When someone calls us about a rig they found on a classified listing or at an auction, the first thing we tell them is that used car lifts what to check comes down to a handful of specific items, not a general “gut feeling” about the seller. We’ve inspected hundreds of secondhand lifts across Iowa – some worth every dollar, some scrap metal dressed up with fresh paint. This guide walks through exactly what our techs look for when we’re asked to evaluate a used lift before someone drives across the state to pick it up, so you don’t end up hauling home a liability.
If a used lift needs cables, arms, or hydraulic parts before it’s safe, we stock parts for every major brand and can help you match the right ones fast.
Start With the Cables and Sheaves
On a two-post lift, cables are the single most common failure point, and they’re also cheap to fake-inspect if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Don’t just glance at the visible cable run – ask the seller to cycle the lift up and down fully while you watch every pulley and sheave. Look for frayed strands, rust pitting, kinks, or flat spots where a cable has been sitting under tension in one position for years. Any of those is a sign the cable needs replacing before the lift goes into service.
Check that the cables are equalized – meaning all four corners rise and lower at the same rate. If one side lags or the lift racks (tilts) as it travels, that’s often a cable or equalization problem rather than something structural, and it’s usually fixable. But if the seller can’t or won’t cycle the lift for you, walk away. This is one of the fastest checks in the whole used car lifts what to check process, and a seller who avoids it is telling you something.
Inspect the Arms, Pads, and Locking Mechanism
Arm restriction pins, adjustment mechanisms, and locking latches take a beating over years of use. Grab each arm and try to move it side to side and up and down – there should be minimal play. Excessive slop at the arm pivot points means bushings or pins are worn out, which affects how securely a vehicle sits once it’s in the air.
Check that the safety locks actually engage and hold. Raise the lift a few feet, let it settle onto the locks, and see if it holds firm without the hydraulic system supporting it. This is a non-negotiable safety check – a lift that free-falls even a few inches when locks disengage has no business supporting a vehicle over anyone’s head. Also look at the arm pads: cracked, compressed, or missing pads are a minor fix, but their condition tells you how the whole unit was maintained.
Look Underneath: Posts, Base Plates, and Anchors
A lift is only as good as what’s holding it to the floor. Examine the base plates for cracks, rust-through, or elongated anchor bolt holes – all signs of stress or a lift that’s been moved and reinstalled poorly. Check the posts themselves for any bowing, weld repairs, or impact damage from a vehicle strike. A previously bent post that’s been “straightened” is a structural risk we won’t sign off on.
If the lift is still bolted to a floor you can inspect, look at the concrete around the anchors for cracking or spalling – that tells you whether the anchoring was done correctly the first time. Anchors themselves should never be reused once pulled; budget for new ones regardless of how good the lift looks. This underneath inspection is one of the parts of used car lifts what to check that buyers skip most often because it requires actually getting low and dirty, but it matters as much as anything above the floor.
Hydraulic System: Cylinders, Hoses, and Pump
Look for hydraulic fluid weeping at the cylinder seals, hose fittings, and around the power unit. A little residual oil film is normal on an older lift; active dripping is not. Cycle the lift multiple times and listen to the pump – it should run smoothly without grinding, screeching, or excessive strain. A pump that struggles to lift a light load is a red flag for internal wear or a failing motor.
Check hose condition for cracking or bulging, especially near fittings where they flex the most. Hoses are inexpensive to replace but expensive to ignore if one lets go while a vehicle is in the air. Ask when the fluid was last changed – or plan on changing it yourself as a baseline once it’s home. None of this is exotic knowledge, but it’s exactly the kind of detail that separates a lift worth buying from one you’ll be fighting for the next two years.
Motor, Electrical, and Control Box
Open the control box if the seller will allow it and look for corrosion, chewed wiring, or obvious rodent damage – not uncommon in lifts that sat in an unheated shed. Check that the motor starts without excessive hesitation and that the up/down switches respond immediately without sticking. A motor that hums but doesn’t engage, or a switch that requires jiggling, points to relay or contactor problems that are fixable but should factor into your offer.
Confirm the voltage and phase match your shop’s electrical setup before you buy – a three-phase unit is a nonstarter in a single-phase garage unless you’re adding a converter, and that’s an added cost most private buyers forget to account for. We’ve had customers show up with a lift they couldn’t legally or safely wire into their own building. Verifying electrical compatibility belongs near the top of any used car lifts what to check list, right alongside the mechanical items.
Paperwork, Certification, and Age
Ask for the original manual, capacity rating plate, and any service records. A missing capacity plate isn’t automatically a dealbreaker, but it does make it harder to confirm what the lift is actually rated for – and that matters if you’re loading it up with a heavier work truck than the previous owner ever ran. Compare the serial number to the manufacturer’s records where possible to nail down actual age.
Also find out if the lift has ever been ALI-certified or third-party inspected, and whether it’s been recertified since any major repair. None of this paperwork replaces a physical inspection, but it fills in the history a visual check alone can’t tell you – how many years it ran, what environment it sat in, and whether it’s been through a rebuild. Between the paperwork and the physical items above, you’ll have a complete picture instead of a guess.
Get a Second Opinion Before You Commit
Even experienced shop owners bring in a second set of eyes before buying a used lift sight unseen, and for good reason – a seller’s photos and description rarely tell the whole story. If you’re comparing a used unit against buying new, our used vs new car lifts breakdown lays out the real cost tradeoffs. If you’re still shopping listings, our used car lifts for sale guide covers where to look and what red flags to expect from different sellers.
For two-post buyers specifically, our used 2 post lifts what to check article digs deeper into cable routing and post-specific wear points. We inspect used lifts across Iowa regularly, and we’re glad to walk through photos or video with you over the phone before you commit to a purchase or a long drive to pick one up. It’s a lot cheaper to ask questions now than to discover a structural problem after it’s already installed in your bay.
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