Anyone selling you their four-wheel ride can hide the truth. Of course, they’re not always going to tell you that they have been ferrying building materials to their mjengo upcountry or that they take it to the bundus four-wheel driving every weekend, or they flooded the engine when trying to ford through those craters filled with water aka potholes in South C in the rainy season. Therefore, it’s important that you research the owner and then compare what they’ve said to the vehicle’s condition and make a judgment call for yourself.
You’re looking for two things: first, that the vehicle has had an easy life and hasn’t been thrashed, and second, that it has been well-cared for and won’t require any costly repairs in the near future. That being said, there is always a risk when buying used cars, but there are tried and true ways to determine what that four-wheel drive has been through, and warning signals that it’s a nightmare and you should avoid it. When you consider it, you’re about to spend a significant amount of your hard-earned money on a vehicle, so it pays to be meticulous with your checks.
So, here’s an example: the seller swears that the vehicle has never been involved in an accident, but when you look between the bonnet and the fender, you spot the inconsistency. This could signify a repair job, from a minor fender bender to something else serious. Regardless, it’s a sign to take caution with the purchase.
Let’s say the seller has told you that the vehicle hasn’t done much heavy towing, but when you look at the vehicle, you notice well-used, upgraded towing attachments. Those two signs indicate that the vehicle has towed something heavy. A couple of examples of questions to ask yourself: What activities has the vehicle been used in? Why are you selling the vehicle? Do they have a service history of the vehicle, and has it ever been in an accident?
Why I’ve mentioned these questions is so that you, as the buyer, can start to get an understanding of the type of person the seller is, so that when you look at the vehicle, you can compare their word against the condition and make a judgment call for yourself if it’s a good purchase or a money pit. The important thing when buying a second-hand four-wheel vehicle is there’s so much more involved than just taking a few cursory glances at the vehicle.
If you are serious about buying a used 4WD, you must know that proper documentation is a vital part of any vehicle purchase and a legal validation of the vehicle’s operation on Kenyan roads. It helps in identification and helps in recovery in case of damage or theft. So, it would be in your best interests to review documents such as the vehicle log books, the car insurance certificates, inspection and roadworthiness certificates from The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) website. The website helps you obtain the documents and shows whether the car is registered. It shows that the vehicle has passed inspection through the authorities and removes any doubt as to the original ownership of the car. This helps weed out unscrupulous brokers whose main aim would be to hide any potential defects the car might have.
Rust
You should keep an eye out for rust. Most of the time, you’ll notice rust around the windscreen, roof, and bottom of doors, and once rust starts on the bottom of doors, it’s tough to stop. If you notice it’s difficult to stop, I advise walking away–especially with newer 4WD cars.
Engine condition
So, the engine is one of the most difficult parts of any 4WD to inspect and may cost you the most money in repairs. Here are a few basic inspections you may perform to obtain a decent idea of the engine’s health: when you start the car, go for a run and look for indicators of excessive smoke. What does that imply? In a modern diesel, white and black smoke indicate unburned fuel and blue smoke is oil. There are two areas that could be difficult to check: the injectors and the turbo. When you’re looking over the engine, check around the turbo for leaking seals but apart from that, short of taking the inlet piping off and checking for excessive movement in the compressor wheel, there isn’t much you can do with the injectors.
When you take the vehicle for a drive, keep an eye out for excessive white smoke and also listen out for any abnormal sounds like excessive knocking because this could indicate the injectors are tired. With the engine hot, shut it off with the bonnet open and check if the fan stays spinning after shutdown, as this can indicate a worn viscous fan clutch, meaning the engine might have been running above optimum temperature without a working fan.
A handy trick to gauge the engine’s overall condition is to check for excessive blow-by. To do that, start the vehicle and remove the oil filler cap – if it sits in one spot and bounces around a little bit, particularly on a diesel, that’s fine and completely normal. But, if the engine is running and you unscrew the cap, and it blows away, there’s excessive blow-by, which could indicate worn piston rings and a tired engine. Another thing to check on the oil filler cap and the dipstick is to look for signs of milky oil. Milky oil could indicate contaminations, such as the coolant due to a cracked cylinder head. On a diesel engine, it’s normal for the oil to be black anyone who’s ever changed as oil knows it goes black pretty much straight away.
Any dust past the clean side means the engine could have dust that wears everything out. Look for obvious leaks from the turbo and oil return lines. If it’s an old diesel and it’s not starting well, it might mean a few things, like low compression in the engine. Taking the vehicle for a test drive will give you the best indication of how the vehicle performs, and if there are any issues internally, you’re more likely to hear them. Listen and feel for regular or late shifting when driving with an auto.
