When buying a used car from Korea, checking the odometer readings is one of the key parameters of the inspection. Mileage data allows you to judge the degree of wear and tear and determine the working life of the vehicle. There are several ways to check the mileage. We will tell you more about the main parameters, by which you can determine the real mileage of the car, as well as how to check the mileage of the car from Korea by VIN code.
Why is it important to check the mileage of a Korean car before buying?
Each vehicle has its own resource, which depends on the equipment, quality of materials, quality of assembly and other characteristics. To determine the working resource of the car relies on two key factors:
- the year of release (age) of the auto;
- mileage.
Moreover, the first criterion is subjective, since a car of greater age may have less wear and tear of parts, if it was less used for its intended purpose. Therefore, the safety margin of the vehicle experienced drivers and masters evaluate the real mileage.
It is by the number of miles traveled, you can conclude about the degree of wear of the chassis, engine, so sellers and resort to manipulations with the odometer readings.
Why is the mileage so important?
- The higher the mileage, the more wear and tear on the components.
- The more wear and tear on components, the more likely they are to fail.
- Worn parts mean unnecessary repair and maintenance costs for the vehicle.
- High wear and tear of dynamic components affects safety on the road, as it significantly increases the risk of accidents.
Checking the mileage of the car is a question of financial feasibility of purchase and safety during the further operation of the vehicle.
How to check the mileage when inspecting a car
The seller indicates the odometer readings in the form of the car. However, today falsification of the mileage is one of the most common types of fraud in the sale of used cars, so the information from the seller should always be checked.
How to check the real mileage of a car from Korea without full diagnostics and involvement of experts? To do this, you need to pay attention to such details:
- body condition;
- interior condition
- condition of tires, disks, brake pads, shock absorbers.
When inspecting the body, you should check the condition of the paintwork, especially in the area of wings, wheel arches. By the presence of many micro-damages, you can judge about the intensity of use of the car.
How to determine the mileage by the condition of the interior? A high mileage can be indicated by such details:
- badly worn seat covers;
- excessively worn coating on the steering wheel;
- worn pedal pads;
- numerous scratches, damage, scuffs on the door trim.
If you can assess the condition of tires and disks by yourself, then to check the condition of the running gear (brake system, shock absorbers) it is better to resort to the help of specialists. Diagnostics at the inspection will show the presence of deformations, the degree of wear, traces of restoration after an accident.
Checking Korean car mileage by VIN code
Checking the VIN number is the fastest and easiest way to find out the real odometer readings. How to check the mileage of a Korean car by VIN code? You can use special services – VIN decoders – to check the technical and user data about the car. If you want to know the real mileage of the car from Korea, we suggest using a special site for checking Korean autos by clicking on the link. To get the information, you need to enter the 17-digit VIN number into the check form and click on “check”. Within a few seconds, the report will appear on the screen.
What else you can find out about a Korean car using the VIN code
In addition to mileage data, checking the VIN code allows you to find out a lot of useful information about the car and its operating history:
- year of manufacture;
- engine specifications
- sales history of the vehicle, by which you can find out how many owners the car has had before you;
- information about participation in an accident, from which you can conclude about the presence of damage;
- status “water damage”, “scrapped”, etc.;
- customs data – from where the car was brought into the country, odometer readings at the time of crossing customs;
- peculiarities of use, e.g. work in a cab service, which may have contributed to heavy wear and tear on the car’s parts.
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