A used car can look faultless in photos and still leave you facing a repair bill worth far more than the car itself. Tell us the exact vehicle you're considering and MotorLoom builds a personalised pre-purchase buyer report — the questions to ask, the checks to make, and the test drive that can catch a problem before it becomes your problem.
The engine and gearbox matter — different versions of the same model have different maintenance points and test-drive checks.
Clutches, timing chains, suspension and gearboxes don't announce themselves in photos. A clutch or timing chain job alone can easily run past £1,000 — and missing one at the viewing means paying for it later, as the new owner.
Most buyers walk in without a plan and rely on how the car "feels." By the time a problem shows up on the drive home, the seller is gone and the cost is yours.
This report costs less than the fuel to get to the viewing. It won't inspect the car for you — but it makes sure you don't miss the questions and checks that matter.
Below is a real MotorLoom report, generated for a 2013 Hyundai ix35 with 121,200 miles — plus the printable checklist that comes with every report. Yours is built the same way, in seconds, for the exact vehicle you describe.
Two pages, five sections, 20+ checkpoints to mark off at the viewing itself.
🔒 The individual checkpoints unlock as a printable PDF with your report.
Organised in the order you'll actually need it: before travelling, while inspecting the car, during the test drive, and before any money changes hands. Skip a step and it's the fault you didn't catch, not the seller, who pays for it.
Direct links to check MOT history, DVLA vehicle information and DVSA recall services — with exactly what mismatch against the advert should make you walk away.
How to check the vehicle's identity matches its documents, plus corrosion checks scaled to its exact age, and the wear points and warning signs specific to this model's age and mileage — not a list written for every car ever made.
A cold start hides less than a warm one. What to check before the engine's even running, and the warning signs a warmed-up demo drive can mask.
Direct, ready-to-read questions about ownership, service history and past repairs — the kind that make an evasive answer obvious in the moment, not something you only think of on the drive home.
Gearbox, steering, braking and suspension checks in the order that actually surfaces a fault — tailored to manual, automatic or unconfirmed gearboxes.
A record of what you found, a brief an independent mechanic can act on fast, a decision record, and a printable checklist to take with you — so the choice is made on evidence, not on the spot.
This is pre-purchase guidance built from your description of the vehicle — not a physical inspection, mechanical diagnosis, or vehicle-history check. It tells you what to check and ask; it doesn't check the car for you.
Two minutes now, so you're not making a thousands-of-pounds decision on gut feeling later.
Enter the make, model, year, engine and gearbox. Add mileage and asking price if you have them.
Secure Stripe checkout, one-off payment. No account, no subscription, no bundle of unused checks.
Ready instantly on your phone — before the seller has a chance to rush you through it.
A used car can look clean in photos and still hide a fault that costs you thousands. A quiet test drive or a tidy engine bay isn't proof it's fault-free — and a valid MOT doesn't guarantee it's safe today. For anything expensive, unusual, or safety-critical, a qualified pre-purchase inspection is still the safer option.
This report isn't a vehicle-history check. Match the vehicle details to the V5C, check the official MOT record and recalls, and run a proper history check before paying — your report links directly to those free official services, alongside everything a database can't tell you: what to ask, what to look at, and how to run the test drive.