Blocking out the license plate has become such a common practice now. I think it has more to do with privacy. I've done it and I'm not a vehicle flipper. Then the second point is due to safety.

These tips should be applied when buying a car from a dealership as well.

I always bring a white towel to check the inside of the tailpipe. If there is thick tar type residue it is typically an oil burner.

I always look at tire wear. If it’s not even, you have suspension issues. If they’ve put a pair of cheap Chinese tires on the front, they’re hiding suspension issues.

Very useful information, Greg. I have noticed that blocking out license plate numbers has become somewhat of a trend. I understand there is a deceptive intention behind some of them, but honestly, most people have blurred or covered their plate numbers for the intention of privacy. I've actually done the same thing. Before I knew that covering a license plate was a deceptive practice, I saw it happening all the time, so I figured there was a privacy factor to it and figured if someone was going to come see the car anyway, they'd end up seeing the plate number, but no reason putting it on craigslist for anyone to see.

Great tips! I've run into some "curbstoners". I've also walked away from a deal because of empty bottles of "motor honey" in the back. I always learn something from your videos.

Another great video. In my area half the ads on Craigslist have the license plates hidden - often by a blurry finger than also hides most of the rest of the bottom half of the car. Most are regular people who see this in other ads and somehow think they need to do it as well for some sort of privacy reason. It's silly but it's true. To your second point, a lot of people these days don't want to meet where they live. They've heard a horror story or two and want to meet in a parking lot somewhere. In fact, it's mostly the risk-averse people who will maintain and drive a car very carefully who are like this, basically exactly who I want to buy a car from. I've even had people cut their names and addresses out of each individual service receipt before handing them over. Who knows why: their name and address is already on the title. I've also had people insist on meeting at a bank even if I'm paying cash and they have title in hand. They want the bank to "check" the money. One thing I look at is tires, not just for condition but also quality: cheap off-brand tires tell you something about the owner. Also I'd rather pay myself for good new tires than spend 40,000 miles driving on cheap junky tires.

The B-roll footage going up Yonge St. in downtown Toronto at 6:35 is a nice touch. Also makes me glad I don't go down there very often - Toronto traffic royally sucks. (:

Also, it’s very wise to purchase a OBD reader (scan tool) to take with you when you go see the car.

Also be sure that the brake pedal wear matches the mileage on the odometer. I used to know this guy who would disconnect the speedo on his car, drive the hell out of it and then appear that it had a lot less miles when he sold it.

Greg, How did you manage to portray my entire used car buying history in just one short video? At least I have finally learned my lesson, next time I'm buying from a regular stoner instead of one of these unethical curbstoners. ;-)

One of your best yet!

Great info! Thanks for posting. I used your suggestions a few years back to buy the car I'm currently driving. I picked a good one, running great. :)

Always nice to see a video from you Sir. Thank you for your wonderful content. Hope you're doing well.

Thank you Greg for sharing your insight. I’ve been following you for many years and you are one of the best on KZfaq. Your opinions are clear and highly educational. Everyone who is a car owner should be watching your videos. Happy holidays to you and your family.

Thank you Greg for sharing your thoughts and experience.

Smashed the button so fast on this one, brilliant advice

Curbstoners register vehicles in the names of family members because states require a business license for people selling over a certain number of vehicles per year.

Very useful info thanks! Begun the grueling process our shopping for a new used car. I've never looked at the brake pedals before so I'll definitely do that now especially since I'm looking at cars with a lot of miles and that's useful to know if they were obviously mostly City or highway miles

Priceless information. Thank you.

He's alive!

Ditto with Right Lane Hog’s comments!!! Great tips, Greg! Wish I would’ve known ‘em all when I started my car buying history just out of high school in 1964. Two thumbs up 👍. Way up!!!&

The spaces between the notes is where the art resides. Greg doesn't post everyday but when he does it is fucking full of useful information. The devil is always in the details. Just buy a Toyota Camry from the late 90's to early 2000's. I still drive a 96 Camry V6 I bought from an old man. Those things are indestructible.

