Almost everybody buys the checks in the wrong order. The free lookups cost nothing and rule out a large share of adverts, so they belong before the journey. The paid report costs a few pounds and answers the two questions that can take the whole purchase price, so it belongs after the test drive and before the transfer. The inspection costs the most and is worth it on exactly the cars the first two stages did not eliminate.
Before you get in the car to go and see it
Run the DVLA enquiry on the registration in the advert and check that the make, colour, year, engine size and fuel type match the listing. Pull the MOT history and read the mileage series and the advisory pattern. Check the recall position. If the colour is wrong, the mileage series does not line up with the advertised figure, or the advisories describe a car that has been neglected for five years, you have saved yourself a journey and the seller a conversation.
At the viewing
Read the VIN off the car, from the windscreen base and the door pillar, and compare it with the V5C. Check that the V5C is in the seller's name and at the address you are standing at, and that the document reference matches. Look at the panel gaps and the paint in daylight. Start the engine from cold, which is the one condition a seller cannot manufacture after you arrive, and drive it long enough for the temperature gauge to reach its normal place.
Before any money moves
This is where the paid check earns its price: outstanding finance, salvage category, theft marker, plate change, keeper count and a wider mileage series than the MOT alone. Run it on the registration and, if the provider allows it, on the VIN you read off the car. A finance interest belongs to the lender, not the seller, and buying a financed car privately can end with the lender recovering it and you pursuing a seller who has moved on.
Ex taxi, ex hire and ex fleet
A taxi check is really a use question, and the record answers it obliquely rather than directly. Very high mileage against the age, a single long term keeper that was a company, a fleet of near identical advisories, and a licensing authority plate mount or a removed roof sign are the signs. None of that makes a car a bad buy, and hire and fleet vehicles are often maintained better than private ones, but it belongs in the price. Ask the seller directly and see whether the answer matches the record.
Questions people ask about pre purchase car check
What should I check before viewing a used car?
The DVLA enquiry against the advert, the MOT history for mileage and advisories, and the recall position. All three are free and take a few minutes, and they eliminate a large share of adverts before you spend a journey.
When is the right moment to buy a history check?
After the test drive and before any money moves. The finance and write-off answers only matter on a car you want, and they matter absolutely on the car you are about to pay for.
Can I tell if a car was a taxi?
Not from a single field. Read mileage against age, keeper history, advisory patterns and the physical evidence of a licence plate mount or a removed sign, then ask the seller and see whether the answers agree.
Is a professional inspection worth it on top of the checks?
On an expensive car, a complicated one, or one the data has left you unsure about, yes. The data answers the history; an inspection answers the condition, and no database has ever driven the car.