Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-09-22 | Page 25 | Get your Used Car from an Auto Dealer

GET VBUR USED H FBI I AUTO DEALER Buying Pointers for Motor Fans Who Contemplate Purchase of an Exchanged Ex-changed Gas Buggy. At this season of the year, and more particularly at a time when new car production has been cut down considerably, consider-ably, there is greater activity in the used car field. Many thousands of prospective owucrs will need some advice ad-vice on the purchase of a used car so as to be able to avoid buying a wreci. with perfectly good moucy. It has been said that a used car is "bo. better than the dealer or man who sells it. and there is a great deal of truth in this. In our larger cities tbc newspapers newspa-pers are filled with so called blind advertisements ad-vertisements of owners who ''must get out of town'7 or "go to war.'' or which give some such excuse for selling. The buyer should be. very careful of the greater number of these because they are simply poor propositions handled by some person who is supposed to he the owDer. The very best place to select for looking over used cars is the sales room of some reputable dealer on motor row or in the automobile section of the city. If you are interested in a used Hudson, go to the Hudson dealer: in a Hupmobile, go to the dealer in that car. In this way you are sure at least of getting get-ting a car that has been put in shap properly and not "jobbed up" for a sale. Often, however, a dealer will have cars of other makes in his shop, and. naturally so, because all sales are not to previous owners of his car. Examine Car Thoroughly. It is usual for a dealer to give the exterior of a car the best, appearance possible so that it wilt strike the fancy of the buyer, especially if his wife is along. Good external appearance is. erf course, essential, but for the tiino being it should be neglected. The chassis i should be gone over, and if found satisfactory, satis-factory, then attention may be devoted to the condition of the unholstcry. the top, curtains, paint, etc. These are mat- 1 ters which are not important in the running run-ning of a car. A good body won 't keep a car running. It is a most difficult matter to tell by a mere drive around the block whether the car is in perfect condition, ' especially if the street is smooth, j Take, for example, such small curs as the Ford and Chevrolet. 1 These cars have steering systems which are likely to show sigus of throning a fit if worn excessively. This trouble is in the na- ' turo of rapid oscillating of the. front wheels as though they were being j turned .rapidly from one direction to an- j other, This is dangerous and annoying. It happens only on rough roads and at a certain speed, usually about six miles i an hour When going fast, it is not i noticed and on smooth roads it is not ) apparent. , j Battles and squeaks caused by loose parts are noticed only on rough roads, j Hence it is wise when trying out the ; car to take it first slowly and then at : a fair rate over a bad piece of road. . Xever take a dealer's word that "that cau be fixed up in a .iiffv. " Do not take a car unless it is "fixed up" and to your satisfaction. Never take a car with certain parts of the equip-j equip-j ment missing which "will be sent to you .iust as soon as they come." Half the time they never come or are delayed until the end of the season. In order to determine the fitness of the used car, you will have to drive it yourself to see whether there is undue play in the power transmission system. A bad clutch or a worn transmission can be "overcome" by good driving, and the demonstrators usually are very good at coverina up sue b spoti. Brakes should be tested so that a reliuing job is not necessary the first week you havo the car. Testing Vital Parts. If possible open the drain plugs of the transmission and rear axle aud see if any oil or thinned grease, runs out. Often a bal set of gears or even gears with broken teeth can be made noiseless for a short run by packing the case with heavy grease. A new battery usually costs anywhere from $25 to $"., depending on the skc. and it is the easiest of things to take an old battery ready for the junk pile and get it in shape so it will give service serv-ice for a few minutes. In drivfng around on the demonstration demonstra-tion one can only listen for loud knocks i in the engine aDd other parts. Bearings, Bear-ings, of course, can l,o tightened and certain loose. parts made to remain quiet for a time. Here is an important, point. An "oil pumper'' is an engine whose pistons and rings are worn, and such an cucrine. when it gets hot after running some time, will iiump so much oil into the rombust ion i hambrs as to cautc misfiring and bd running gen-rrallv. gen-rrallv. For a short period the "nit pumper'' will he all righl. Look around f the valves for oil Icikagi t ro:n an oil pumper. "v-beel bearings an starring can brt gone over by shaking tho wheels io-lently io-lently and by pulling and pushing on the fcsl cering e.ounrcr.ions. Oftn. bnv-ever. bnv-ever. :.'Arfjr.si vn wear in thrsc placed ' can be covered. .i The best advice if-, buy from n rfrt) I j table dealer and lake his word for I lie condition of the car.