🚀 go-pugleaf

caravan@cadvision.com wrote in message
<37d2f1d8.6441850@news.cadvision.com>...
>How do you know that your odometer hasn't been altered when you buy
>a used car?  The answer is, in Alberta, and probably in most
>provinces except for Ontario, you don't!
>
>Recently I read a book called "Lemon-Aid" by a Canadian author named
>Phil Edmonston.  (He's written at least a couple.)  If you haven't
>read his book, and you want an eye-opener, get it!
>It sells in paperback at the Superstore for about $15.


At least a couple?  Lemon-Aid has been on the store shelves since at
least the 1970's.  It is, by the way, an excellent resource.  I've
used it when buying my cars, even when they are new cars (Lemon-Aid
will note problems with prior years for a make and model that may or
may not be fixed yet.).

By the way, there is an approximate number of km's a car should put on
in any given year.  So if a car shows an odometer reading that is
significantly different than what a car of that age should show, it
should raise an eyebrow.  (I think Phil notes the number somewhere in
Lemon-Aid--the EPL has a copy in the reference section.)

Here in Alberta, you may wish to make the purchase of a used car
conditional on a Vehicle Information Report which you can get a
registry agent to run for you at a modest cost.  Quoting from the
insert that came with the renewal notice for my car registration, "The
VIR helps buyers and sellers of previously owned vehicles make better
decisions by answering questions such as: was the vehicle written off,
how many times has the vehicle been registered, has the vehicle been
used for commercial purposes?"

Also, when buying used, it doesn't hurt to get a mechanic's check.  In
Albera, for cars older than 10 years, a mechanics check is required
before you can insure and register the car.

Rember, when buying used you are buying "as is."  It doesn't hurt to
get as much information as possible about the vehicle before you buy.

--

John Fleming
Edmonton, Alberta

email:     johnfgh@nce.ab.ca (nce should be ecn)
web pages: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/6070
           http://www.ecn.ab.ca/~johnf

- Only if you have been in the deepest valley can you
  ever know how  magnificent it is to be on the highest
  mountain.

                                   R.M.Nixon  1913-1994

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