What we do to a car — and what we don't
Every dealer advertises an inspection. Almost none say what they skip, which on a cheap used car is the part that actually matters. Here is the whole process: what happens to every car, what we do only when it's needed, and what we deliberately leave alone.
Every car, no exceptions
The 8 things below happen to all of it — the £1,200 hatchback included.
Only where it is needed
Measured against published thresholds, not replaced to pad an invoice.
And then we stop
Cosmetic work that makes a car look newer comes out of your price. We skip it.
A number is a slogan. A list is a standard.
A pre-delivery inspection is where a used car is either sorted out or quietly passed on. The difference between the two is not visible in person, and it is not visible in a photograph — which is exactly why the trade has settled on advertising a number and leaving it at that.
Publishing the schedule costs us the argument about what was and was not looked at. Every car is inspected against this list before it is photographed, the results are written on a sheet as measurements rather than adjectives, and that sheet is signed by the technician who did the work and handed to you with the keys. If something we recorded as fine turns out not to be, there is a document with a date on it and our name at the bottom.
Anything the inspection turns up is either put right before the car is listed, or written into the listing. Nothing goes in the third category.
Every car, without exception
8 things that happen to every car we sell
Provenance checked before we buy
Insurance write-off markers, outstanding finance, stolen markers and the mileage history. We never buy a car with outstanding finance or a stolen marker. Where a car is a recorded write-off we will sell it, priced accordingly, with the category stated on the advert, the invoice and to your face.
Full MOT history published on the listing
Every test, every advisory, every mileage reading — pulled straight from the DVSA and printed on the page, including the bad years. It is the single most useful thing you can read about a used car.
At least six months MOT
If there is less than six months left when we list it, we put it through a fresh test rather than leaving you with a bill in a fortnight.
Serviced
Oil, filters and the fluids checked and topped. Where the service history shows one is due or overdue, it gets done before the car is listed.
Safety items checked and measured
Brakes, tyres, steering, suspension and lights. Anything below the limits we publish below is replaced before sale, not written up as an advisory for you to deal with.
Checked for oil and fluid leaks
Sump, rocker cover, crank seals, gearbox casing and the cooling system. A weep that will become a bill is either fixed or told to you before you buy.
Underseal applied
Every car gets an underbody protective coat before it is listed. On cars of this age rust is what ends them, and it is far cheaper to slow it down than to repair it later.
Deep cleaned inside and out
A proper clean, not a wash. It is the cheapest thing we do and the first thing you notice.
Only where the car needs it
Work we do when it’s needed — and not otherwise
- Brakes
- Pads or discs replaced when they are low. Not when they have life left.
- Tracking and alignment
- Adjusted when it is out — usually obvious from uneven tyre wear.
- Tyres
- Replaced when tread or condition is below what we will sell a car on.
- Bodywork
- Where damage is bad enough to matter. Small marks consistent with the age and price of the car are photographed, not painted over.
- Seals and gaskets
- Replaced where something is actually leaking, rather than left to drip onto your driveway.
- Air conditioning
- Re-gassed when it is not blowing cold. Refrigerant work goes to an F-Gas certified garage.
- Alloy wheels
- Refurbished only where they are genuinely bad. On a cheap car the cost is a large share of the price and it fixes nothing you can drive — see below.
Just as important
What we don’t do
We sell cars between £1,000 and £7,500. Money spent making one look newer than it is comes out of the price you pay, and fixes nothing you can drive.
- We do not touch what does not need touching
- Replacing parts with life left in them puts the price up and does nothing for you. If it is serviceable, it stays on the car.
- We do not make an old car look new
- Kerbed alloys, stone chips, a scuffed bumper and worn trim are what a car of this age and price looks like. They are in the photographs at full size so you can see them before you travel.
- We do not hide the MOT history
- Failures and advisories are printed on the listing whether or not they flatter the car.
What an inspection is, and what it isn’t
A PDI records the condition of a used car on the day it was inspected. It is not a prediction, and it is not a warranty. A component measured as serviceable can still fail afterwards — that is what the warranty and your statutory rights are for, and both apply regardless of what this sheet says.
What it does do is fix the facts in place. Wear items are measured and written down, so six months later there is no argument about what a tyre or a brake pad was at the point of sale. Faults found are disclosed rather than discovered. And the things a buyer cannot check on a test drive — the underside, the paint depth, the stored fault codes, the DPF history — are checked by someone who can, and recorded either way.
Ask for the sheet before you travel
Tell us which car and we will send the completed inspection sheet over, along with a walkaround video, before you get in your own car to come and see ours. If something on it would put you off, we would rather you knew from your kitchen.