These set of Tips are not the ordinary checks...like leaks under car , blue smoke , uneven tire ware.......putting these all together can make us a very astute buyer...

GREAT info on the slimy Curbstoner... that's exactly how they work!

Congrats! Great tips.

Thank you for another excellent and informative video, there is always something to learn from your videos. For example the colour of the dipstick is something I have never consciously stopped to consider. I’ve encountered nearly every one of these scenarios, and it’s just not worth taking a risk. For example I went to see a Volvo last week that was advertised as meticulously serviced and in perfect condition. The seller claimed it had just been serviced yet the coolant tank was full of clear tap water. To me this is an indication that seller has lied, because he said it had been serviced meticulously. Once you discover an obvious lie it’s just not worth continuing with the inspection, regardless of how clean the car looks. Clear tap water to my mind means the vehicle has suffered total coolant loss, and one of the things I always look for is any signs of previous overheating. I NEVER buy any car with signs of previous overheating, it’s just never worth the risk.

My best experiences in buying from private parties is buying from local people whom I know and I can actually check the service history of the vehicles from local shops. Unfortunately, I did have one bad experience by not following this advice when I bought from a craigslist ad. Statistically, I should be happy but I still feel the pain. I've sold several vehicles through craigslist and I just assumed (dangerous word) that everybody else is as honest as I am. Wrong. You have very good advice in this video. Thank you.

Great tips. Thanks, Mr. Car Angel...!!

Thank you for providing excellent information

New subscriber here, love your videos, I hope to buy a Highlander soon thanks to your old videos (which i recently found haha)

Great advice, thanks for the video!

You also need to know for each car you are looking at what issues that particular model/year has. Some years might turn out you should avoid. If you know these issues a model has and these other issues like frequent oil changes done and the person just doesn't give off sleeze vibes you can get a great used car from a private party.

Great info Thank you

I freaking love this channel.

Jordan Peterson of used car buying

Fantastic videos. Buying a used car is no walk in the park!

Thx 4 sharing your knowledge

Very well done insights...

I have personally had sold my vehicles Online. In Texas I’m very leery when people reference the vehicle as being their personal vehicle And have a dealer tag or a newly series of plate number on the vehicle. When I sold my personal vehicles in the past I always covered up the tag in fear that someone would make a false claim of a hit-and-run or illegal activity with my vehicle info.

One owner cars aren't the best deals always. As a matter of fact some various-owners cars have better maintenance and accessories since each new owner puts his TLC on it. I guess most of the readers that bought a used car sold it later in better shape.

awesome tips sir, ty 😊👍

That's funny I didn't know about blocking the license plate. I've been doing that cause I see others do that. Good to know. I would also personally not want anyone coming to my house to see a car. People are crazy and I don't want them coming to my house. Plus public places have cameras.

Thanks Greg ,looking into buying a second hand car. These are great ,thanks for sharing your experience. Cheers

Wow. This was so valuable. I always assumed somebody covering up. The license plate was just for security reasons. I have taken pictures of my car before and put them on social media where I was showing. The license plate in advertently and people warned me to take that off or scratch it out, so nobody could see it. So every time I see a car with the license plate showing I just assume they were concerned. Now this is great information to know they might be a crook!

Good stuff 👌

You gotta vet the car to the max..You could get ripped off by a non-curbstoner too...especially new car dealers selling used cars..they are the worst!

Good stuff 👍🏽

Thanks 👍

Not many cars before about 08-10 put VINs on all the body panels. I've gutted tons of them.

Car Jesus does it again, thanks buddy

two head lights, one is clear, one is cloudy, walk away.

Excellent information, I would also add pulling a vehicle history report & looking at previous owners & make sure its not from the rust states aka north east part of the country. Ohio, Pennsylvania & several others. The life span of cars from these areas is half of what it should be.

Pay for an inspection and buy the best example of a car you can afford.

Thanks!

