What should you check when buying a used car from a private seller?

Everything you would check at a dealer, plus identity. Confirm the seller is the registered keeper on the V5C and that you are viewing at the address shown on it. Private sales carry almost no consumer protection, so the paperwork checks — finance, write-off, mileage and MOT history — do the work that a dealer's warranty would otherwise do.

Is it worth paying for a used car inspection?

On anything above roughly £5,000, or on any complex or premium car, yes. An independent inspection typically costs £100–£250 and either finds problems worth several times that or gives you a documented basis to negotiate. Most sellers with nothing to hide will agree to one.

How do you check if a used car has outstanding finance?

A finance check searches the HPI register for an active agreement against the VIN. If finance is outstanding, the lender still owns the car and can repossess it from you even though you paid in good faith. Never buy without this check on a private sale — dealers should settle any finance as part of the sale.

What paperwork should come with a used car?

The V5C logbook in the seller's name, service history with stamps or invoices, the current MOT certificate, both sets of keys, the locking wheel-nut key, and a dated receipt showing the price and both parties' details. Missing second keys and locking wheel-nut keys are small but genuine costs to replace.

Should you buy a used car with an MOT advisory?

Advisories are normal on any car with a few years on it and are usually a negotiating point rather than a problem. What matters is whether the same advisory has been carried for several consecutive years — that means the owner has been deferring the work, and you will inherit it.

Buyer's checklist

What to check when buying a used car

Twenty minutes of methodical checking is the difference between a good used car and an expensive one. Work through this list in order — paperwork first, because that is where the deal-breakers hide, then the car itself, then the drive.

Written and reviewed by Phil Kehoe, Director, Motoring.Today · methodology in our editorial standards.

Paperwork
Bodywork
Engine
Tyres & brakes
Interior & electrics
Warning signs
FAQs

Paperwork — do this before you travel

Every check here is free and can be done from the registration alone.

V5C logbook — the registered keeper must match the person selling and the address you are viewing at. Check the VIN on the V5C against the one stamped on the car (usually the windscreen base or door shut).
MOT history — look for recorded mileage going backwards, the same advisory appearing year after year, and long gaps with no test at all. Run a free MOT history check.
Outstanding finance — a car with finance on it still belongs to the lender and can be repossessed from you.
Write-off or theft markers — a Cat S or Cat N car can be perfectly sound but must be priced well below book value, and must be disclosed.
Service history — stamps or invoices, with the cambelt interval accounted for. A missing cambelt change is a four-figure risk on many engines.
Tax and emissions status — check what it will cost you to tax and whether it is chargeable in your local Clean Air Zone with our ULEZ checker.

Bodywork, glass and structure

View in daylight and never in the rain — water hides paint defects and panel mismatch. Crouch at each corner and sight down the flank; ripples and colour shifts under different light mean repainted panels.

Panel gaps should be even side to side. Uneven gaps suggest accident repair.
Overspray on rubber seals, badges or wheel arches is a repaint giveaway.
A magnet that won’t stick to a steel panel usually means filler.
Rust on sills, wheel arches, subframe and boot floor — surface fizz is cosmetic, bubbling from underneath is not.
Chips and cracks in the windscreen: anything in the driver’s line of sight is an MOT failure.

Under the bonnet — check it cold

Ask the seller not to warm the car up before you arrive. A cold start reveals rattles, smoke and a struggling battery that a hot engine will hide completely.

Oil on the dipstick should be brown-black, not milky (head gasket) or gritty.
Coolant should be clean and at level; brown sludge in the header tank is a red flag.
Look for wet patches around the sump, hoses and cam cover.
Blue smoke means burning oil, white smoke that persists means coolant, thick black means fuelling.
On a diesel, check the DPF has not been removed and that the car has done regular longer runs.
On an EV or hybrid, ask for the battery state-of-health reading from a main dealer or independent scan.

Tyres, wheels and brakes

Tyres are the cheapest diagnostic on the car. The legal minimum is 1.6mm across the central three-quarters, but the wear pattern tells you more than the depth: inner-edge wear points to alignment or worn suspension bushes, and feathering suggests tracking is out. Four mismatched budget brands on a premium car usually means a cost-cut ownership history.

Check the spare (or that the inflation kit is present and in date).
Look through the wheels at the brake discs — a deep lip or heavy scoring means replacement soon.
Kerbed alloys are cosmetic, but buckled rims cause vibration you will pay to fix.

Interior and electrics

Wear should be consistent with the mileage. A shiny steering wheel, worn driver’s bolster and polished pedal rubbers on a “40,000-mile” car do not add up.

Test every window, mirror, lock, light, wiper and heated element.
Run the air conditioning until it blows genuinely cold — a re-gas is cheap, a compressor is not.
Check all warning lights illuminate at ignition and then go out. A bulb removed to hide a fault is a classic trick.
Sniff for damp — wet carpets mean a leak, and leaks kill electronics.
Pair a phone, test the reversing camera and check the infotainment isn’t stuck rebooting.

What to look for when buying a used car — the walk-away signs

Some faults are negotiating points. These are reasons to leave.

The V5C keeper does not match the seller, or the seller wants to meet somewhere neutral.
The VIN on the car does not match the paperwork, or has been tampered with.
Mileage on the MOT record has decreased at any point and the seller cannot explain it.
Pressure to pay a deposit immediately to “hold” the car.
Refusal to let you take it to an independent inspection or a cold start.
Milky oil, persistent white smoke, or a warning light the seller calls “a sensor”.

Frequently asked questions

The questions buyers ask us most on this topic.