The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1920-01-13
WHEN ASECOND
!! HAND CAR is
FIRST CLASS
Value of a Used Car De-
Ponds Upon Its Mechani-
cal Condition

This is the era of the second, third,
and even fourth-hand car. The manu-
facturers Of new cars are unable to
supply the demand, and the prospec-
tive purchaser is forced to content
himself with car which they have
served the purpose of two or three
previous owners.
Grades" are common, and many
an owner Of an erstwhile good car
sells it or turns it in as partial pay
ment for better one, which, also,
may have seen considerable service.
1t is almost as difficult to Judge of
| the actual condition Of a second-h hand
car from cursory examination as it
is TO determine the character and
mental attitude of man upon first
acquaintance. The psychological mo-
ment must arrive before a man may
exhibit the best OF the worst that is
in him. SO it is with a car. The
use of a heavy grease with which
cedar sawdust of ground cork may be
mixed may serve to quiet many gear
which has been worn to the point
of extreme noisness were not such
precautions taken. A fault which
might occur only at q certain con-,
dition of hill climbing, will probably
not assert itself during Is of 20I
mile test run-especially if the route
chosen was suggested by the owner
of the car.
The only accurate judge of the ac-
tual condition of a secondhand car IS
the owner who has driven it and cared
for it during the preceding 1000 or
5000 miles of service True, he may
be biased but he will know under
what conditions its failings are most
pronounced, and if he is a personal
friend whose statements can be trust !
ed, the chances of obtaining full value
from the purchase of such a car are
far better than were the selection
made from among the stock of a less
reliable secondhand dealer or pro-
fessional trader.
The speedometer means but little
in the selection Of a used car.
The figures may be moved backward
to indicate less mileage than has ac-
tually been covered; the instrument
may have been out of commission for
several thousand miles; or a new
"head" may have been installed some
time during the life of the car. On
tn other hand, the matter of the ac-
tual mileage covered is not nearly so
important as is the care the car may
have received during its service.
One of the first questions asked
by the purchasers of secondhand
cars is, what year is it," If the own
q tells him the truth and the cal
happens to have been built some
FIVE or six years ago, the prospective
purchaser will possibly attach less
value to the car than if it had been
built in 1917 or 1918. Such a whole
sale basis for judging the value of
used cars as whole is wrong, how
ever, for in the period before the
war, materials of a higher grade
were available than those entering
the construction of many of the
same cars built in 1917 or 1918. On
the other hand, some manufacturers
built certain series of cars which
proved more successful than those
produced in the preceding or the fol-
lowing year.
The used-car "trade" generally
feels that it knows these years and
series which bear the good and the
bad reputation, but in the case Of
individual cars this should not enter
too largely into the basis Of selection.