Buying
The viewing: a verdict in twenty minutes
7 min read
Most bad buys happen not because someone missed a fault but because they looked in the wrong order. This order takes twenty minutes and answers the expensive questions first.
Papers first, then the car
Before you walk round the car, look at the paperwork. Does the chassis number in the document match the one on the car? Is the seller the registered keeper — and if not, why? How many keepers have there been? A car with six previous owners in eight years has disappointed several people.
Then the service book. Not whether it exists but whether the entries add up: garage stamp, date, mileage. A jump in the mileage between two entries is the clearest sign of tampering you can find without tools.
The walk-round, in this order
Walk slowly round the car once and look along the flank from an oblique angle at the front. That angle reveals ripples in the panels and differences in colour that do not show head-on. Check the panel gaps: from the factory they are even, and where they are not, something has been repaired.
- Tyres: the same make all round, even wear, age from the DOT code. Wear on one side means suspension or alignment.
- Brake discs: a pronounced rust lip at the edge points to long standing or a change due.
- Underbody and wheel arches: surface rust is normal; flaking rust on load-bearing parts is a reason to walk away.
- Interior: wear on the steering wheel, driver's seat and pedals must match the mileage.
- Smell: damp, or an air freshener, is a reason to lift the boot floor and the mats.
The cold start
Insist that the engine is cold. A warmed-up engine hides exactly the noises you came for. On starting: how long do the warning lights stay on? Do they all go out? How does the engine sound in the first seconds, and does the exhaust smoke — blue means oil, white can mean coolant.
The test drive
Twenty minutes, including some motorway and some rough road. Radio off. Listen for noises on turn-in, feel for vibration through the wheel at speed, and check whether the car tracks straight under braking. On an automatic: jerking when pulling away and hesitation when shifting are warning signs, not character.
Do a lap of an empty car park on full lock in both directions. Clicking points to driveshafts, and you will not hear that on the road.
When to walk away
If the seller refuses a cold start, if the paperwork is incomplete, if the chassis number does not match, if you are being rushed. None of these can be offset by a discount — they say something about the deal, not about the car.