Get used car okayed by mechanic There's one phrase a consumer affairs reporter hears again and again: ``Buyer beware.'' Virtually everyone the reporter talked to on the potential pitfalls of buying a used car said it. And there's good reason for used car shoppers to be wary. Shortcomings in one state's current vehicle registration system mean there may be no paper trail to reveal problems in a vehicle's past. When you buy used there's a risk the vehicle has been in an accident or was stolen in another province. I've heard the stories of several people who bought used only to discover later that the car had serious problems because of an accident. A woman who purchased such a car through a newspaper ad phoned me this week to ask what she could do. I had bad news for her. Probably nothing. She was thinking about suing and had talked to a lawyer who wanted $2,500. Small claims court is also an option, but even under the best scenario, it wouldn't cover all her losses - the maximum judgment is $6,000. And there's absolutely no guarantee of being able to collect anything. Her experience is not uncommon. The people I've talked to about getting stuck with these lemons all had one thing in common: They didn't ask a mechanic to look under the hood before they bought. This is the critical rule of used car buying. One of our Mechanic's said about one-quarter of the cars he puts up on the hoist for such checks look like they've been written off and put back together. Sometimes, he says, the rebuilt wrecks are dangerous. ``The car is still out of whack mechanically in terms of suspension and alignment so that the car will pull badly. ``And because they've been fixed so poorly, I know that very shortly down the road they're going to have major mechanical failures.'' Sometimes he'll find a car's air bags have exploded in a crash and were simply jammed back up under the dashboard. They don't work, of course. Unethical repair shops don't bother putting in new air bags because it's so expensive - $2,000 or $3,000. ``There are poor slobs out there driving cars, and they're going, `I've got a nice safe car, I've got two airbags,' and sure enough the stuff is not even working. One of our past mechanic's has known someone personal who had experience with the problem. His wife's car was written off in an accident just six weeks after she bought it. A week following the crash, a wrecking yard called looking for the warranty cards on the vehicle. ``I wouldn't play along with him,'' our mechanic said. Two weeks later, the manager of the dealership where they bought the car phoned. A woman shopping around for a car - and doing her homework - had called the dealership to ask about the person's car. She had answered an ad and gone to see it at a house in Hamilton. ``The buyers had said, `How come someone's selling a car that's brand new?' And they were told, `As a matter of fact, my wife just got a new job. They're giving her a car so she doesn't need this. Another way to protect yourself is choosing a car from a reputable dealer's lot. You'll likely pay more than you would through the classifieds, but you're buying some protection from groups such as Used Car Dealers Association of your area. It's still smart to do everything in your power to avoid a hassle - ask a mechanic to check over any car you're thinking about buying - even from a dealership. Take this step even if the seller tells you the car has been certified. A pre-purchase check is more thorough and you get to pick the mechanic. An average inspection at most Auto Repair Shops will probably cost you $75. The province will start ``branding'' registrations with insurance data so there's a record of the fact a vehicle has been written off. Cars rebuilt after a serious accident will have to be inspected before they return to the road. Crooks will likely find ways of getting around those too. Shop cautiously. Protect yourself.