Used Car Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist — Premier Motors KY — Buying a used car from a

Twenty-two lines in the order they should be done — title, VIN, recalls, cold start, tires, brakes, paint, fluids, underbody — each with the measurement or pass condition that decides it.

The order is not optional. Paperwork comes first because an undisclosed title brand or a VIN mismatch voids every other finding; the cold start comes before any drive because a pre-warmed engine hides rattle, smoke and a hunting idle; the drive comes last, once the static checks have told you what to look for.

Lines 1-5 are the paper trail. The VIN is 17 characters with I, O and Q excluded, and the 10th character codes the model year on a 30-year cycle — A means 1980 or 2010, F means 1985 or 2015 — so the code must agree with the title. Match the VIN across dash plate, door sticker and title, run it for open recalls, and look for a dated oil sticker: none means the interval is unknown.

Lines 6 and 17-18 cover the engine. Cold start first, then, where the deal justifies it, a compression test: the engine passes when no cylinder reads more than 10-15% below the strongest, and a teaspoon of oil in a low cylinder separates ring wear (reading recovers) from valve leakage (reading stays low).

The signature mark of this site, drawn as a plate

On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.

Lines 7-13 are tires and brakes. Tread must clear 3 mm for wet-road use, with 1.6 mm the legal floor marked by the molded wear bars; the DOT code's last four digits date each tire, with yearly inspection past six years and retirement at ten. Pads are due at 3 mm of friction material, and a rotor lip deeper than 1-2 mm means the rotor joins them. The tire guide on this site details both tire readings.

Lines 14-16 and 19-22 finish the car: paint depth (80-150 µm factory, over 200 µm or a 40-50 µm spread means filler or a respray), brake fluid (flush past 2-3 years; DOT 4 boils at 265 °C dry, 155 °C wet), then the road lines — fan cycle, a firm stop from about 50 km/h, drift check and a post-drive look underneath, all detailed in the test-drive guide.

Score each line pass or fail as you go. Failures on title, VIN, compression or structural paint end the visit; tires, pads and fluids in the worn-but-legal zone reprice the car instead, because each is a near-certain near-term job.

1. Title status — clean, with any salvage or rebuilt brand disclosed; an undisclosed brand ends the visit.
2. VIN format — 17 characters, no I, O or Q.
3. VIN match — dash plate, door-jamb sticker and title all identical.
4. Model year — the 10th VIN character agrees with the stated year (A = 1980 or 2010).
5. Service history — a dated oil sticker; none means the interval is unknown.
6. Cold start — engine stone cold; rattle, blue smoke or a hunting idle are failures.
7. Tread depth — 3 mm minimum for wet roads.
8. Wear bars — tread flush with the bars means exactly 1.6 mm, the legal minimum.