What to check when viewing a used car

Before you go

Two minutes at a keyboard will save you an hour standing in the rain. Look up the registration’s MOT history and check what has been advised over the years — our guide on reading MOT advisories covers what the categories actually mean.

Then ask two questions before you travel: how long have you had it, and why are you selling. You are not looking for a particular answer. You are listening for whether one arrives easily.

The walkaround

Work round the car in the same order every time and you will stop missing things. Select a number to see what is worth checking at each stop.

12345

1. Tyres and wheels

• Tread must be at least 1.6mm across the central three-quarters, all the way round.
• Wear on one edge only points at alignment or worn suspension, not just old tyres.
• Check all four match — mismatched brands across an axle is a corner being cut.
• Look for kerbing on the wheel rims; it hints at how the car has been treated.

Tyres tell you more than anything else

Tyres are the cheapest honest signal on a car. The legal minimum is 1.6mm of tread across the central three-quarters of the tyre and around its entire circumference. Below that it is not a negotiating point — it is an offence, and the penalty is up to £2,500 and three penalty points for each illegal tyre.

But the depth matters less than the pattern. Even wear across all four suggests a car that has been aligned, rotated and driven sensibly. Wear on the inner edge alone usually means alignment or tired suspension bushes. Two premium tyres on the front and two unbranded on the back tells you which corners were cut when money was tight.

Nobody replaces four matching tyres on a car they are about to sell. If they have, it is worth asking what else they looked after.

The cold start

This is the single most useful thing you can insist on, and the easiest to lose by accident. If the seller has warmed the car up before you arrive, you have lost your best look at it. Say when you book that you would like to see it started from cold.

• Blue smoke on start-up suggests oil getting somewhere it should not.
• White smoke that does not clear can mean coolant in the cylinders.
• A rattle for the first second or two is worth asking about, not ignoring.
• Every warning light should illuminate, then go out. One that never lights may have been removed.

The test drive

Ten minutes, radio off, windows up for part of it and down for the rest. You are listening as much as driving. Try to include a stretch above forty and at least one full-lock manoeuvre.

1. Brakes. Pulling to one side, or a pulse through the pedal, means discs or a sticking caliper.
2. Steering. It should return to centre on its own. Vibration at speed is usually balancing, sometimes worse.
3. Gearbox. An automatic should change without thumping or hunting. A manual should not baulk into second when cold.
4. Full lock. Clicking on full lock is a constant-velocity joint, and it will not fix itself.
5. Suspension. Knocks over rough surfaces point at bushes or drop links — cheap individually, tedious in quantity.

Paperwork, briefly

Check the V5C against the car rather than the car against the V5C. Find the VIN on the vehicle — usually visible at the base of the windscreen or on a door pillar — and confirm it matches the document. Registered keeper details should match the person selling it, and the number of former keepers should match what you were told.

Service history is worth more with invoices than with stamps. Stamps prove a book was filled in; invoices prove work was paid for.

When to walk away

Most faults are a negotiation. A known problem with a known cost is simply information the next buyer will not have. These are the exceptions:

• Structural corrosion on sills, subframes or suspension mounts.
• Any sign the mileage does not match the wear or the recorded history.
• Paperwork that does not line up with the car in front of you.
• A seller who will not let you see it cold, or will not let you drive it.

Buying from a dealer rather than privately changes the picture too: you get statutory rights that a private sale does not carry, and any car we sell has been through this same list before it reaches the forecourt.

If you would rather walk round one with someone who does this daily, book a viewing and we will go through it with you — or call us on 07537 124115 and ask anything you like first.