You’ve found a car that seems perfect. The price is right, it drives well, and has all the features you’re looking for. But is it too good to be true? Whether you’re at the dealership or buying from an independent seller, you can’t always trust the salesman to reveal the dirty little secrets of their products. It’s important to learn how to spot red flags on your own. Here are some tips to conduct an effective vehicle inspection.

Bottoms Up

Grab a flashlight and start with the undercarriage. Look closely at the condition of each of the components. If you find something that looks newer than the rest, and the seller hasn’t told you of any repairs, he’s probably hiding something. Also inspect the framework and floor pans for chico car wash, rust, and check the ground for signs of drips and leakages.

Tired Tires

A vehicle’s tires can be a surprisingly good gauge of the car’s condition. Check for wear by inserting a penny into the tire treads. If the top of Lincoln’s upside-down head is visible, the tires probably need to be replaced. Perform the penny test in multiple places along the wheel tread to see if the wear is even. Uneven wear can be a sign that the car is misaligned, often due to a serious accident. Check that the condition of the tires is appropriate for the mileage. If the car has low mileage and worn tires, there’s a chance that someone tampered with the odometer.

The Walk Around

Many buyers do a walk-around inspection without knowing what to look for. Your primary targets are rust and damaged seals. Check the lower part of the body for exposed metal, rust, bumps, and discolored paint. Some rust is to be expected, especially near the wheels. Use a refrigerator magnet to check for repaired panels on all sides. If the magnet sticks in some areas and not others, there might have been extensive repairs. Make sure the doors, windows, and trunk close and seal properly.

Under the Hood

Don’t be intimidated. Even auto-novices can easily spot issues in the engine compartment. Make sure everything looks clean and rust-free around engine. If there are signs of newer paint, or if the bumpers around the hood have been painted over, the car has likely been repainted due to damage or rust. Make sure the oil is clean and at the correct level. If not, it’s a good indicator that the car was not well cared for.

If you know what you’re looking for, you can keep yourself from making a terrible buying decision. Avoid the pressure to hurry the inspection, and make sure you look over every inch of your new vehicle.

In April, I declared that the dollar would rally when QE2 ended. That date – June 30 – is now only a few weeks away, which means it won’t be long before we know whether I was right. Meanwhile, the dollar is close to pre-credit crisis levels on a composite basis, and has already fallen to record lows against a handful of specific currencies. In other words, it’s now do-or-die for the dollar.

Since my last update, a number of things have happened. Commodity prices have continued to rise, and inflation has ticked up slightly. Meanwhile, GDP growth has moderated, the unemployment rate has stagnated at 9%, and the S&P has fallen slightly as investors brace for the possibility of an economic downturn. Finally, long-term interest rates have fallen, despite concerns that the US will be forced to breach the debt ceiling imposed by Congress.

From the standpoint of fundamentals, there is very little to get excited about when it comes to the dollar. While the US is likely to avoid a double-dip recession (the case for this was most convincingly made by TIME Magazine, of all sources), GDP growth is unlikely to rebound strongly. Exports are growing, but slowly. Businesses are investing (in machines, not people), but they are still holding record amounts of cash. Consumption is strong, but unsustainable. The government will do what it can to keep spending, but given that the deficit is projected at 10% of GDP in 2011 and that Congress is playing hardball with the debt ceiling, it can’t be expected to provide the engine of growth.

Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Fed, has implied that QE2 will not be followed by QE3. Still, he warned that “economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal-funds rate for an extended period.” With low growth, high unemployment, and low inflation, there isn’t any impetus to even think about raising interest rates. In fact, Bernanke and his cohorts will continue to do everything in their power to hold down the dollar, if only to provide a boost to exports. Bill Dudley, head of the New York Fed, intimated in a recent speech that the Fed’s current monetary policy is basically a response to emerging market economies’ failure to allow their currencies to rise.

In short, if I was arguing that fundamentals would provide the basis for renewed dollar strength, I would have a pretty weak case. As I wrote a few weeks ago, however, there is a wrinkle to this story, in the form of risk. You see- the dollar continues to derive some significant support from risk-averse investors, as evidenced by the fact that Treasury yields have fallen to record lows.

Ironically, demand for the US dollar is inversely proportional to the strength of US fundamentals. As the US economy has rebounded, investors have become more comfortable about risk, and have responded by unloading safe haven positions in the dollar. With the US recovery faltering, investors are slowly moving back into the dollar, re-establishing safe haven positions. While the dollar faces some competition in this regard from the Franc and the Yen, it still compares favorably with the euro and pound.

In fact, some traders are betting that the dollar’s fortunes may be about to reverse. It has fallen 15% over the last year, en route to a 3-year low. With short positions so high, it would only take a minor crisis to trigger a short squeeze. Said the CEO of the world’s largest forex mega robot hedge fund (John Taylor of FX Concepts): “We see a big upside USD catalyst in the next ’3 or 4 days’ on the grounds that…’Our analysis of the markets has shown that they are very, very dangerous.’ ”

For what it’s worth, I also think the dollar is oversold and expect a correction to take hold at some point over the next month.