The people who fell victim to the Japan car scam were not some negligent or thoughtless car buyers. Times of Malta spoke to several of the, many of whom recall hopping from one dealer to another, inspecting the cars and making calculations before deciding.

Some of them even took their trusted mechanic with them to the dealer, who advised them to buy the car after seeing it for himself. Yet, they were completely unaware they were buying a vehicle which had thousands of kilometres wiped off the clock.

How could they have noticed?

Malta Road Safety Council executive chairman Pierre Vella says the truth is that a used car’s shortcomings are very difficult to spot and may be hidden well out of sight.

And whereas old cars would rattle with every screw that got slightly lose, new ones are engineered to hide away a lot of the nuts and bolts to provide driving experiences that are as smooth as possible. Consequently, they make it harder for an inexperienced buyer to nail the defects.

Vella shares some useful tips to keep in mind when visiting your car dealer.

Don’t be a blind believer in love at first sight

You can notice some things by just looking at the car. But do not get too infatuated with how the car looks.

There are countless paints and coatings which may be used to hide the car’s shortcomings.

Some used cars look incredibly pristine when they are at the dealer’s garage but not all that glitters is gold.

Steering wheel may steer you in wrong direction

Look at the steering wheel. Steering wheels should look matte. They’re manufactured like that to enhance the grip on the hands.

If the steering wheel is too shiny, it may have been polished to conceal worn out areas.

Pedals might be warning you to put brakes on deal

Look at the pedals. If the odometer shows the car clocked 20,000 kilometres and the surfaces of the foot pedals are all worn out, then that’s a reason to suspect the car has run more than that.

Having said that, when pedals look too worn out, they are sometimes changed for new ones to make the car look more immaculate.

Every vehicle has a rubber lining

Take a look at the rubber lining on the doors. The rubber will expose thin cracks if the car has been driven for a long time.

Make a U-turn to check whether you should make a U-turn on the deal

Take the car for a spin. Do not just drive it around the block. You will learn almost nothing from that. Go for a longer test drive, in stretches of road where there is no traffic or distractions.

Choose a quiet road where it is safe to manoeuvre the vehicle and then turn the wheel all the way to the left or to the right.

Drive in a full circle and listen carefully for any unusual noises or vibrations. That manoeuvre stretches the power steering to its limits and if you start to hear a slight rattle or feel some vibrations, then its shaft may be worn out.

Test the brakes as well. Try to push the brakes firmly to see how securely they are able to bring you to a halt.

All roads lead to the mechanic

Drive the car to your mechanic and ask them to elevate it using a car lift. That way you will be able to walk underneath it and inspect its undercarriage.

If it is too shabby, it means the car has seen some rough roads.

If it is too shiny, it could mean it is, indeed, in a good condition but it could also mean it might have been coated with an underseal paint that hides the shabbiness and shortcomings. And that is not good either.

The internet is the red light

But the most reliable way to know whether the car you are looking at has an odometer which has been tampered with, is to check the Japanese inspection company’s website.

The cars imported from Japan by local dealers are sold through auctions in Japan and then shipped to Malta by sea freight. But, before they are shipped, cars undergo a technical inspection in Japan by a company called Jevic Co. Ltd.

As part of those inspections, Jevic Co. Ltd engineers list the mileage of cars being exported. And those results are publicly searchable.

Ask the dealer for the car’s chassis number, insert it in https://members.jevic.com/ and you will receive an e-certificate that includes the vehicle’s details and its odometer reading at the time of the inspection before it left Japan.

If the reading is higher than what the car odometer reads, run away.

‘Good cars’

Pierre Vella, a long-time car enthusiast and road safety expert, praises Japanese cars for their quality and reliability, nonetheless.

“This is not to say that Japanese cars are of poor quality,” he said.

“The Japanese produce high-quality vehicles and, due to their stringent laws and quality control in Japan, the cars that are shipped to Malta are good quality ones.”

But they can be, and have been, meddled with, he adds.

So, if while you are searching for a used car you notice that something seems too good to be true, well, maybe it is not true.