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About this site
What this reference covers, where its facts come from, and what it deliberately does not do.
This is a reference site about buying, owning and selling used cars in the UK.
What it is
A set of guides to the checks that are worth doing before money changes hands, the official services that perform them, and the rights the law gives a buyer afterwards. Alongside them sit reference notes on individual makes and models — what a specification means, what the emissions rating implies for city driving, what tends to need attention.
Everything factual links to its source, and the sources are the official ones wherever they exist: GOV.UK and DVSA services for vehicle data, legislation and trading standards guidance for consumer rights, established motoring organisations where the official material stops.
What it is not
It sells nothing. There is no stock, no valuation service, no finance, no enquiry form, and nothing here is an offer.
It is not a dealer, garage or broker, and it does not recommend any. Where a page says a check is worth paying for, that is a description of the check, not an endorsement of a provider.
It is not advice. Consumer law, tax rates, emissions charges and testing rules change, sometimes at short notice. Every page points at the official source so the current position can be confirmed there.
Why the emphasis on checks
Because most of what goes wrong with a used-car purchase was knowable in advance and often free to establish. Test history, tax status, emissions standard and outstanding safety recalls are all public against a registration number. Write-off, theft and finance markers cost a few pounds. The gap between what a buyer could have known and what they did know is where the losses happen.
General information only. This is not legal, financial or technical advice, and rules change. Each page links to the official source — confirm the current position there before acting on it. This site sells nothing and is not a dealer, garage or broker.