Good advice (website) for your Used-Car shopping

[jman]

If you guys are ever in need of a used-car, there are LOTS of things to look for.
I'm a amateur mechanic and can do all minor repairs myself and a handful of major repairs. But after looking at this website, I learned a few more tricks and wanted to show ya guys this good thorough website.

http://www.samarins.com/check/index.html

And you can even print off their checklist (which is better than MOST I have ever seen).

Also, a good idea with your current cars, is to always keep a record of your oil changes, and maintenance. What I use, and may seem silly, but it does a GREAT JOB, is an old un-used check book. I record the the mileage, how many miles I drove with that oil-change (for easy reference, rather than doing the math), and other significant notes. Also, I list the location of where it was changed (for me, my garage, but others it might be Big O, or Les Swabb, etc) and what oil I used.

Hope this can be of some help or use to you!

[Deathcricket]

I think I will just hire you since most of these are even over my head. :P

The next car I want to get is a 2008 VW R32. They are kind of "uncommon" I wouldn't say "rare" though. Do you think it would be worth while to search for problems regarding VW Rabbits, GTI's, Golf's, and similar spec cars by the same manufacturer? Or since they are different brands yet similar in appearance it shouldn't be an issue? I worry that since they are "uncommon" cars there might not be a large sampling of data to get accurate results regarding the reliability of these vehicles. Every single review I read is overflowing with praises, but I still worry since so few exist. Here is a breakdown of them by color so you understand how many I'm talking about. :P


http://www.tyresmoke.net/forum/vw-go...any-there.html
Deep Blue Pearlescent - 813
Diamond Black Pearlescent - 755
Reflex Silver Metallic - 615
Moonlight Blue Pearlescent - 57
Tornado Red - 44
Grey Anthracite Pearlescent - 31
Indigo Blue - 76

Not a lot as you can see....