When you are shopping for a second hand vehicle, you will want to carefully pre-screen the cars you are interested in buying before you leave home. If you have a list of questions to ask when buying a used car, you can save a lot of time and energy. The reason for this is that it is much more efficient to call ten people who have a car for sale and ask them the right questions, than it is to drive across town to look at one vehicle for sale.

My first tip to you when interviewing car sellers is as follows. When you call, it’s important to begin by saying, “I’m calling about the car for sale”. If the answer is “Yes”, then ask them to tell you about it. If they have more than one car, they may be hesitant to answer. If they are hesitant, or if the answer is “Which one?”, they may be a private car dealer, also known as a curbside car dealer, or curber.

If they respond with something like “The ‘91 Jetta?”, then you would say, “Do you have more than one car for sale?” If they do, you want to know. Don’t buy a car from a curber! If instead you ask, “Do you have a Silver 1991 Jetta for sale?”, and they have more than one vehicle they are trying to sell, all they have to do is say “Yes”, so make sure to ask your first question right. Maybe they just happen to be selling 2 cars, but it should raise a red flag.

Ask if they are the registered owner. If not, who is? This is important. You want to be dealing with the owner. You should ask them how long they have owned their car. Generally speaking, longer is better. If they haven’t owned it long, they may be selling because it has issues and is giving them grief. If they have owned it a long time, it may be an indicator that they have been happy with its service, or conversely it may indicate that they are masochists!

When buying a used car from someone, it is always worth it to ask why they are selling. Ideally they have bought a brand new car. This often indicates that they are well enough off and have maintained their old car regularly. People who are well off, often got that way by taking care of what is in their care. It’s not always true, but it is often the case.

People will have lots of other reasons for selling, but by asking this question, you can get a better feel for who they are and what they are up to. They may not tell you the truth, but pay attention to the subtle sense you get in their answers. It may help you to get a clear feeling about where they are coming from in trying to sell you their car.

Welcome back to part two of my article series. This mini-used car buying guide is a compilation list of my most important questions to ask when buying a used car.

To recap from part one, over the phone we want to make clever inquiry to see if we can establish with some certainty that the seller is not a private car dealer. Then we ask them questions to determine whether how long they have owned the car and if they are the original owner. The final area covered in part 1 was to pay close attention to the sense we get from the seller’s response to our asking about their reasons for selling. If we are satisfied with the outcome of this initial round, it is time to get a bit more specific.

One of my top questions to ask about buying a used car is whether it has a gas or diesel engine. This may not be applicable unless you are looking for a diesel, as the vast majority of cars only come with a gas motor. However, if you are looking for incredible economy and bulletproof reliability, you will want to consider buying a car equipped with a diesel or even better, a turbo diesel engine. VW Jettas and Golfs are and were and still are built with both gas and diesel motors, and those motors last a long, long time!

Ask them how many kilometers or miles are on the car? For a gas engine, anything much over 250,000 km or 150,000 miles is a bit too much, unless the car has been meticulously maintained. In the case of a diesel engine, 300,000 km or 180,000 miles is just getting going. If it has been meticulously maintained, a diesel can go for a million kilometers.

Determine whether your potential future companion has a standard or automatic transmission? Which would you like better? Generally, a standard 5 speed transmission is the best choice, as it is less complex and more fuel efficient. C’mon! Stick is more fun anyway!

Find out it they have service records. If they have no service records, it is a strong indication that the car has not been well maintained. By looking at the service records, you can see the maintenance history, and any repairs. For example, a receipt for a new engine adds value to any car. When the time comes to sell your car, this can be handy evidence to present someone to backup your request for top dollar.

No list of tips on buying a second hand car can be complete if it doesn’t include being sure that you ask the seller if it has ever been in an accident. If their answer is yes, ask them if it was a write off. If yes, move on. There are lots of other cars to choose from. If their answer is no, find out how long ago the accident was, and what area of the car sustained damage? You will want to look carefully at these areas when you go to see the car.

If the damage is recent, it may be difficult to tell how well the repairs will hold up. If it was a long time ago and it still looks okay, that can be a good sign. If the doors were affected, there is a good chance that they don’t close perfectly anymore, and may make whistling sounds at highway speed. Very annoying on long journeys!

Okay, we are getting some good information from our seller! That’s it for part 2. Stay tuned for part 3 where I will dive into the nitty-gritty of how to narrow down your search for the perfect used car.

You’ve had enough of rising gas prices and it’s just about time to trade your old car in anyway. So you’re thinking about getting a biodiesel car, hoping that it will take some of the pressure off your pocketbook. Well, we have good news for you. Not only will a biodiesel vehicle save you money, but it will also help you take better care of the environment – with 78% lower emissions than a standard vehicle running petroleum-based fuel. But where do you get a biodiesel car, you wonder? Well, hold on to your driver’s license because the good news continues. Any diesel car is already a biodiesel car. Nothing has to be done to the vehicle at all except fill the tank with biodiesel fuel instead of regular diesel.

The first American company to release a “biodiesel car”, specifically designed to run best on B5 or 5% biodiesel, 95% conventional, petroleum-based diesel, was Chrysler with their 2005 Jeep Liberty. The other “blends” of biodiesel fuel you’ll most commonly find are B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% diesel) and B100 (100% biodiesel), though it’s possible to make any mixture spanning the gamut. Interestingly enough, both B20 and B100 get the same great mileage, though the cost is slightly less for B20. The fuel emissions, harmful to both humans and our environment, however, are much lower in B100 than in B20 or any other blends, for that matter.

Showing outstanding support for the biodiesel car revolution (so to speak) Volkswagen, maker of many fine diesel vehicles (like the Beetle, Jetta, Touareg, and Golf TDIs – that’s for Turbo Diesel Injection), says that they will not void the warranty on your vehicle simply because you poured biodiesel fuel into the tank instead of conventional diesel. That’s more than most auto manufacturers can say, but it takes no psychic to predict that they’ll have to catch on sometime, adopting that or a similar stance if they are to keep their diesel businesses alive.

Now, the biodiesel car isn’t the only vehicle being redesigned to support and encourage use of the alternative fuel. Look at John Deere, who has plans to start shipping out all of its combines and tractors already filled with B2 (2% biodiesel, 98% diesel) blend. The Maltby Company is another, using 18,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel in their dump trucks, bulldozers, and other equipment for moving earth.

According to the National Biodiesel Board the single, largest consumers of biodiesel are fleets that are fueled at a central location, such as: city fleets, bus systems, military bases, school districts, and national parks. Part of the reason why could be the 1992 Energy Policy Act which mandates that state and federal fleets purchase vehicles that run on alternative fuels, such as the biodiesel car.

According to he U.S. DOE (Department of Energy), biodiesel fuel can potentially replace as much as 10% of the country’s conventional (petroleum-based) diesel diesel supply. No wonder so many service stations around the nation aren’t starting to offer fill-ups to the biodiesel vehicle. The Great Lake states seem to have the most biodiesel fill-up stations, with the East Coast, the Carolinas, and Tennesse following close behind. California and Texas have their fair share and, from there, every state in the U.S., barring Alaska and West Virginia, has at least one establishment where a biodiesel car can get its tank filled.