I’m a mechanic

A PROFESSIONAL mechanic has shown how vital it is to be as thorough as possible when shopping for a used vehicle.

The auto technician noted that checking a pre-owned car's fluids and requesting its maintenance history will help ensure that a prospective model is a good buy.

The fluids are easy to find under the car's hood, Royalty Auto Services (@royaltyautoservice) mechanic Andy says in a video clip on TikTok.

Andy began by stressing how important it is to first check that the hood releases smoothly before diving into checking the fluids because it could clue you into other issues with the car.

Next, he says to lift the hood and check out any fluids you can see.

Andy begins accessing the vehicle's oil using a dipstick.

A dipstick's end portion has two lines, with the lower one indicating that your oil is one quart short and the upper line showing that your oil tank's full.

Andy suggests bringing a rag with you to wipe the dipstick down before reinserting it into its sheathe.

Driving with proper oil levels is vital since the liquid progressively gets contaminated and becomes sludge as you rack up miles.

This sludge will wreak havoc on your engine since it won't be able to lubricate your motor's moving parts.

Dipsticks typically feature a bright yellow or orange handle to make them more easily identifiable.

Other fluids nearby and oil dipstick include coolant and brake fluid.

Coolant and brake fluid levels should exist between the tanks’ full and low markers.

Coolant prevents a car's engine from overheating, while brake fluid helps transfer a brake pedal's movement and force.

Continually driving with low break fluid can eventually result in a brake system failure.

Lastly, Andy recommends requesting a used vehicle's maintenance history paperwork, which helps you verify the previous owner took care of the car.