Used Car Buying - Tires & Brakes

Inspecting tires and brakes on a used car

When it comes to inspecting tires on a used car there is not too much to look for. Either the tires look to be great, or will need to be replaced. Having good tires is so important for safety it is not worth trying to squeeze a few more miles out of old tires.





When you inspect the tires on a used car you can look for a wear bar that runs horizontal to the tire tread. This wear bar will be recessed below the level of the tread on good tires and flush with the tread on tires which are worn out. Any sign of deformation or steel showing through the tire are a sure indication that new tires will be needed before you can drive the car.

How to tell when brake work will be required on a used car

The brakes are such an important safety issue for cars that you should almost always plan on spending some money doing brake work when you buy a used car. If a car has had regular maintenance including brake changes these repairs can be minor and not very expensive.


Brake work becomes more expensive when a car has been driven past the point where the brakes needed to be replaced. By wearing the brakes past their intended life expectancy you can expect to find damage to more expensive brake components. Test driving is one of the best ways to check the condition of the baking system in a used car.





During the test drive the brakes should be responsive yet smooth when you press the brake pedal. The brake pedal should feel firm and not spongy and should not travel all the way to the floor even under hard braking conditions. If you feel vibration through the steering wheel or brake pedal, or the car pulls aggressively to one side or the other when braking, you can be certain that you will spend at least some money on brake repairs before driving the car.


The section on inspecting the car interior reveals a few tricks that experts use to determine if a vehicle has been maintained well in the past