Before you kick the tires, hit the computer

By Des Toups

Buying a used car boils down to a few simple questions: Is the car safe? Is it reliable? Is this the best price? Troll the car lots for a day or two, and you're likely to return home with sore feet and an aversion to cologne but without the answer to any of those questions. Wouldn't shopping be easier if you knew the answers before you left the house, before you became prey to shiny distractions?

A pad and paper and an hour parked in front of your computer are all the ammunition you need (and you're probably already surfing and dreaming anyway). Not only is there a mountain of information available on new cars (which rapidly become used cars), but an increasing amount of data is becoming available on older models.

The fun part comes first. Write down the make and model of every vehicle that appeals to you. Visit MSN Autos or Edmunds.com (both have extensive archives of reviews) or peruse your local newspaper, sharpening your ideas about what you require in your next car. Then, depending on whether safety, reliability or price is your priority, you can whittle down your list with every stop on the Web and go out in search of the car, instead of a car.

Check out the safety record

Without a window sticker in front of us, it's difficult to know what safety equipment lies underneath a car's skin. Especially with mid-1990s cars, the differences can be dramatic. Some lack airbags altogether (instead, some make do with those pesky motorized seat belts), some have one for the driver only; some have two in front. They can be the potentially risky first-generation bags or the de-powered second generation. There are side airbags, knee airbags and side-curtain airbags, too. Does the car come with antilock brakes? Stability control? Traction control? Adjustable pedals? Some of these features could save your life.

MSN Autos offers an easy way to compare standard and optional safety equipment, not only for different vehicles but also for different model years of the same vehicle. There's even more detailed information on Edmunds.com, but it's a little more time-consuming to access.

From there, you'll want to check crash-test results at the Web sites of both the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Not all models were tested, but between the two, you can get an idea of how your choices fared relative to others in their class. The IIHS tests tend to be more aggressive; results are ranked with a letter grade denoting a good, acceptable, marginal or poor result, with detailed footnotes on the likely nature of injuries.

At NHTSA, cars earn up to five stars in a given crash test; fewer stars means more likelihood of injury. You can also check for safety-related recalls. The agency has also recently introduced a rating that calculates a vehicle's propensity to roll over.

(You can find a quick summary of both IIHS and NHTSA data using Insure.com's crash-performance tool.)

Lastly, you might want to log off and use the phone to make a call to your insurance agent. Most insurers, who must realistically assess the relative risks of injury as well as repair and theft, will gladly send you a brochure detailing the models they like or don't like. If you've narrowed your list down to a reasonable size (one or two), ask your agent for a quote. For most people, agents say, differences between similar models aren't much of a factor in rates, perhaps $200 to $400 a year. But those small differences become huge if you're a young driver or have a spotty record.

Compare cars for reliability

All cars break. Some break less often, and some break in less expensive ways. Excluding true lemons (and every manufacturer turns out a few), the differences when cars are new are minuscule. A new Toyota will start 99.99% of the time; a new Volkswagen perhaps 99.98%. But as the miles pile on, patterns develop, and there are a few places you can look to find them.

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