I also found out the air bags did not work. The seller never mentioned any of it and was definitely trying to hide the issues in order to sell the car at a higher price. I turned down the car and left. Pre purchase inspections are a must.

I can't imagine actually taking out a loan for a used full-size luxury SUV. If you need something that big (doubtful, honestly), and don't have the money for it, you really shouldn't be buying something like that. There are much better options out there that will be easier on the wallet.

“You better have time for it! You better have the money, too!” 💯💯💯 pre-purchase inspection!!!

Great advice! I was helping my daughter search for a nice, used Honda Civic. Found one locally, took it to my independent Honda/Acura mechanic for a before-purchase inspection. The phone call I received was an emphatic "NO, don't recommend". There were so many items of deferred maintenance. It needed a timing belt, water pump, tires, alignment, struts. It even had the wrong spark plugs! We passed. A month later we found another Civic up in San Francisco. Took it to a great mechanic we found up there. The report was just the opposite. The car was in great shape -- the mechanic was very enthusiastic and said and I quote "don't let this one get away"! We took his advice. In 1999 that inspection cost me $125. Best money I ever spent. And that car? Still on the road today.

FYI even brand new cars on the dealer lot can appear to have different colors for the bumpers and the body. The reason is because plastic and metal reflect light differently. So don't judge just by that. Otherwise great video. Thanks

When I worked at a major German car dealer in the Seattle area, we had numerous customers bring in late model expensive cars with a "Clean" Carfax, yet had obvious major previous crash damage. Apparently, these cars were (usually poorly) repaired out of the customer's pocket, and no report went to the insurance Co. A lot of them were lease cars previously. Beware!

What wizard said is 100% correct, I have a 2014 pathfinder and replaced transmission, shortly thereafter (within 1000 miles) the next one caused problems, thankfully it was under warranty, just past 30,000 on the most recent one and got it serviced out of sheer paranoia

Good advice on the tyres, I don’t do many miles on my vehicle, so the tyres I had the tread was great but they were many years old. But I ended up getting a nail in a tyre, so I swapped on the spare tyre, but I organised to have new tyres because of the age of the tyres rather than just patch or just get one tyre. I replaced the lot including spare tyre.

Whoa!!! 1 million subscribers….you’re a legend, Mr. Wizard!

Usually if you google the VIN and it was at a salvage auction it will show up- first easy and free step

Yep avoid the older JX35/QX60 and first couple years of newer Pathfinders (mid-20teens). CVT was not good. Late 20teens of QX60 and Pathfinder is much better and then the '22 up went to a regular 9 speed trans.

I’m happy to hear that things worked out for the buyer but as a suggestion and especially if you’re taking out alone on a used car and I say this from personal experience, always get a pre-purchase inspection. Number one it’s a nine-year-old car and anything can go wrong with it. I say that from personal experience I had a 2014 CRV that I bought a couple years back after my previous 2014 CRV got totaled and make a long story short and had Warren piston rings and was going to need a complete engine rebuild, however just before I got done paying off the car this one got totaled as well after an oncoming vehicle failed to yield the right of way to me at a busy intersection when they were making a left turn. Thankfully, nobody was hurting both cases except my pride and the cars themselves. And I was able to recuperate all the money I had invested into getting the car repaired throughout my ownership, plus the residual value of the car minus the remaining balance on the loan after insurance paid it off, but back to my point if you take out a loan on a car like this and you find out that it’s mechanically totaled that can get very messyfor you and the seller even if they did reimburse the buyer if they decide that they want to fix up the car and then sell it for a profit that can get very complicated to deal with if there’s any outstanding issues or liens on the title

Great video Mr. Wizard. Many clues tell us the story of a car, just like evidence at a crime scene. It takes exposure to spot the clues. A PPI can help the novice from making a big mistake. But many don't want to pay $200 to be told the car they were going to buy is fine; or pay $200 to be told to reject the car. Both are a waste of money in the eyes of most buyers.

Car wizard and Scotty k have taught me so much about cars. I have a car on its last leg, but I am doing due diligence on buying another car. Thank you for your time and effort making these videos.

I really love the acronym "BPI", it really makes it clear that the inspection is for BEFORE the purchase, I'm going to start using that

It’s difficult to have any sympathy for people who buy vehicles without any inspection. Most of the time you don’t get what you pay for. The Car Wizard is one in a thousand repair facility and people are very fortunate to have him in their community. I live in a small town and wished we had a facility like his.

Bumpers are hard to tell paint wise, my bumper on my brand new highlander is a shade darker than the body. Almost every single gen 4 blizzard white pearl I've seen has the same problem, very noticeable. Same with my wifes rav, it's the maroon-ish color and it's a shade darker than the body, again brand new purchaced Friends shop does alot of work for someone who sells to the low credit scalpers like Byrider. The amount of work they do that will NEVER get reported is astounding.

Mismatched tires will destroy the transaxle in a Subaru. I learned that the hard way before knowing this is an issue. Now I am religious about keeping them matching.

Nice red NSX. When will we hear about it? Also, 20 years ago Nissan would rebuild their own transmissions. You might see if they still do and see how much it cost to install if the bolts are any good

Buyer beware, as you well know not all accidents are reported even the worst are not reported sometimes.its imperative you lay eyes on it get help if it’s not your area of expertise. Thanks John from Arizona

Another option for the transmission and the missing/mismatched bolts. The pan was crushed in the accident and was replaced. I had a drunk hit my Corolla in 1999 and after it rolled it hit the ground hard enough to flatten the pans.

Thanks for these videos Wizard.

