MM Review-Guide: Tips for doing your own checkouts.

[mmcartalk]

MM Review-Guide: Tips for doing your own checkouts.

While I do reviews myself, and plan to continue doing them, I thought I'd make up a general guide for you forum members (and others) on what to examine if and when you decide to go out and look at a new vehicle for yourself. In some cases, of course, you will be alone......other times, with families, relatives, friends, co-workers, or others you are helping in their car shopping. Some things, of course, you will have to depend on other sources for...safety-ratings, MPG figures, projected depreciation, insurance, overall reliability, etc.....you won't be able to check those yourself in a showroom, dealer-lot, or a test-drive. But, after you have done that basic homework, there is a lot that you CAN find out for yourself, and not have to depend on other sources for. Your brain, sense of feel, arms, legs, fingers, eyes, ears, butt/torso (on the seats) and general intelligence level (I know most of you are intelligent people) can tell you a LOT of things about a vehicle, even in just a few minutes, that would be critical to whether it is a suitable vehicle for you or not. It won't tell you everything, of course (some things, you may not know for months) but it is a good start.

This is NOT a checklist for when you actually buy a vehicle and do the test-drive to make sure everything works before signing for it and accepting delivery.....that's another ball-game, and is more concerned with the vehicle's mechanical condition, and if it needs any repairs or adjustments. This list is simply my recommendations for a checkout of a new vehicle design to see it if will meet you or your family's needs. In other words, This will tell you what the vehicle is basically like, and IF it is actually the right one for you or not. (and sometimes that won't be easy to decide, when you have several nice vehicles that could and do the job). Anyhow, for those of you interested in checking out a vehicle yourself, here is a handy guide....and, by all means, if I have forgotten something, or omitted something you think is important, feel free to mention it. In most cases, the easiest thing to do (as I generally do with my reviews) is to start on the outside, then check underhood, then inside and or in the cargo area, then do your test-drive. You will be surprised on how much you can learn in just a few minutes.

OK....Let's do it.



EXTERIOR:

*General level of fit/finish / trim solidly-attached? Any loose-feeling exterior parts?

*General quality of paint job / Smoothness of paint-application / Freedom from orange-peel.

*Paint-color choice for the vehicle acceptable to you? * * * * * * *

*Solidness of door, hood, trunk-lid closings / sheet metal thickness and solidness.

*If you will hand-wash the vehicle, enough room in the wheel-wells to get a hose into and spray?

*Underbody clearance of lower-body-fairings/air dams for ramps/bumps/humps/speed-bumps you regularly drive over, or snow you will drive through?

*Any body-side moldings to help ward off parking-lot dings and dents?...many vehicles today lack them.

*Vehicle length/width/height OK for your garage? / Check and see how easily and solidly the side-mirrors fold to narrower width.

*Twin side mirrors large or well-shaped enough for good rearward vision? Can't always depend on cameras, which can fail.

*Seat-height / door-opening shape / rear roofline for front and rear-seat entry/exit. (OK for your back and knees?)

*(Mostly for SUVs and trucks) Roof too high for easy washing, if you will do it yourself?

*Chrome exterior parts in places where they can reflect the sun into your eyes?....also check that inside.

*For convertibles, ease of manual top-raising/lowering mechanism (the Mazda Miata and Fiat 124 Spyder really shine in that department).



UNDERHOOD:

*Ease of hood operation/latches.

*Weight of hood for manual-prop OK, or if gas struts needed for easy operation.

*Underhood insulation pad for added sound deadening.

*Basic engine-fit OK, if you are going to do any of your own work.

*Ease of access to engine parts.

*Ease of battery and terminal access.

*Ease/accessability of filler-caps/fluid-reservoirs/dipsticks.




INTERIOR:

*Visibility from the driver's seat in all directions.

*Seat shape/comfort/support / adequacy manual or power-operated seat-adjustments.

*Quality and solidness of hardware/trim-materials.

*Front/rear headroom with the seats adjusted optimally.

*Front/rear legroom with the seats adjusted optimally.

*Stereo ease of use/sound quality (most of today's units are very good).

*Legibility of gauges/ control-markings.

*Ease of control/knob/button use / buttons/knobs/controls solidly-attached and not wobbly.

*Signs of cost-cutting (many hard-plastic parts, thin or flimsy materials, etc...)

*(Apparent) quality of seat-upholstery...it will have to resist wear, and sometimes kids dumpling things on it.

*Ease of Child-Safety-Seat attachment for safety and convenience (today's vehicles, by law, have standard-point built-in attachments).

*Ease of transmission shifter-action (some of today's E-shifters can be quite complex).

*Enough cupholders and cubby-compatments for what you will plan to be stowing?

*Attachments OK for hands-free cell phones? (most jurisdictions frown on hand-held phone use while driving).

* Video screen excessively complex? (by my standards, I have yet to find a simple one, but some are much worse than others).




