You do not need to know engines to spot most problems. You need to know where to look and what a straight answer sounds like.

Start with the paperwork, not the vehicle

Ask to see the registration and check the name on it matches the person selling. Check the VIN on the document matches the one on the dashboard and the door frame.

A mismatch, or a seller who is not the registered owner, is where you stop. Everything else can be negotiated. That cannot.

Look at it in daylight and when it is dry

Rain hides paint defects, panel gaps and mismatched colour. Evening hides everything. Insist on seeing it dry and in daylight even if it costs you a second trip.

Look down the side of the vehicle from the front corner. Ripples, waves and colour shifts show up from that angle and almost nowhere else.

The five minute walkaround

Tyres first. Uneven wear across a tyre points at alignment or suspension. Different brands on the same axle suggest corners have been cut. Check the date codes, because tyres age out even without kilometres.

Open and close every door, the bonnet and the boot. Panels that catch or sit proud have usually been off.

Look under the boot carpet and the bonnet edges for overspray or fresh sealant. Repairs are not disqualifying, undisclosed repairs are.

Pull the oil dipstick. Look for a clean amber to dark brown. Milky or gritty is a walk away.

Check every warning light comes on with the ignition and then goes out. A bulb that never lights has sometimes been removed.

The test drive

Drive it cold. A vehicle warmed up before you arrive can hide a starting problem, so ask the seller not to run it first.

Get it above 80 km/h. Vibration, pulling and noise mostly show up at speed, not in a parking lot.

Brake hard once somewhere safe. Pulsing through the pedal means warped discs. Pulling to one side means a caliper.

Turn the wheel fully both ways at low speed with the window down and listen.

Turn the stereo off for the whole drive.

What to ask the seller

Why are you selling. How long have you had it. What has been repaired. Is there anything you would want to know if you were buying it.

You are listening for whether the answers are specific. Vague answers to specific questions tell you something.

The one thing worth paying for

A pre-purchase inspection by a mechanic who has no stake in the sale. It costs a small fraction of what a transmission costs, and a seller who refuses one has answered a question you did not have to ask.

It is the single highest-value hundred dollars in the whole process.