PRE-PURCHASE INSPECTION

Never buy a car blind

A vetted CarTrust inspector checks the actual car in person — paint, engine, OBD, mileage — and hands you a scored Buy / Negotiate / Walk-away report with photos. Before you pay a shilling.

Book an inspection See a sample report

THE PROBLEM

The seller only shows you the good side

Repaints hide crash damage. Clocked odometers hide the real mileage. Flood cars get cleaned up and re-listed. A test drive and a quick look will not catch any of it — a measured, in-person inspection will.

HOW IT WORKS

Four steps to a verdict

TELL US THE CAR

Share the listing, VIN or registration and where the car is. We match you with a vetted inspector near the vehicle.

INSPECTOR GOES TO IT

An accredited CarTrust inspector meets the seller and runs the full digital checklist on the actual car — photos and OBD plugged in on site.

WE SCORE & REVIEW

Our engine scores every panel and system, flags rollback, flood and repaint patterns, then a senior reviewer signs it off.

YOU GET A VERDICT

A shareable report lands with a clear Buy, Negotiate or Walk-away call, the red flags behind it, and every photo. Before you pay.

THE CHECKLIST

What the inspector measures

Not a vibe check. A standardised digital checklist with gauges, an OBD reader and model-specific fault lists — the same on every car so reports are comparable.

EXTERIOR & PAINT

Paint-thickness gauge on every panel. Uneven readings expose hidden repaints and crash repair the eye misses.

INTERIOR & ELECTRICS

Damp smell, wet carpets and dash warning lights cross-checked — the signature of a flood-damaged car.

ENGINE & OBD

Live OBD snapshot plugged into the car. Stored fault codes and ECU mileage captured, not just what the seller says.

ODOMETER INTEGRITY

Cluster reading compared against ECU mileage and prior CarTrust history. Mismatches over 5,000 km are flagged as rollback.

BRAKES & TYRES

Pad and tread depth measured in millimetres against minimum-safe thresholds, not eyeballed.

MODEL-SPECIFIC FAULTS

Known weak points for that exact make and model — head gaskets, CVTs, DSG shudder — checked on purpose.

AUTOMATIC RED FLAGS

The faults that cost you the most

Our scoring engine cross-references the inspector's readings and raises these patterns on its own — even when each single measurement looks innocent.

REPAINT SUSPECTED

Paint thickness varies wildly across panels or exceeds factory range — bodywork was hidden.

FLOOD SUSPECTED

Damp interior paired with electrical faults — a written-off flood car cleaned up for resale.

ODOMETER ROLLBACK

Dashboard reads lower than the ECU or prior recorded mileage. The clock was wound back.

THE VERDICT

One clear call, not a wall of jargon

Every inspection ends in a single decision backed by a 0–100 score, so you know exactly what to do at the seller's gate.

BUY

Score 80+

Clean. No critical flags. Buy with confidence at the asking price.

NEGOTIATE

Score 60–79

Sound car, fixable faults. Use the report to knock the price down.

WALK AWAY

Below 60

Critical red flags. The report just saved you from a money pit.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Are you a mechanic or inspector?

Run PPIs on the CarTrust app and earn on every inspection and report.

Become an inspector

Book before you buy

One inspection costs less than one hidden fault. Get the verdict first.

Book an inspection See pricing