OK – so I'm going to see a second hand car (private seller) over the weekend and while there would usually be little point me popping the bonnet open other than to say "yep, there's an engine in there" I wondered if there *was* anything the STW collective reckon I could/should look out for? I'm not completely clueless when it comes to cars but equally I probably wouldn't hold back from the equivalent of giving a tyre a bit of a kick 😉

It's a diesel Octavia (naturally) hence why I thought I'd ask here…

TIA, as always.

I think kicking the tyres is the main thing, no? 🙂

Take a tame mechanic or make friends with one, fast.
Recipe for pain otherwise.

If you know nothing about the mechnicals take someone who does. If you can't manage that and are happy to do a deal regardless, at the very least press EVERY button and switch you can find to make sure it works/does what it is supposed to.

Don't be like the bloke who bought a car from me – turned up after dark, said he liked the colour, paid for it and left. Deal done in 3 minutes flat. From my point of view, ideal of course…. 😉

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/buy_sell/buying_used/checking-the-car-out/inspecting-a-car-yourself

Nice link Geoff, very useful; never realised I had to look out for mayonnaise when inspecting a car though… 😯

I would:

– check for rust around sills/wheel arches/under boot carpet/suspension turrets etc.
– look for even shut lines betwen panels (run your finger along them)/paint drip marks along edges of panels/uneven paint that might point towards accident repair.
– lift carpet in boot to look for creases in floorpan
– check spare wheel is present and any locking nut key if it has alloys
– does the wear/tear match the mileage?
– check/question service history
– ring a main dealer with car reg & ask for info on repairs etc.
– look for blue-ish smoke on start-up
– lots of soot/blue-ish smoke when driving particularly when turbo kicks in.
– do some low-speed manouevres like 3-point turn on full lock in both directions to listen for worn bushes/cv joints
– try all the electrical bits to make sure they work & that the a/c gets cold.
– check how many keys you get (original blip key) and the stereo code.
– feel for clutch slip while driving. 5th/6th gear at 40mph or so & floor it.

There's probably more than that, but that was off the top of my head. When i bought my last car, I also made a list of 'issues' as I went round the car so I could use them to haggle down the price.

And if in doubt walk away. Your instinct will normally be right. Might be worth getting an AA inspection or something.
Oh and always get a datacheck done before parting with your cash.

Ask questions, your not buying a Skoda Octavia, you're buying his car. If you trust him and he knows about cars then it should be fine.

Usual things:

Go see a few identical cars, listen to them starting up (from cold, if he's 'warmed it up for you' walk away as he's something to hide). If one sounds different, ask questions.

Check fluids (brake, power steering, washer, coolant), all should be full/inside the markings and the correct colour. If he cant be bothered to top them up for a viewing, a)why are they empty, b)what else has he not been maintaining?

Check oil (on dipstick and filler cap).

Read forums to find any common problems on that model and check for those.

Test drive, Accelerate from idle in 4th/5th and look for clutch slip (revs going up, speed constant then catchig up).

Check steering is cosntant, not notches, odd feelings, turn at full lock both ways in a car park and feel for knocking form the CV joints. Also turn the wheel slightly as you turn the ignition on, you should feel it move a bit as the power steering comes on.

Brakes – self evident, do a gradual stop to check it doesnt turn left/right (well, more than normal on a cambered road), and an emergency stop (checks the ABS too).

As above, check everything works, so what if the boot light doesn't work, but what if he's that lazy everywhere?

Service history, if possible confirm this with the garrage that did the work or ask for recipts to proove its not been forged at the last minute.

You can check the last MOT online now, just need a few details off the V5. Ask/check if any advisories have been corrected.

Magnet is invaluable for detecting filler

Magnet is invaluable for detecting filler

Except on aluminium cars 😆

Take a proper look through the service history, both stamps and receipts. A car will often have missing bits and pieces, not the end of the world but it makes a bargaining point.

