Buying a car – what to look for

There are a few simple things that can tell you a lot about a car, if you know what to look for. To assess the body work, stand at either end of the car and look along the lines. It’s the simplest way to see dents at a glance. Check the alloys – if they’re badly scuffed, you may be looking at suspension or tracking issues, or needing to replace the tyres as it will have been knocked into kerbs and bumps.

Always test drive if you can, and try everything. If not to check that it works, just to check that you can actually use it. Buying a car and then finding that it feels like all the buttons are in the wrong place afterwards is immensely frustrating.

Check the biting point, and try to pull away in a high gear. A high biting point, or it pulling away in third, may mean clutch problems.