1. Note the mileage. Before you do anything else, look at the odometer. It should be as close to zero as possible. After all, you're paying for a brand-new car. And that's exactly what you should get. But there's more than principle involved. The first few hundred miles on a fresh engine are critical if you want it to have a long, trouble-free life. Most manufacturers specify certain procedures during this break-in period; i.e., "Avoid full-throttle acceleration and excessive engine speeds," says one automaker. Unless you buy one that's just rolled off the delivery truck, most brand-new vehicles will have 10 or 20 miles on the clock - miles accumulated from shuffling the truck around the dealership, or from a few test drives. What you don't want is a car with 100 or 200 miles that's been a demonstrator vehicle to every lead-footed prospective buyer in town.