Suspension
When driving, perform a few straight-line brake checks and feel any shudder in the pedal. Check to verify whether the car doesn’t pull to the left or right since this can suggest worn braking components or that a caliper has to be overhauled. You’d be surprised, but a lot of the time when people go to look at 4WD, they don’t even check the transfer case shifts as well, so when you do take the vehicle for a drive, put it into high range and low range and go through all the gears to make sure everything’s working as it should. Take note of how easily it shifts and selects into high range and low range, and drive through all the low and high range gears to ensure the transfer case operates as it should. I would recommend that whether you have an auto or a manual, you try and drain a little bit of oil out to indicate the condition of the internals.
Bodywork in check
Check the bodywork and ensure it has no mismatched paint on the panels. Most people will pay to do an online check of a 4WD, but that will usually only tell you if the vehicle’s been written off – but it won’t tell you if the vehicle’s been in a minor accident or if it’s been t-boned so here are some telltale signs to look for to check up the vehicle you’re looking at has been in an incident.
Check for marks, dots, or blemishes in the paint. Factory paint is perfect because a factory robot almost always applies it, whereas it’s much harder to get this effect with a garage spray gun from your kawaya. You also might see the colours don’t quite match between the panel, showing a panel has been resprayed. Also, look for sealant under the guards and where panels attach to areas like the firewall. When it’s smooth, it indicates that a robot has put it on.
Gaps in the door and the bonnet can also show that a panel has been replaced. If you find a panel has been replaced, it might not be a deal-breaker for you, but going back to my first point – if you find something like that and the owner didn’t tell you about it, what else are they hiding?
You’ll even see the seats with tears and patches and the rubber on the clutch and brake pedals have gone through. Just these little things show how hard of a life the vehicle had. On the other hand, there are also little things to show an owner has looked after it-things like bonnet protectors and headlight protectors are a sign that the owner has cared for his 4WD. Check the after-market accessories they have fitted, and you’ll see the difference between reckless wiring on a dual battery system and one installed carefully and professionally.
Next up is to check the drive line and chassis of the vehicle. This area will often tell you if a vehicle has been used hard off-road, and because of that, it’s also an area that a seller will often try to tidy up a bit to make it look more presentable. So, check the condition of the drive shaft and you need give it a shake with no load on it and feel for movement in the universal joint. Check the condition of the centre bearing, if it has one and look out for weeping or leaking seals on the transfer case diff housing and pinion seals. Inspect hard-to-reach areas of the chassis with a torch and look for visible signs of corrosion or new paint.
If you find new paint, ask the seller why there is new paint as they might have been trying to cover up rust or age. Inspect the rest of the chassis as much as possible look for sand on the top of chassis rails on cross members as this can indicate beach work and poor cleaning maintenance afterwards. Another tip is to look for gouges and marks on low-hanging driveline components like the underside of diff housings. Check out the condition of the bushes on the vehicle such as lower control arms, tie rod ends and radius arms. Have someone turn the wheel back and forth when the vehicle is stationary to load up steering linkages and check for movement. Look for faint fade marks around the speaker pods and under door cards to indicate if the vehicle has taken on water (or gone through a deep river).
Is the documentation satisfactory?
The first thing is to check the service logbook, who’s done them, and if it has been to the one mechanic or if the servicing records are missing. Spend time checking the service schedule properly the odometer’s kilometres match the vehicle’s quality? You’ll be able to visually see the difference between a cared-for 4WD with a hundred and fifty thousand kilometres on the clock compared to one that’s been thrashed to an inch of its life.
At the end of the day, you need to weigh it all up if the engine is healthy, the gearbox is smooth, and the vehicle hasn’t done a lot of hard driving. You might not be so worried about that one panel that’s been replaced. Focus on the path of the 4WD that will cost the most to fix. If you’re unsure, take a friend who knows his way around a vehicle, or better yet, pay a mechanic to check it over. There’s no denying the number of kilometres, especially on modern diesel is the most important thing to consider. I would recommend looking at a lower mileage older vehicle over a higher mileage on a newer vehicle that’s the same price.
Keep in mind that vehicles with old technology are easier and cheaper and less trouble to repair than vehicles with newer gizmos. That said, keep your wits about you when navigating the used 4WD market carefully, as it will be the difference between getting a proper machine or a nightmare on wheels.