If you are a non-smoker and are looking at a car which is advertised as a non-smoker car, but you find out that it is smoking white or blue smoke at the exhaust when the engine is running, skip it. That is a clear sign that the car was severely smoked in the past.

Didn't expect to see Yonge Street in this video but there it is.

Hallo Greg...am your ardent follower and i thank you dearly for your well articulated and honest presentations. Would you please help and do a review on TOYOTA HARRIERS? Which years are the best to do buy. Am patiently waiting. Thank you!!

Amazing Greg! Thank you sir

Thank you for some valuable advice. Having sold many personal vehicles over the years, I routinely obscure my license plate as I would suggest everyone else does. Someone could easily claim you hit their vehicle in a parking lot and give the police a description and plate number of your car. Additionally that license plate can be tracked to your address which leads me to my second concern. I may not want a stranger to come to my home, at least not before I can confirm their legitimacy. I have met people at the police station parking lot as well as public parking lots for my safety and theirs. These actions don't make me a criminal and I feel that it's poor advice to encourage personal sellers to put themselves at unnecessary risk. I blurr my plate, but I leave the state readable so that people know it's from our state and to reduce criminals from using my photos for scams. Thanks for all the great information you provide!

excellent

alot of this only applies if u are buying a used vehicle that is less than 10 years old , but it would be really hard to find fluids that are not kind of dirty or paint issues on a vehicle that is only gonna cost 3 or 4 grand and is 15 years old with 100 k miles on it or more . the key is to buy only from the original owner , so even if the vehicle is over ten years old it will still usually be in good condition if the person owned it for all that time and bought it new .

I store oil and fluids in my drunk but ironically I have zero consumption issues, I just want easy access if I ever do need a given fluid e.g. window washer, oil, antifreeze etc.for a refill or a change. Got a chuckle out of that one!

I’m not sure how you would check this, but the mileage needs to be correct on the title or you end up with a dead title. I did this to a family member by mistake. We recorded incorrect mileage on the title and none of us double checked it. I love your videos.

Rear end collision can be worse due to crumple zones. It is extremely costly to fix it properly.

Great

I just bought a car ('07 Highlander ;-) from a "curbstoner" (never heard that one) a couple weeks ago. Yeah, he was a liar... "Original owner" Hah! "Non smoking" cig lighter was burned out a few burn marks on carpet "No pets" Found a bunch of short black hairs when I vacuumed out the nooks & crannies! but the car checked out O.K., I used to be a mechanic and couldn't find anything wrong with it. He had it detailed/waxed, serviced, new filters, battery, tires. I bought the car, not the salesman. Maybe I got lucky? (Knock on wood)

That was awesome. Thanks for helping out a dad trying to buy his daughters first car! 🙂

I wish I could buy from a private owner. People are selling their cars to CarMax or those other online car dealers . They are getting ripped off.

This is fine but if you are say a woman living alone then you definately do not want someone coming to your house or to find all the info on you that they can get from just knowing the license plate. I think you are mistaken on this advice.

Greg,thanks for your great insights on things to look for when buying a used car. I recently bought a car from an auction and upon further inspection under the hood as well as underneath, I noticed a significant amount of rust on the hose clamps as well as parts of the frame underneath. There was even rust on parts of the front seat brackets in the interior. I live out west where our climate is dry with little humidity so I’m convinced this car came from a high humidity part of the country.I’m puzzled because the paint looks great-with no sign of rust (a local body an said it’s original, yet why the rust build up elsewhere?

I would NEVER sell a car at my house! You are CRAZY

Personally I always stay away from people who say “it’s perfect it needs nothing” like most of the time car need something

What concerns me about your Halo list are all the cars with GDI engines and whether or not they have problems with carbon build-up as they accumulate miles.

Good luck catching a curb stoner when he tells you that he's selling it because his insurance is simply too high...

