Scotty, I love what you do. So what should one look for in the scan tool if you were going to buy a used car from a private dealer? This guy is advertising a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville with 133,000 miles. It is supercharged and it literally looks immaculate in the pictures. He is asking $3900. I've already told him that was too high. If I decide to go and take a look at it, I would bring my scan tool but what should I look for as far as reading data?? I have one of those Autel MD 806 scan tools that you recommend in an earlier video.
Ideally, you’d want to have it thoroughly checked out by a professional mechanic, who’s well versed with reading data.
If the car is out of town, I suggest bringing along your trusted mechanic or setting up an appointment with a mechanic, where the car is located.
It’s a big gamble buying a 21yr old high mileage car, without a PPI.
just scan it for outstanding trouble codes.
Also with the scan tool check the mileage parameter matches what is on the odometer dash, as well as all drive cycle monitors are OK/complete just in case the previous owner reset the computer due to an issue which would then result in some incomplete monitors (red flag).
Beyond that you have to really know how to interpret the scan tool data (and there’s tons of them) to make sense out of them.
Also, there can be issues with the vehicle and still not trip any codes. That’s where it’s handy to scan every module on board for faults and/or parameters indicative of an issue down the line. You’d need a fancy scan tool to read all that and then you have to interpret the data, which is why we say to have a mechanic look at before you buy.