Greetings OBers! At sometime in the future I will be buying a secondhand vehicle ( actually, a Toyota Hilux which I will be purchasing secondhand in Chile, but this question applies to buying it anywhere).
Anyway I would appreciate your comments on this idea. I have an OBD-II module which plugs into the OBD port of any car that has one. I communicate with the module via Wi-Fi on my smartphone. The purpose of doing this is to check if the car has any current known issues. I think through this connector it is also possible to check history, i.e. what faults it has had in the past and which error codes has been cleared and when. All of this provides additional information on the state of the vehicle to see if I should purchase it or not.
I think this approach could be done either on a private purchase or even through a dealer. My philosophy would be that if the owner objects to me plugging in my device to check the vehicle status, then I would assume that he has something to hide and I will walk away.
Apart from any error codes that are reported is there anything else that I should check with the OBD device. Obviously, I realise that this does not replace the standard or normal checks that one should make when buying a used vehicle. It is just supplementary or additional information.
Your advice and comments are appreciated.
As far as I am concerned, when buying a car I am entitled to take all the precautions available to me, be it a mechanical check or electronics using an OBD device.
I am not sure about the ability to check past history insofar as what fault codes have been recorded and corrected/erased, but you will be able to see what warning lights on the dash have been inactivated to hide current issues.
From experience, the more expensive the OBD reader then the wider the range of error codes and other readings that will be available.