Awesome....would love to see more videos of yours.... Hey Gregg, please tell me , if I should buy a used corolla or new corolla??? According to your experience , which tend to last longer??? Are newer one's built better?? I heard they are using more plastic parts ( which we know breaks or cracks at some point of time) .... So your thoughts and opinions.... You are doing great job...keep up

I am unable find "carma sutra" on the internet. hmmmm Your doing good work. Thanks.

only buy from the original owner who bought it when it was new . they will usually always have the original manual that they got from the dealership and they will have the title with their name on it .

Should you ever buy a car with a salvage or rebult title?

Lots of people cover the plates. They think there's a reason to do it just because others do it.

Honda coolant blue!

Thanks from Ukraine!

99% of this is great advice, but he's wrong that a blocked-out license plate is a sure sign of a curbstoner because it's more likely a cautious and prudent seller. The same goes for meeting at McDonald's. Prudent sellers like to meet at well-lit public places.

Buy your car and truck from car rental sales....you can rent to buy and the price is the price.

In the pictures on Craigslist or marketplace, I just get weirded out if the water hose is still in the driveway and the driveway is still wet from them washing the car. It just makes me feel like they are trying to get the car cleaned up, posted, and not their problem anymore as fast as they can.

I always keep a quart of oil and coolant in the trunk regardless if I need it or not.

Not 100% true. I sold 7 cars in my lifetime and only 2 times I have shown them my house the first time. Now I hide my license plate and we meet close by and not at my house. We only meet at the house at the final transaction or we'll meet at the bank if they are paying in cash.

Make more videos!!! Please

I have oil bottles in car boot but that because car take 4.5 bottles and keep the fifth half

Hi, Are you going to sell the PaintSpy again?

New Mexico here. Every single car I look at on Craig's List or Market Place has the license plate hidden. lol A state full of theives or else people are just copying others, thinking it's a privacy issue.

I don’t want to have people buying my car come to my house. I don’t know who these people are

Hey there, I enjoyed your videos on how to buy a used car, and the Bathtub curve. My question is I want to buy a used Prius v wagon five, and or a Prius 2013 five model as a second car. I currently drive my 2017 RAV4. I live in Colorado and put on lots of miles going to the mountains. I am 70 and get quite intimidated when I need to buy cars, so I get talked into buying new ones' afraid of breaking down. I am thinking I should have a male friend help me look at these cars. My questions are: I see the above models of these cars listed through Edmonds, carguru, car dealers, etc. with high mileage on them. Where is the sweet for a Prius? Do they have the oil caps? What specifically do I look for in a hybrid or a hybrid plug in that you have not mentioned for hybrid used car buyers. Why do these company's say send a note to the seller letting them know you are interested. Who is selling the car if I were to buy it? Just because they ask for a price, I don't have to agree to it. Where is the haggle room and with whom? I don't understand the delivery aspect am I paying for that. What fees can I avoid? Can I ask them to let my mechanic look at it? How does that work? I don't want to spend a fortune for a second car to run around in Denver, but my grandchildren would appreciate me driving a hybrid. I am very interested in your comments, I hope you do respond. Thank you kindly, Deborah

Much thanks on all the tips.do you have any tips on auto theft prevention? For someone with limited funds.like removing a start module or similar . Tried the club but steering wheel was cut, alarm disabled somehow. Vehicle has a transponder chip key. Still stolen. Whoever stole the car knew were they were doing not amateurs.

a curb stoner could put a fake license plate, so just because you seen one doesn't mean anything.

New subscriber here. Im in the market for an older camry that ill use as a backup for work about 60 miles daily highway. What are your thoughts on buying a salvage title from Craigslist or buying from a car flipper on Craigslist.

I take ramps with me so I can inspect under the car for oil leaks, cv boot and front end damage.

What about rust and how can that affect the longevity of the vehicle?

One clue of a carefull previous owner is paperwork, invoices in particular. Are the invoices matching with the story? If the guy says the car was cleaned regulary, does he have the receipts? Etc, etc. Some people have great cars and don't keep paperwork, but why would you be taking such a risk?

Hello car angel how do I contact you cuz I'm in Africa and I like ur videos