Analyze the Interior Condition of your ride

Interior condition

How does the upholstery look (door panels, seats, headliner, carpet, and console)? These are easy to repair or replace, so you should look deeper to finds things that are broken beyond repair and have to be replaced. Here are a few tips that you can use to determine the condition of the interior:

Check to see if all of the doors open and close freely, use the key to test to see if all of the locks work freely and correctly.
The interior condition is a good hint of how well or poorly the vehicle has been maintained. A neglected interior might suggest that the rest of the vehicle has also been neglected.
When you open the doors, take notice if you get a big whiff of air-freshener. The owner could be using tons of air freshener to overcome some odor in the car that he doesn’t want you to smell.
If after looking in the trunk area you smell a musty “sour” smell, you can almost be sure that the vehicle has a bad or broken seal that has allowed water or moisture to get into the trunk.
If the vehicle’s spare tire is locating in the trunk, check to make sure that the jack, and lug wrench are in there too. Same goes for spare tires that are under the car. Also make sure that the spare tire isn’t flat. A flat spare tire want really do you too much good in case of emergency will it? Be sure to check to see if the car uses wheel locks that require a key to remove. Make sure that the wheel lock key is in the vehicle somewhere, usually in the spare tire compartment or glove box.
Have a look at the gauge panel and start the vehicle. Do all of the gauges appear to work correctly? Is the ABS (anti-lock brake system), airbag, or check engine light on? If any of these lights remain on after the engine is running, be sure to have the car diagnosed before purchasing it. Problems that are severe enough for the car’s computer to sense and turn the trouble lights on can, but not always, be expensive to fix, so if you can get the car diagnosed before purchasing it, you may be able to save yourself some trouble.
Check all of the seat belts for signs of wear or rips. A ripped, torn, or even frayed seat belt can fail during a collision and can lead to serious injury of you or your passengers
This is also a good time to test all of the electrical accessories to ensure the interior condition of the vehicle and to make sure that all of the features function correctly. Some of these features may include the power windows and door locks, the interior lights, the radio or CD player and heater or A/C Controls. If after turning the air conditioning or heater on and you smell the scent of antifreeze, this will tell you that the heater core could be leaking and allowing poisonous engine coolant to enter the interior of your vehicle.