If I had looked closer at my paperwork I would have noticed that the pre-delivery inspection had a hire car company stamp on it 🙄 My car is missing the bulk of its stamps and history, but it was priced accordingly and since owning it, it appears it has actually been serviced regularly as when changing the coolant, the inside of the engine water jacket was squeaky clean, I was expecting to find all sorts of gunk in there after seeing some pics online.

Push down on the back of the car and see if the front comes up – shock absorber test.

Sit with car idling in neutral, and push the clutch in – see if any noises disappear – Gearbox bearings.

Accelerate through the rev range hard – see if there are any flat spots or funny behaviour – fuel system/sensors.

HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,HPI,

If it's a serious contender & not cheap – I'd get something like a RAC inspection done on it

Nice work guys, plenty for me to go on there. THANK YOU very much… 🙂

Magnet is invaluable for detecting filler

Just remember top put it in a cloth/sock/rag – they won't thank you for scratching their paintwork. Had this happen to me once with a car I sold.

That honest john guide is pretty decent as are some tips here.

Don't worry about black oil (in a petrol it's bad news) – normal in a diesel. I checked my oil in my Astra (first diesel) 2k miles from new and it was jet black – I thought I'd killed the car – it was fine!

It's a pretty reliable car the Octavia – main things to look at are the clutch (pull away in 2nd – any juddering and it's shot) , make sure the ventilation works (expensive to fix), reverse both ways on full lock – any knocking is dead CV joints, check the shocks are mol says (push down each corner – it should bounce back up then settle in the middle – any more and the shocks are gone), check for any dodgy overspray and while being firm, don't overdo the miserable buyer bit – buying cars is fun!

Check the coolant level, thrash it, then check it again. This is to make sure the head gasket hasn't gone (mine has!)
http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/160076-coolant-loss-head-gasket-failure-95000-mile-19-tdi-130-vrs/

all good points – also if the clutch pedal bite point is high it means the clutch is worn.

Most other things are easily mendable, but you really really don't want a car with cooling problems, because this means potentially a new head gasket at best, or a cylinder head/ new engine at worst.

make sure you get all the idiot lights on including the mil light and the abs light when you switch on the ignition, and that they go off when you switch on the engine. the abs sometimes does a self check a few yards up the road, and if the sensors are playing up the light will come on again.

Re previous thread about abs modules – these cost lots and lots, and what you can do to get it to pass an mot is to wire the ABS light to the oil pressure switch. this means it will come on with the ignition and switch off when you start the engine. most likely on older ABS cars because an abs light on is a fail, and a new module costs more than the car is worth. if the oil light and the abs light go out at EXACTLY the same time when you crank the car from cold, everytime, be suspicious!

take a clear, high quality facial photograph of the seller if you buy it (and make it very clear you will be doing so at viewing and watch reactions)

HPI plus find out where engine chassis nos are on that car and compare with logbook. If they look like stickers try and pull them off, look for inconsistent number styles – ie on motorbikes some people used to turn 3 into 8 etc …. If service history or MOT has previous garage/owner details try and get the mileage off them. Check service history/MOT mileage/dates chronology (*I think you can poss do on intenet with MOT ?????)

google/search on the phone number (address etc etc) and see how many cars they are selling, always on phone say 'I'm calling about the car' – if they don't know which one they're probably a trader

are you viewing it at the address on the V5, and their nameis on it, if not why not ?

only view in full, clear daylight – crouch down and check lines for dents etc etc out of line panels/slight colour mismatches, note tax, tyres etc and make sure they're on if you go to buy later.

Make sure the mileage 'equates' – so do some previous checking so you get a feel to car seat wear, wear on steering wheel (run hands around and feel for wear), driver pedal rubbers (ditto), gear lever, carpets etc etc and switches paint etc etc where hands etc rub – a lot of those are easy to change though

if you have a mate with a car find a bit of road where the car drives straight with hands off and ditto under braking – this is tricky and take care but try barking and not sterring (road camber etc impacts) but it should stay straight (*check mirror… and for plod etc)

as above with lifting carpets, also check front carpets and that roof lining etc is a great fit etc