Buying a "Used Car" 



Among all liars we take off our steel 

 helmets to the sellers of old cars 



By Edward C. Crossman 



WITH the enormous depreciation in 

 value of the used motor car, and the 

 ignorance of the average person of 

 even primary automobile mechanics — and 

 the ways that are dark of some gentlemen in 

 the used car game — the average seeker of a 

 satisfactory used car is apt to be fooled. 

 The automobile is not so completely stand- 

 ardized as we are told it is. Development 

 is still rapid. Devices widely heralded one 

 year as marvelous improvements prove to 

 be failures the next. And as added compli- 

 cation, most motor companies, at some 

 time in their career, make an engineering 

 mistake and turn out a model for which 

 they are sorry. Yet, to the unwary, this 

 model sells on the strength of the fine repu- 

 tation of later and earlier productions. 

 Second-hand, it brings a price far out of 

 proportion to its value, purely because of 

 the reflected glory shed upon it. 



As the result of a slight improvement in 

 appearance, a flock of second-hand Ford 

 cars are on the market. In theory, so 

 slight has been the change that it is im- 

 possible to be cheated badiy in buying a 

 Ford. Still, even the Ford Company made 

 changes quietly as it went along, many 

 necessitated as a remedy for grievous errors 

 in design. Hence the 

 buyer of an old Ford 

 may find himself the 

 buyer of a repair bill, 

 reasonable as Ford re- 

 pairs are. 



The coming of the 

 jitney business compli- 

 cated the problem of 

 the Ford used-car. 

 For instance, one of my 

 acquaintances loaded 

 himself up with a good- 

 looking Ford without 

 going into its pedigree. 

 It turned out to be a 

 jitney veteran, with 

 springs softened, frame 

 sprung, and the general 

 wear of a 'bus from 

 that service, which 

 means that it had been 



he owner 

 of the wreck- 

 ing yard asked 

 S75 for this 

 windsplitter; but 

 offering him $50 

 would have been dan- 

 gerous if you didn't want 

 the car. Buyers of cars 

 from corner-lot markets 

 are like lambs to be shorn 



An Old-style Ford Switch and Coil Boj 



Learn to identify the models. It is well to be 

 able to recognize the various Ford vintages. The 

 Ford made earlier than 1914 would have to be an 

 almost new car in order to be worth much over $200. 

 Because of the ease with which Ford parts are 

 crossed, the unwary will sometimes be caught. 

 Therefore, check up your Ford engine number 



run about six times as far as a privately 

 owned car in the same length of time. 



The Ford is the best second-hand buy on 

 the market, and brings a relatively higher 

 price than any other car. At the same 

 time it is well to be able to recognize the 

 changes in the Ford, so that one will not pay 

 a 191 7 price for a car of 19 13 vintage. The 

 best plan is to take the engine number, 

 telephone the nearest Ford agency, and ask 

 for the date of sale and name of the man to 

 whom it was sold. The agency will get the 

 information for you if it is not on hand. By 

 that means and looking up the state 

 registry, the life history of the car can be 

 traced. If the seller claims to be the 

 original buyer, who has 

 treated the car as the 

 apple of his eye and 

 washed it with toilet 

 water and fed it only 

 certified and sterilized 

 gasoline, he will be 

 somewhat embarrassed 

 if the Ford record 

 shows some other chap 

 to have paid down the 

 original purchase price. 

 Cheap as are repairs 

 and improved features, 

 no one cares to pay for 

 them and not get them. 



" You Never Can 

 Tell" 



You never can tell 

 who's had the car, nor 

 what he's done to it. 



573 



