What should I record when inspecting a private-sale car?
Record what you checked, what concerned you and what remains unknown. Keep the seller's statements separate from your observations and an independent mechanic's findings. The free checklist helps you retain that record; its completion does not certify the car. Registration and paperwork guidance below applies to Queensland.
For private buyers preparing to inspect one used car. This guide helps you organise observations and follow-up questions; an independent mechanic assesses concerns you cannot resolve yourself.
Before travelling
- Confirm who is selling, where you can inspect the car and whether the sale is private or through a business.
- Ask for the VIN, registration details and available service records. Treat advert wording as a claim to check.
- Agree how an independent inspection can happen. Do not pay for an unseen car you have not verified.
Prepare the gaps you want to discuss using the questions to ask a used-car seller. Keep a copy of the advert so you can compare its wording with what you see.
Beside the car
Match the physical VIN and documents, check seller identity and authority, and record what you can observe. Use the free 21-check inspection checklist for your notes. It is a prompt sheet, not a mechanical diagnosis; arrange an independent inspection where needed.
A practical inspection sequence
Check: Start with the advert and available records. Compare the car in front of you with the description and note missing documents or unexplained differences.
Evidence to record: The advert wording, the document you saw and the detail that matches or differs.
What needs follow-up: A claim you cannot match to a record or observation.
Next action: Ask the seller for the missing record or an explanation; keep the item unresolved until you can assess the answer.
Check: Walk around the exterior, then look through the interior. Record visible condition and try the features you can safely check with the seller's permission.
Evidence to record: Where a mark, worn area or concern appears, what you tried and what happened. Add a photograph with permission if it helps you identify the item later.
What needs follow-up: Anything you could not see or test, or whose cause you cannot establish.
Next action: Mark it as not checked or describe the concern. Ask an independent mechanic about issues needing assessment.
Check: If a test drive is agreed and you are permitted to drive, note what you experience. If it cannot happen, leave driving observations unresolved.
Evidence to record: The circumstances of any noise, vibration or other concern, using a description rather than a diagnosis.
What needs follow-up: A concern needing assessment, or a driving check you have not completed.
Next action: Arrange the outstanding check or independent assessment before treating the concern as resolved.
Check: Review the full record before deciding what to do next.
Evidence to record: Keep your observations, the seller's answers and any mechanic's findings separately labelled.
What needs follow-up: Missing records, untested features and unanswered questions.
Next action: Give each unresolved item a next step: ask for evidence, arrange an assessment or pause your decision. Do not turn an unanswered item into a pass.
Worked example: an untested feature stays untested
Hypothetical inspection: the seller says the air conditioning works, but you have not run it. Leave that check as “Not checked” and note “Seller says it works; operation not tested.” If you test it and notice a concern, record what happened without diagnosing the cause. Ask an independent mechanic to assess the issue before treating it as resolved.
Review “Inspection summary” at the end of the checklist, work through unresolved checks and record follow-ups for rego, seller authority and PPSR. Print or save the completed checklist as a PDF with your notes so you can use it during the next conversation or inspection.
Before payment and handover
Obtain a current PPSR search, resolve unexplained records and agree payment and handover terms in writing. For a registered QLD transfer, check current safety-certificate requirements and any applicable exemption. A safety certificate checks basic safety standards and does not replace a full mechanical inspection.
Keep a signed sale and payment record, and complete the registration-transfer steps. Transferring registration is not a substitute for verifying seller authority. The QLD buyer must finalise the transfer within 14 days.
Questions buyers ask
How do I inspect a used car?
Prepare questions from the advert, compare the available records, work through the exterior and interior, and record any agreed test drive. Keep seller statements separate from your observations. Leave untested items unresolved and arrange an independent mechanic's assessment where needed before deciding whether to proceed.
What should I look for when buying a used car?
Look for differences between the advert, available records and the car you inspect. Record visible condition, features you have tested and anything you cannot explain. A missing record or untested feature needs a follow-up question or assessment; completing a checklist does not certify the car.
Before travelling, paste the advert for free listing prompts without an email or account. Read the QLD buying sequence, then prepare the free QLD draft sale paperwork when details are agreed.