Pre-Purchase Simple Inspection Continued...

If you are just joining Driving the Future of Car Buying, please visit our previous Visual Car Buying Inspections here. The following are the continued simple inspections a future car buyer can perform to minimize the chances of an unfavorable purchase.

CARFAX Report

Insist upon a copy of the CARFAX and/or Autocheck report. Ask if your vehicle would be billed as Clean, Average or Below Average. This automatically reduces your risk of costly future problems and hidden repairs. The CARFAX report will show any severe accidents, previous flood damage and any frame damage. The report will also list previous owners.

Paint & Body Work

Ask the dealer if the car has ever been painted, touch the paint along the edges of the car, the paint should feel smooth with no ridges. If the car has been repainted it isn't necessarily a sign of prior damage. In some cases, the dealer has just touched the car up. At BobStallingsCars.com we disclose up front if we have performed any touch ups,

Make, Model, Trim & VIN

Check that the badging of the make, model and trim matches that of the VIN. Cars have VIN plates on all panels, if you come across a panel without a VIN plate take notice. Double check the CARFAX report.

The Bob Stallings Cars Difference

At Bob Stallings Cars of Carrollton we encourage our future car buyers to be confident in their car buying experience. Not only do we offer a FREE CARFAX report to show how much pride we have in our inventory. BobStallingsCars.com performs a Championship Inspection before the vehicle enters our showroom.

How to Visually Inspect a Vehicle Prior to Purchase

When you are test driving your next vehicle, there are simple exterior eyeball inspections that should be performed. These simple steps can help avoid costly repairs and help you make an informed vehicle purchase.

Tire Inspection

Check for tire wear by feeling each tire with your hands. Check how deep the tread is. Also note if there is any curb rash on the wheels. Rubbing of the outer tread can be associated with poor maintenance and miss-alignment which could lead to worse damage down the road (literally).

Windshield Inspection

Look carefully at the windshield for any small cracks. Small cracks cause by road debris turn into large windshield cracks unexpectantly, forcing the new car owner to repair the entire windshield.

Mileage Regulations

Next, look at the mileage. Most vehicles in order be billed as Clean or Average, require that there are no more than 25,000 miles/per year of age. In other words, in January of 2011, a 2008 car should have no more than 75,000 miles. Vehicles that have only 15,000 miles per year or less are considered more expensive and overall, a better car. Many dealerships still "overlook" these requirements in order to receive the Clean or Average markings, now that you know, double check the dealer information.

The Bob Stallings Auto Group Difference

Most used car dealers do not inspect their inventory prior to sale. At BobStallingsCars.com, we ensure that your next vehicle passes our BobStallingsCars.com Champion Checklist. Our experience, supporting NASCAR’s Daytona Prototype Series racecars has enabled us to properly inspect our inventory for mechanical problems. That’s why we call it the Champion Checklist!

Non-Commissioned Salesmen | The Future of Car Buying

Those who have worked with Car Salesmen can all agree car salesmen come in two categories:

1) The professionals with a passion for cars
2) The professional liar with a passion for commission

Commissioned Salesmen

Few people are naturally great at selling and, we would expect those few people to use this skill to their full advantage. This is where commissioned car salesmen have the potential to earn the big bucks. For fined tuned salesmen, commission reflects their labor, experience and skills. More is always better. With pressure from their superiors, the salesman uses his sales super-skills to slam you into a car while retaining as much profit as possible. They thrive off impulse buys, higher interest rates, extended finance terms, and a full menu of exorbitant extras. Unfortunately, in the cut throat world of car sales, traditional dealers have stuck with this outdated model.

Non Commissioned Salesmen

There is only one car dealer that I've ever heard of that does not practice a commission based business model. For these car enthusiasts, less time is spent with tactics and more time is invested in inventory knowledge and market trends. By eliminating commission, BobStallingsCars.com, located in Carrollton, Texas has eliminated a dishonest and pushy sales transaction. In fact, they encourage our customers to investigate their next car thoroughly online, while they are by themselves. That's why they put a free CARFAX report with every listing on their webpage. Clients can quickly review models on KBB and Edmunds while simultaneously looking at the BobStallingsCars.com website.