The vin checks don't always show accidents. I had a Jeep Wrangler that was in a frontend collision that nearly totaled it when it was only a couple years old. It didn't show up on the vin checks even though my insurance fixed it. I disclosed it when I sold it to someone turning it into a trail rig

That is great news Wizard. I was thinking that the welded steering link was highly dangerous, what if it failed on a curve in the mountains. I think that car is a parts car! The more I see of "modern" cars with complex systems, the more I think it is better to consider the older "tank" Mercedes from the 1980s-90s, get a pre purchase inspection, put $5000-8000 into it if necessary,, and drive it forever! The W123,W116, etc. A 300CD coupe from the early 80's mechanically restored, is a timeless work of art, and practical.

Infiniti tech here, one thing I'd check is the lower A-arm bushings. We're starting to see the bushings crack and tear on the JX35/QX60s, causing a clunking when stoping while turning. You'll have to go aftermarket, as the OE either isn't available or is back ordered to hell. We use aftermarket at our dealer since it arrives next-day.

The transmission shifter cable came on earlier JX35. Later on QX60 from 2016 came with shift solenoid not the transmission shifter cable. It is totaly different desing.

It's somewhat counterintuitive, but white is a very difficult color to match after collision damage. So many shades of white.

Regarding mismatched fasteners, I have done retrofits on Nissans direct from the assembly plant and found mismatched fasteners. If I were to find them on the transmission pan of a used vehicle I would be highly suspicious as well, but I have definitely seen it in other, less conspicuous spots on vehicles that havent even been to the dealership yet.

WOW, GREAT VIDEO WIZARD 😊

Any chance you could do a video review of an eclipse 4g. Really would like to hear your take on those cars.

Also a good idea to check it on car vertical. Then of course always get a before you buy inspection

Dealing with a scam purchase myself. Purchased a gx470 that looked awesome in photos. Was the right color, low mileage and a good price. Got it home to find out photos were done in ways to avoid showing issues. When it arrived the body was so rotten the body mounts collapsed causing the body to rest on the frame. Thing ended up only being good for parts

Years ago, when I was young and dumb, I purchased a car from a well know Toyota dealership in Northern California. I test drove the car and fell in love with it. Big big mistake. The weasel dealership salesman would not let me take the car for a prepurchase inspection. Like a dummy I purchased anyway. Months later I started to have problems with the car. Turns out the car came from another state. It had been in a rear end collision. Which did not show up on the Carfax report. I learned some valuable lessons from my inexperience. Do not trust any car salesperson. Do not 100% trust a Carfax report. Do not purchase an out of state car. ALWAYS pay for a prepurchase INSPECTION. And never ever fall in love with a car. I gave the car away after the computer started to have problems. Thank God I had it for several years. Lesson learned. Now I am an ass when I buy a used car.

@carwizard I thought sure you were going to say Buyer Protection Inspection!!!

Usually fascia’s and bumper covers are painted separately from the body at assembly. Possibly at another location. Different hues not always means accident, but definitely inspect it further

You a bad dude. Man we need more honest mechanics like yourself. God Bless 🙏🏿

Problem is once I find a car I like my mechanic is usually scheduling 2 weeks out, sellers are not going to wait for u, and by then someone else will buy the car.

People think they are car experts because they drive one every day. 🤦‍♂️

Great video for people who aren't 'car-folks' to explain just how complicated it is for a shop to price fixing a scam car.

I had a friend that worked at a Nissan dealership and said that they would recommend a cvt service every 40k miles but the customers would always decline them. The best one was when a customer said he was an engineer and said that he was trying to rip him off, 2 months later he is in for transmission issues and was clearly butthurt.

Just had a customer get screwed on a 2013 Ford Explorer Sport with the 3.5 Ecoboost. 2 weeks after purchase it started pouring smoke out of the exhaust. 2 turbos, 2 front lower control arm assemblies, pass front CV shaft, PTU shaft seals, and front pads & rotors later it seams good for now.

My practice has been to buy vehicles new and then drive them till the vehicle wears completely out(to recover as much of the depreciation as possible). With the exception of one that was totaled by a rear end collision(the other guys fault), I have gotten over 200,000 miles each out of each one. I even got 170,000 miles out of the totaled one. With this, there is no worry about previous wrecks, etc. Now my 2017 white Nissan Frontier has the paint issue you mentioned. A deer ran in front of it last fall causing over $3000 in damage.

Pre-purchase inspection by a trusted mechanic. ALWAYS. If they won't let you do a pre-purchase inspection, run away as fast as you can. Btw, the difference in the bumper color doesn't really show up on camera well except in the close-up. I'm sure it's much easier to see in person.

I hear you ,I bought 2007 CXS lucerne 2weeks later Transmission went out replaced with one with 36,000 miles 4000.00 ..then catch converter went another 500.00 now it says check suspension system? 1000.00 to 5000.00 depending on issue ..had catic converter fixed.engine light went off ...3 days later came back on .and has small oil.leak in main cylinder...what's next.??......But bought from a mechanic said she's in top running condition...145.000 miles now owed 2 yrs

a 10 year old Nissan? not no, but "hell no!"

Love to see more of that NSX!

with the shops that always find 5 figures worth of work on your honda accord, i usually ask them to number the importance of each line item out of 10 to get to the 2 or 3 items that stand to improve the car

Just tighten the bolts with matching bolts that is designed for it and add transmission additive to stop leak and add it also to coolant that will temporarily fix everything

That's why I never buy a car ready to drive... when the car is advertised with problems, usually there's no hidden bs...