Buying a used car: the order to do it in

There is a cheap order and an expensive order for buying a used car. The cheap order does the free desk research first, spends a small amount on a history check second, and only then puts fuel in the car to go and look. The expensive order is the other way round, because by the time you are standing next to the car you have already invested a morning in it and you want it to be fine.

1. Before you leave the house — all free

You need only the registration number, and the seller has no reason to withhold it.

• Test history. The MOT record shows every test since 2005: pass or fail, the recorded mileage each time, the reasons for failure and the advisory notes. It is the most informative free document about any used car in Britain.
• Tax and basic details. The DVLA vehicle enquiry service returns the tax position, when the MOT expires, the date of first registration, the last log book issue date, engine size, fuel type, CO2, the real driving emissions level and the European emissions status.
• Safety recalls. The DVSA service says whether the vehicle has an outstanding recall. Recall work is free of charge at a franchised dealer, so an outstanding action is a job to book rather than a reason to walk away — but you want to know.

Cross-check what those three tell you against what the advert says. A mismatch in engine size, fuel, colour or first registration date is the point at which you stop.

2. Before you commit — the paid check

A private history check costs a small amount and covers the things no free service tells you: whether the vehicle is recorded as stolen, whether it is an insurance write-off, its import and export status, and whether there is outstanding finance against it. Citizens Advice puts the cost of one in the low tens of pounds and an independent mechanical inspection at somewhere between one and two hundred and fifty.

Outstanding finance is the one that ruins people. If money is still owed on the vehicle under a hire purchase or conditional sale agreement, the seller does not own it outright and cannot pass you clean title.

3. At the viewing

See it in daylight and preferably when it is dry. If it is a private sale, meet at the seller’s home address — you then have a record of where they live if something goes wrong afterwards. Ask about the service history and take a proper test drive, not a lap of the block.

The viewing and test drive page sets out what to look at and in what order.

4. How you pay changes what you are owed

Paying cash means no fees and no interest, and no protection if something goes wrong. Paying part of the price on a credit card gives you section 75 protection provided the cash price is over one hundred pounds and no more than thirty thousand — and it applies even if only a small part of the payment went on the card.

5. What the law gives you afterwards

That depends almost entirely on who sold it to you. Buying from a trader brings the Consumer Rights Act 2015 into play, with a short-term right to reject. Buying privately does not: the goods must be as described, but the rest of the protection is absent. This is covered in detail on consumer rights when buying a used car.

You keep your legal rights even if you did none of the checks above. The checks are not there to preserve your rights; they are there to stop you needing them.