Inspection can tell if oil changed regularly

[alleyhunter]

Hey there,

Recently salesman at a used car dealership told me that their techs can inspect a car and be able to tell if the previous owner's kept up with the oil changes.

Is that true?

David

 

[chad8]

yes, to a point. Many motors will show signs of sludge and cooked carbon if you do not change the oil regularly.
Some motors can run lots longer on old oil and not show a thing.
Most mechanics can pull a valve cover or oil pan and at least get some clues.

 

[Turk]

You can look at the dipstick to see if it's clean, or has varnish/burnt marks on it. Also inside the fill & PCV holes...

My Saturn had 1,600 mile oil changes for 12 years (2x/year) by the PO and everything's clean - all bare metal!

 

[eljefino]

Yeah but the techs have to put up with whatever the owner/buyer drags in. They are counting on 90% of buyers to not open the filler cap or check the dipstick, so they often won't be too thorough on cleaning stuff up if it's sludged. You'd be lucky to get a quick change with bulk 5w30 and a chinese filter.

I had a sludged up dipstick that was bugging me so I hit it with steel wool. Problem solved.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: alleyhunter
Hey there,

Recently salesman at a used car dealership told me that their techs can inspect a car and be able to tell if the previous owner's kept up with the oil changes.

Is that true?

David


True to a point, but would you actually take the word of a used car salesman? Having worked in car sales I can tell you this: There are cars where it is nearly impossible to check if the oil was changed unless you pull a valve cover or drop the oil pan. Some of these chores are very costly, and not done when checking a trade or used car the dealer takes in. Cleaning a dipstick is not very hard, and a clean dipstick with a fresh fill of oil can often hide what's really going on. Every car we sold was detailed, had the brakes checked, and got an oil change before it was put on the line. Ticking or knocking trades that slipped by the manager were often dosed by the shop with LOS to quiet them down. Let the buyer beware. Check the car yourself or have your own shop do it before buying, but even you can have problems.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: alleyhunter
Hey there,

Recently salesman at a used car dealership told me that their techs can inspect a car and be able to tell if the previous owner's kept up with the oil changes.

Is that true?

David


True to a point, but would you actually take the word of a used car salesman? Having worked in car sales I can tell you this: There are cars where it is nearly impossible to check if the oil was changed unless you pull a valve cover or drop the oil pan. Some of these chores are very costly, and not done when checking a trade or used car the dealer takes in. Cleaning a dipstick is not very hard, and a clean dipstick with a fresh fill of oil can often hide what's really going on. Every car we sold was detailed, had the brakes checked, and got an oil change before it was put on the line. Ticking or knocking trades that slipped by the manager were often dosed by the shop with LOS to quiet them down. Let the buyer beware. Check the car yourself or have your own shop do it before buying, but even you can have problems.


+1000

I would get my mechanic to OK the car. The mechanic working for the dealer will always tell you what the salesman wants him to tell you.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: alleyhunter
Hey there,

Recently salesman at a used car dealership told me that their techs can inspect a car and be able to tell if the previous owner's kept up with the oil changes.

Is that true?

David
No. Visual inspection is subjective, no way to prove or disprove. He's telling you that because he has no maintenance records and what I highlighted.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

I would not buy a car without service records..You can even get service records for a used patrol vehicle.

If I recall correctly someone right here bought a Volvo wagon recently without service records then shortly thereafter found out it had sludge and other issues.

 

[SLCraig]

A look under the fill cap will tell enough, if its not got a baffle in front of the head guts.

You can crack my oil cap and look inside, spotless. I would not hesitate to buy my car, if I was buying from someone else.

Being a good judge of character is part of the fun in buying a used car from a seller. If the seller seems like a sketch bag, walk away from the deal.

 

[Kruse]

Really about the only thing they can tell you is if it has any kind of maintenance whatsoever. If the techs are so good, ask them exactly the time line of the intervals. Was it at 3K, 10K, or 15K intervals? They can't tell you that, but they can tell you if the car was neglected. Dipsticks can be buffed off or replaced as well as oil fill caps. A shot of penetrating oil in the oil fill caps can clean that area up as well.
Don't trust your car's previous history on the blather of a used car salesman. Check it out yourself or have an independent mechanic do it.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
Really about the only thing they can tell you is if it has any kind of maintenance whatsoever. If the techs are so good, ask them exactly the time line of the intervals. Was it at 3K, 10K, or 15K intervals? They can't tell you that, but they can tell you if the car was neglected. Dipsticks can be buffed off or replaced as well as oil fill caps. A shot of penetrating oil in the oil fill caps can clean that area up as well.
Don't trust your car's previous history on the blather of a used car salesman. Check it out yourself or have an independent mechanic do it.
+1

 

[TallPaul]

If they see something nasty on the dip stick they may offer you less, but otherwise theypretty much don't care as they will change the oil so it looks nice and clean for the prospective buyer.

 

[Artem]

I agree with what was said above. You can determine the condition of the engine by inspecting the top of the valvetrain, if its visible 80% of the time.

The rest of the cars, like my 98 Toyota Camry V6 has a black texturized baffle blocking all view of the internals. At that point, you're pretty much on your own...

 

[Donald]

So who would you trust, used car salesman or accident lawyer or real estate agent?

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Donald
So who would you trust, used car salesman or accident lawyer or real estate agent?


I think I've heard plenty of jokes about an buss load of people with one empty seat going over a cliff and each of the subjects you mentioned were in the joke....

 

[Rand]

you cant really tell on dipsticks. My focus ranger and forester all had/have clean dipsticks.

alot of the hyundais I've changed oil on get heavy discoloring/varnish from the oil vapors condensing in the winter.

I currently am using a full syn in a 2010 accent and the dipstick gets golden deposits on it. Probably because its a long tube off the front of the engine and gets cold in the winter.

I usually clean them off with a rag and solvent every couple oil changes. 90% of it comes right off.

 

[theaveng]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Ticking or knocking trades that slipped by the manager were often dosed by the shop with LOS to quiet them down.
LOS?

 

[Rand]

Line of Sight?

 

[zerosoma]

LOS = Lucas Oil Stabilizer?

 

[gogozy]

can't they insert some sort of the probe or tiny camera to take a look inside of the oil fill cap? I saw it on sales at the hardware store for like $150 or 199 for colour one, and i think all used cars establishment shall get one to impress their customer, or scary away bad trade in.