The pre-purchase inspection checklist

A used car reveals almost everything it is hiding in the first twenty minutes, if you look in the right order. This checklist is that order. Work through it out loud, in daylight, and take the notes: a seller who watches you being methodical negotiates differently than one who watches you fall in love with the paint.

Before you leave home

• Ask for the VIN and registration number, and check the car's history first — a bad record saves you the drive.
• Arrange to see the car in daylight, dry, and parked at the seller's home address, not at a petrol station or a random car park.
• Ask the seller not to warm the engine up. A cold start is one of the most honest minutes you get.
• Bring a torch, a magnet wrapped in cloth, a tyre-tread gauge or a coin, an OBD reader if you have one, and a friend who will stay unimpressed.

Body and paint (10 minutes)

• Crouch at each corner and sight down the panels: waves, dull patches, and mismatched shades mean repairs.
• Check the panel gaps — bonnet, doors, boot. Uneven gaps on one side point to a collision.
• Look at the paint edges inside the door jambs and under the bonnet lip; overspray on rubber seals gives away a respray.
• Run the cloth-wrapped magnet along the sills and arches. Where it does not hold, there is filler.
• Inspect the arches, sills, boot floor, and the seams under the doors for rust. Latvian winters and road salt punish these first.
• Look into the boot's spare-wheel well for ripples, fresh sealant, or water.
• Check the windscreen for chips in the wiper path, and the glass date codes: one newer pane means one replaced pane.
• Test that every door, the boot, and the fuel flap open, close, and lock from the key.
• Check headlight clarity and that both units match — a single new headlight is often a repaired front end.
• Look under the car with the torch: fresh undersealing on an older car can be maintenance, or it can be a coat of paint over rot.

Under the bonnet, engine cold

• Start it cold and listen for the first ten seconds: rattles, ticking, or a rough idle that smooths out are all worth a question.
• Watch the exhaust on start-up. Blue smoke means oil, white that stays means coolant, black means fuelling.
• Pull the oil dipstick: level, colour, and no mayonnaise-like residue under the cap.
• Check the coolant level and colour in the expansion tank, and the brake fluid.
• Look for leaks and wet patches around the sump, gaskets, and hoses; check the belts for cracks.
• Note the battery date and whether the terminals are corroded.

Interior and electronics

• Smell for damp; lift the mats and feel the carpet in the footwells and the boot.
• Match the wear to the mileage. A 120,000 km car with a polished steering wheel, sagging driver's seat, and worn pedals has usually seen more.
• Turn the ignition to on and watch every warning light illuminate, then go out. A light that never comes on has been disabled.
• Test the air conditioning until it blows cold, then the heater until it blows hot.
• Work every window, mirror, central locking button, seat adjustment, and both key fobs.
• Try the infotainment, reversing camera and sensors, cruise control, and heated seats — the expensive small stuff.
• Check that the spare or repair kit, jack, tools, and warning triangle are all there.

Wheels, tyres, brakes

• Measure the tread on all four and read the DOT date code: tyres older than six years are due regardless of tread.
• Check for uneven wear across each tyre — one shoulder worn smooth means suspension or alignment work.
• Confirm all four tyres are the same brand and specification, and that winter tyres exist if you are buying in autumn.
• Look through the wheels at the discs for a deep lip or scoring, and check the pads.

The test drive, 20 minutes minimum

• Drive a route you know, including a rough road and a stretch at 90 km/h.
• Brake firmly once from speed on an empty road: no pulling, no pulsing through the pedal.
• Find an empty car park and turn full lock both ways, listening for clicks from the joints.
• Feel the gearbox through every gear, and let an automatic warm up and change under load.
• Turn the radio off and drive with the windows down for a minute, listening to the suspension.
• At the end, park it and look underneath again for anything that has started dripping.

Paperwork, before any money moves

• Match the VIN on the car to the VIN in the registration document.
• Confirm the seller in the document is the person selling it to you.
• Check the roadworthiness inspection and OCTA dates.
• Ask for the service history and receipts, and compare the mileage entries with the odometer.
• Confirm the car is not under lease or held as security for a loan.

Do this on the right car

The checklist only pays off if you get to use it on cars worth seeing, and the good ones go quickly. That is the part worth automating: set up an adbuzz alert for your model and filters, and the new listings arrive in Telegram within minutes of appearing on ss.lv — leaving you the time to inspect properly instead of scrolling.