Buying a used car can be a complicated process for anyone, regardless of how much you know about cars and how well you know the seller. Buying an 4x4 vehicle to use for off road purposes can be even more complicated, as this means you have more components in the vehicle that you need to make sure are in the right shape before you buy it. To buy a used 4x4 vehicle that you intend to use as an off road vehicle, you need to keep an eye on more things than if you were buying an ordinary car, but if you know what to look for, the process doesn't have to be a hassle.

Suspension

Suspension might be the most important thing in a vehicle you intend to use for off road purposes. Even if you just need a car to handle dirt roads, you still need to give the suspension an extra look. Make sure that the suspension is clean and that there's no dirt or debris that is lodged in the system. This could just be a sign that the owner hasn't cleaned the car properly for your inspection, but it could also mean that is has been there for a long time. That's negative as it most certainly has started to wear on the components of the suspension.

Gears

This is a part of a car that could use some investigation before you set out to buy it. The gears on a car made for tougher environments than ordinary vehicles can be even more prone to become unnecessarily worn or break. Examining a gearbox, however, takes quite a lot of experience and knowledge. An easy way to make sure the gears on your new car is up to standard without having to call in the mechanic is to only look for manual cars. Even if the gears need replacing, manual gears are cheaper and easier to replace than automatic as the system is less complicated. Manual cars also tend to be cheaper than automatic cars.

Age

Even if you're looking for a used car, you should still aim to get a car as new as possible, such as a 2015 subaru outback. This means all safety systems are up to date and you won't have to replace or install anything to make it appropriate to drive. You should, however, still have a look at the logbook and ask the seller for any checkups or repairs that has been made to the car. Even if it's a fairly new car, you might not want to use the exact same equipment that the previous owner got when they bought the car new depending on how far it has gone and under what circumstances.