Tips on Things to Watch For When Buying Used Cars - Used-car listings can claim more features than the car actually has, so make sure to verify that a car listed with antilock brakes or side airbags actually has those features. The Tucson, Accord and Sonata make it easy: Those features are standard. If you're shopping one of the others, don't take a salesperson's or private seller's word for it check it out yourself. Here's how:
- Seat-mounted side airbags are indicated by a fabric tag, a sewn-in emblem or a labeled plastic panel somewhere on the outboard side of the front seats' backrests. It typically says "Side Airbag," "Airbag," "SRS Airbag" or simply "SRS" for Supplemental Restraint System.
Side curtain airbags have similar wording along the roof pillars, usually near the ceiling. The labeling often resides where the pillars meet the ceiling.
Antilock brakes show up via a dashboard indicator when you turn the car on. Somewhere around the gauges, look for a light that says "ABS" for Antilock Braking System to illuminate along with other warning lights. If the ABS or any other warning lights stay on when the car is running, however, it indicates a problem with the system in question.
Electronic stability systems are harder to pick out because they go by various trade names, from Toyota's Vehicle Stability Control to Ford's AdvanceTrac. Most of these systems include the word "stability" to distinguish it from simple traction control. The Versa 1.6, Fusion, Galant, Five Hundred and Accord for the years above don't offer stability systems. Conversely, it's standard on the Sonata and Tucson. That leaves the Optima, Freestar and Corolla. If you're shopping one of those, here are the easiest ways to identify whether your prospective car has a stability system:
On the Optima, look for an "ESC Off" button to the lower left of the gauges. It's adjacent to the instrument panel dimmer control.
Freestar models with stability control include an "AdvanceTrac" emblem near the left taillight.
A scant few Corollas from the mid-2000s have stability systems, which you'll find by way of a "VSC" light for Vehicle Stability Control illuminating briefly near the gauges when you start the car.
|