CARGO COMPARTMENT/TRUNK:

*Roominess/shape of cargo area adequate for the objects you will be carrying.

*Cargo adequately covered up or hidden when lid/hatch is closed?

*Finish of cargo area (carpet/pleasantness of materials used, etc...).

*Tie-downs for the expected type of cargo, if needed?

*Rear seats fold for added space? (Third-row seats in some SUVs).

*Type of spare tire, run-flat tires, or tire-inflation device.

*For convertibles and/or hybrids/electrics, amount of usable cargo space with the top down, which is usually less than in other types of vehicles.




ON THE ROAD:

*Tire pressures OK before the drive? (This is VERY important for the vehicle to ride and handle as designed). They should be within a few PSi of what is factory-recommended (warm air temperatures, direct sunlight on the black rubber, and recent operation of the vehicle can increase the PSIs). You can usually find the proper PSIs on the inside lower door-jamb by the drivers' seat or in the Owners' Manual....that is the normal cold-inflation pressure, with the tires inactive and sitting out of the sun for at least 3 hours). New vehicles usually come off the transporter with tire PSIs higher than normal (often 40-50 PSI) to prevent alloy-wheel damage during the transit, and the dealer pre-delivery-inspection (PDI) employees often forget to bleed the tires back down to normal pressures (usually 30-35 PSI, sometimes a little higher), after they come off the truck. (Hey, what do you expect when they are making minimum wage LOL)? You can check the PSIs either with a hand-held gauge (I carry two fairly new ones with me, a dial type and pencil-type, in my brief-bag) or with the automatic system built into newer vehicles by law. Those systems, though don't always display the actual individual-tire PSI (just differences in wheel-rotation), so, if necessary, play it by ear.

*Seats/mirrors/seat-belt-harnesses correctly adjusted and buckled before the drive.

*Ease of ignition-key use (if not push-button start)

*Engine idle characteristics (noise/vibration, etc...)

*Ease of shifting into gear....and between gears.

*Engine smoothness / refinement / torque / power-delivery / linearity of throttle-response.

*Smoothness/effectiveness of automatic engine idle start/stop system (if applicable).

*Transmission smoothness / response to gear-shifting.

*For CVT transmisisons, excessive motorboating / rubber-banding? (Meaning high engine revs on initial throttle and slow or uneven response to the revs).

*Brake feel / response / effectiveness. Free-play in the pedal inhibiting initial response? Brake-pedal design / placement OK for a quick reaction from the gas pedal if ended? (Sometimes large feet can get hung up on the underside or edge of the pedal).

*Steering response of the front end, based on amount and intensity of steering input? Steering feel? (feel has generally gone down some with recent electric power-steering units).

*Body roll on cornering? (usually more of a problem with SUVs/Trucks and high-center-of-gravity vehicles than low-slung sedans/coupes/convertibles)

*Wind noise / Road Noise amount. (for road noise, try to sample the vehicle on a number of different types of road surfaces, as asphalt vs. concrete and porous vs. non-porous asphalt can both make a BIG difference).

*Squeaks/creaks/rattles in the car's structure or interior that could indicate loose or sloppy engineering or assembly-quality. Most vehicles today are pretty well-built from the factory, and are pretty tight, at least brand new....but there are still some exceptions. All else equal, you will more likely hear these things in cold weather (and experience a stiffer ride) because parts shrink in cold temperatures, leaving wider gaps/clearances and a loose fit, tire-rubber is stiffer, and the fluid in the shocks/suspension is thicker and more dense.

*General ride-comfort over bumps. Usually, all else equal, the larger the wheel, the lower-profile the tire, the stiffer the suspension, and the more unsprung weight (weight of the assemblies under the springs), the stiffer the ride will be....and the sharper the steering-response will be, though steering response can vary either way with unsprung weight...a number of factors are involved. In general, compared to yesterday's vehicles, most of those today tend to ride and handle more on the firmer side, but there are some notable exceptions still left. As stated above, ride comfort on the same vehicle and tires will often be stiffer in the winter than in the summer.



VERDICT:

The final verdict, of course, is up to you, your overall evaluation of the vehicle, if you can afford it, and how it will (or not) fit your needs. You (and maybe your family) are the ones that are going to have to live with the vehicle, day and night, probably for a number of years. So, in most cases, you will probably be glad you took the time to do the check-out slowly and completely. The last thing one wants to do is spend a five-figure (and sometimes six-figure) amount, then get it home and have Buyer's Remorse. Saturn used to allow you to bring a new vehicle back within 30 days, for ANY reason, and get a full refund, with no visible damage and a clear title. But, alas, Saturn is gone....unless there is a specific clause in the sales-contract (or your state laws) that says otherwise, if you don't like it, you're pretty much stuck with it, especially on a lease-contract.


And, as Always......Happy Vehicle-Shopping.

MM