What to check when you view a used car
Published 9 October 2026 · reviewed 9 October 2026
In one paragraph
Check the car cold, in daylight: start it from cold, look along each panel for mismatched paint or uneven gaps, check the tyres and brakes for wear, work every electrical switch, read the V5C and the MOT history, and drive it warm. Then ask what the dealer's own check found, and what they did not put right.
A viewing is your one chance to find what a photograph cannot show. Take it slowly, in this order, and write things down as you go. Nothing below needs tools or any knowledge of cars — it needs daylight and patience.
When is the best time to view a used car?
View it in daylight, on a dry day if you can, and ask for the engine to be left cold. Daylight shows paint that does not match and panel gaps that are not even; rain fills both in and hides them. A cold engine shows smoke on start-up, a rattle on first fire-up and a slow crank — all of which a warm engine politely covers up. Our forecourt is at Plas Acton Garage, 282 Chester Road, Wrexham LL12 8DU, with a second forecourt at Ruyton near Shrewsbury, and we are open Monday to Friday 9 to 5 and Saturday 10 to 4 for viewings by appointment — so the car is standing somewhere you can get all the way round it instead of wedged between two others.
What should I check on the outside of the car?
Look along each panel from one end, not straight at it, because a repair shows up as a ripple in the reflection long before you can see it head-on. Work round the car once for paint, once for gaps and once for rust.
- Paint: colour that changes slightly from wing to door, a gritty texture, or overspray on rubber seals and window trim.
- Gaps: the bonnet, boot and doors should have an even gap all the way down each side. A gap that narrows at one end usually means something has been off and back on.
- Tyres: all four the same make is a good sign; four different makes is not fatal but tells you how the car was kept. Run your hand across the tread — wear on one edge only points at alignment or something tired in the suspension.
- Rust: sills, the bottom of each wheel arch, the tailgate seam and the boot floor under the mat.
- Glass and lights: chips in the driver's line of sight, and condensation inside a lamp.
What should I check inside?
Sit in it and work every single switch, because electrics are the commonest thing to be quietly broken. Windows up and down, mirrors, heated seats, air conditioning on cold, blower on every speed, wipers and washers, every light, the radio, the reversing camera if it has one. Check the boot for the spare wheel or the repair kit, the jack and the locking wheel nut key. Then look at wear against the mileage: a shiny steering wheel and a worn driver's seat on a car claiming low miles is a question worth asking out loud.
What should I check on the test drive?
Drive it long enough to get it properly warm, and include a hill and a bump. Listen with the radio off. You are checking that it pulls evenly without hesitation, that the brakes stop the car straight without a pulse through the pedal, that the steering comes back to centre on its own, that the gearbox takes every gear cleanly, and that no warning light comes on or stays on once it is warm. Over a bump, knocks from the front usually mean suspension bushes or drop links. If the car is an automatic, feel for a shunt between gears rather than a smooth change.
What paperwork should I check when viewing a car?
Ask for the V5C log book and check the registration and VIN on it match the car in front of you. When a car changes hands the seller tells the DVLA and the new keeper gets a new V5C in the post, so an absent log book needs a straight answer, not a shrug. Then take the registration and check the MOT history yourself — anyone can do it free on GOV.UK and see every test, the advisories, the failures and the mileage recorded at each one. In England and Wales a car needs its first MOT by the third anniversary of its registration and then every year, so a three-year-old car with no tests is normal and a ten-year-old one with two is not.
What should I ask the dealer about their own checks?
Ask what their check covered, what it found, and what they did not put right — and ask for it in writing. Every ONECARS car is checked on 34 points by ONEFIX, our own workshop on the same site at Plas Acton, and the full list is published at how we check our cars. Every car page has its photographs, its full spec and its MOT history, and every car has been over our own workshop's 34 points — so on our cars much of this checklist is answered before you get in the car. On a car we have found work on, it is not handed over until ONEFIX has put it right; that is a rule in our system rather than something a salesperson says. You can see how that reads on a real example: the 2012 Vauxhall Astra 1.7 Club Ecoflex at £1,295, with its own MOT history and full set of photographs on the page.
What happens if I find a fault at the viewing?
Say what you found and ask what will be done about it before anything is agreed, because a fault written down is a fault someone owns. A dealer who checks their own cars should already know about it. If it is new to them, that tells you something about the check. On our cars there is no admin fee to argue about either — the price shown is the price paid — and after the sale ONEFIX next door services, repairs and MOTs the car, so the people who checked it are the people who see it again.
Can I hold a car while I think about it?
Yes — a reservation holds an ONECARS car for fourteen days, and within those fourteen days you can cancel for any reason and the fee is refunded in full; if you go ahead it comes off the price. That is there so you can go home, read the MOT history properly and sleep on it instead of deciding on the forecourt.
What do I need before I can drive it home?
Two things: insurance and tax. A car must be insured before it is driven on a public road, including the drive home after buying it, and vehicle tax does not transfer with a car — the new keeper must tax it before it is driven, which can be done straight away online with the V5C reference. Every one of our cars also comes with a free three-month warranty on the engine and gearbox, up to 2,500 miles, with any repairs done by ONEFIX on the same site; longer paid cover is available, and what it does and does not cover is set out in what our warranty covers.
Where should I start?
Start with the MOT history, then the viewing, then the paperwork. If you are buying locally, buying a used car in Wrexham covers the local part, delivery explains how a car reaches you if you would rather not travel, and you can browse the current used cars before you come out. If you want something checked before you make the trip, ring the office on 01978 356983 or use contact and ask us to look at it while the car is in front of us.