What is a Pre-Purchase Inspection & Why is it important?
Pre-Purchase Inspection means thoroughly inspecting the exterior body and functioning of all components of the car you are planning to buy for flaws or drawbacks, & judging if or not it’s a good buy. It can be done yourself, by a mechanic or a pre-purchase inspection service.
A Pre-Purchase Inspection is the most important step of buying a pre-owned car, since it helps you ascertain whether the car you are planning to buy, works properly. Honestly, you don’t later want to be spending loads of money on maintenance and repairs, on a recently bought car.
Pre-Purchase Inspection helps you make a well informed decision and removes any uncertainty regarding the condition of the car.
The Checklist That Answers All
Here’s a complete checklist of some points you can manually perform to do a Pre-Purchase Inspection of a Used Car:-
1) Inspect the Car in for Scratches or Paint Jobs
Inspect the car in broad daylight to make sure that each and every inch of the exterior is readily visible to you. Any discrepancies in the paint coat suggest that the car has had scuffs and scratches repainted, but make sure to check if it was involved in any major accidents and has had certain parts replaced & any part replacements are shown on the Registration Certificate.
2) Check Working of Electronics Thoroughly
Let’s start with the easier bits, the electrical system for instance. Make sure that the electrical equipment responds to every command. The indicators, external fold-able mirrors, music system, power windows etc. should work properly. It tends to get really hot in our subcontinent during summers, so you want to make sure that the air conditioner works to your satisfaction on a sultry summer day.
3) Check For Leakages & Battery Problems
Check around the battery terminal to make sure there’s no wear and tear. After you have taken a thorough test drive, park the car & wait for upto half an hour to check for any leakages.
4) Listen for any Noise During the Test Drive
During the initial part of the test drive, switch off the music system, open the windows & listen for any sound of noise coming from the car. It might suggest trouble with suspension or any other component.
5) Check the Engine for any Trouble
The engine shouldn’t make any knocking sound, which indicates that there is a problem with the car. Neither should it misfire, which you can pick-up by the loss of acceleration when pressing the peddle or vibrations of the dashboard. If there is any kind of smoke emitting out of the back end of the car, you might want to get a professional opinion on the engine.
6) Test the Brakes
Don’t be shy to brake aggressively & test out the brakes. Your life depends on them brakes & you want to make sure that they are in perfect working condition.
7) Condition of Tyres
Make sure that the tyres are in a good condition with deep enough threads. In case that rubber is going bald, you can in the very least bargain down the car price.
8) Check the Odometer Reading carefully.
Check the odometer reading of the car carefully. Odometer tampering is a highly common practice, and if the readings don’t correspond to the car’s condition, you might want to give the regular car service center a phone call for details.
9) Car’s Maintenance History
Ask the owner for details of any repair work done on the vehicle and the car’s service book, which will give you a detailed insight into the car’s maintenance history.
10) Legal Documents
For a complete legal transaction of the car to your name, make sure the following documents are transferred to your name or are received by you:-
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Registration Certificate (RC):
The original RC should be transferred to your name. This is what legally certifies that the ownership of the car has been transferred over to you.
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Insurance Papers :
The insurance also needs to be transferred to your name for you to claim it in case of any eventuality. Make sure that the insurance is valid for at least another month to ensure smooth transaction of the RC.
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No Objection Certificate (NOC):
In case the loan on the car has already been cleared, ask for the NOC or the Loan Repayment and Foreclosure Statement.
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Original Purchase Invoice :
The original purchase invoice of the vehicle is another vital document that you want in your possession.
Pre-Purchase Inspection Services
The above checklist can be a bit tedious to deal with especially if you are not too familiar with cars. Further, even if you are a car enthusiast chances are you are unaware of all the problems that plague different car components. What you can do is leave it to the professionals who can do it for you.
There are two ways to go about it. Firstly, you can take your own mechanic who will inspect the car and inform you of any shortcomings.But for that, you have to go to the pain of finding a mechanic. Make sure to check out the mechanic’s credentials as the life of your family and that of yours depends on the safety of the used car. You can always choose the simpler option of engaging a pre purchase inspection service from the relative comfort of your home.
Spinny Inspect – Our Used Car Inspection Service
To make the whole process simpler, we bring to you our very own pre-purchase inspection service- Spinny Inspect. It will subject the car of your choice to the same 200-point rigorous checklist as the cars listed on our online platform.
You get the following services when your car is evaluated:
- A thorough 200 point inspection of your chosen car.
- A comprehensive report of the car’s condition.
- Complete assistance with understanding the car’s condition & it’s issues, if any.
- An accurate price estimate of the car using Spinny’s Star Price Engine.
- We help you to make a confident, well informed decision regarding the car’s true condition
No more doubts about the car mysteriously coming to a stop in the middle of the road. What’s more, with the points that our inspection digs up, you can even bargain down much more than the cost of the inspection. Further, the Spinny Star Price gives you an accurate price estimate for the car, making sure you don’t overpay for it.
Buy Pre-Inspected Cars from Spinny
There’s still a better way to avoid ending up with a bad used car. This is where Spinny comes in.
Search for a Pre-Inspected used car on Spinny. We have more than 7,000+ Fully Inspected cars listed with us. You can choose a car of your choice and view it’s detailed Inspection Report to know it’s health & history in detail.
View from High-Quality photos of the car’s, go through the Inspection report, read the Inspector’s verdict and know the car’s technical specifications to make an informed decision around your purchase. Isn’t it great?
Start your search now. Enter your basic details to view cars matching your requirements on Spinny.
