Wouldn’t it be great to drive away in a brand new car?

Unfortunately, for many of us, a new car isn’t in our immediate future.

But that doesn’t mean we still don’t need a quality vehicle we can rely on for our day to day needs.

This need leads you to the used car market. While there are millions of used cars available, they are not all created equal. Just because a used car seems like a great deal does not make it the right choice.

When shopping used cars, it is essential that you take your time and use caution to ensure that you buy a quality vehicle that still has plenty of life left in it. Here are some used cars that you should avoid.

• Cars with salvage titles – these cars were considered a total loss by insurance companies. Just because someone managed to make them look pretty again does not mean they are sound investments.
• Cars that lack service records – you need to know that the used car you buy was taken care of by the previous owner. This reassurance comes from physical records of oil changes and other maintenance tasks, not from the mere word of the previous owner.
• Cars with funky paint jobs and mismatched tires – if you can see brushstrokes in the paint, there is a good chance that someone tried to fix the paint themselves. If the tires do not match, this is an indicator that the tires may be wearing out at different rates, which could be a sign of a larger problem.
• Cars with visible oil stains on the pavement – when you take a used car for a spin, if you notice oil stains underneath as you pull out, pull right back in. The last thing you need are engine problems, such as leaking oil.
• Cars that were previously rented – no, not all rentals are bad cars, but there is always a chance that various drivers were harder on the car than necessary. After all, it wasn’t their car in the first place, so they didn’t have anything invested in it.