I'm looking at used cars and SUVS to purchase. Will a compression check tell me the condition of the piston rings?

No ~ only a leak down test will do that .

If you don't need a pretty car, consider a used municipal vehicle from auction ~ most are very well maintained but not loved so they get filthy and dented but tend to have under 10,000 miles per year of use .

I have some friends who've been extremely happy with those Kia box things also Toyota CV-R's .

Look into donated cars ~ most ar nasty old people's cars but cleaning up is easy enough .

Used cars are crazy right now ~ I have people asking to buy my 2001 truck and Shirley's 300TD almost daily .

Time was I'd sell in an instant as long as I made decent $, I no longer want to have to fix up anyone else's beater .

Remember : ac inop means MINIMUM OF $1,500.00 IN REPAIRS .

Any used vehicle plan to need to replace tires, battery hoses and belts A.S.A.P. or plan to walk .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Thank you VWnate, I'll check out those possibilities.....

Look for a PM shortly .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

How good a check up depends on price segment you are interested in.

Something decent will cost today I expect. Ten year old decent Toyotas seem to be selling for 10K around here currently.

Buying used it is probably better not to buy problamatic brands. There will be some regional differences in prices.

In our area essentially no inventory for so long of new cars at dealers is having a serious effect. On used car prices. Something may be going on other than the lack of supply of computer chips.

modern cars with EFI have extremely long life for the cylinders, in the "olden days" with carburettors you had lots of problems with washdown due to running rich which wore out the engine.

With EFI, specially a modern one built after 2000, you wont face such issues unless the car you are buying is literally a pile of trash.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

If you are wrenchy enough to be on this forum - google up a 'pre-purchase inspection checklist' - bring it with you and use it - it'll remind you to do dumb things like 'check all windows go up and down' and 'check that the spare tire and tools are present'

Maybe you'd remember all of these things, but it helps having a list.

-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

I don't work on modern vehicles much at all but I hear horror stories about almost anything with a "CVT" automatic transmission .

Agreed that modern engines seem to last a long, long time .

Unless you get a receipt for the repair, anything with a cam belt will need that replaced *instantly*, about $250 , don't use Chinese timing belts ! .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Cam belt engines are ancient relics now, the handful engines with cam belts in modern times were the hybrid drive camry and the honda 3.5 v6.

If someone is buying an old toyota v6 fwd sedan with a cam belt, replacing it is not a 250 dollar ordeal unless the owner has a home garage and is experienced in working difficult situations like snapped bolts/studs. And has access to some specific factory data and tsb to troubleshoot weird issues like one bank entirely gone limp.

__________________
2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Keep us posted when you make your decision.