Inspect a used car before buying from a private seller
A private-party car bought with the risks checked off — VIN run for salvage, flood and total-loss history, seller identity matched to the paper title and liens cleared, a point-by-point physical and cold-start inspection completed with an OBD-II scan, a standardised test drive run, and the bill of sale plus odometer disclosure executed at handover.
Not on sale yet
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- Your own copy — keep it forever
- Gets better over time — free updates included
- Run it on web and mobile
- Invite a partner to go through it with you — you share the same progress
- 7 knowledge checks to test what you've learned
- The playbook's community — ask questions, get additions, and see how other buyers improve it, right on the step
Who it's for
U.S. buyers purchasing a used car directly from a private seller on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist — especially first-time buyers who are not confident about spotting accident damage or paperwork traps. Buyers who want a dealership to handle everything, or who prefer to pay a mechanic to do the whole evaluation, should use a professional inspection service instead.
About this playbook
This guide takes you from a promising Marketplace or Craigslist listing to a signed title, with every common private-sale trap checked off along the way: salvage and flood history, title jumping, lienholders, cleared OBD-II codes, and cold-start smoke. You work in six ordered passes — pre-screening the listing, running the history reports, verifying the paperwork, inspecting the car, test-driving it, and closing the deal — and every step ends in a written finding you can act on. Most checks are free or under $15, and the only optional extras are a second history report and a mechanic’s lift inspection. It does not cover financing, dealership purchases, or post-purchase repairs.
What you'll do, step by step
Free preview — these steps are open to read in full before you buy.
Phase 1: Pre-screen the listing and the seller
0/4Filter the listing and the seller before you spend a minute of travel time. Every check here is free and ends in a go / no-go decision.
- 30 min
- 15 min
- 10 min
- 10 min
Phase 2: Run the vehicle history checks
3 stepsPhase 3: Verify the paperwork and the seller
4 stepsPhase 4: Inspect the car in person
6 stepsPhase 5: Test-drive the car
3 stepsPhase 6: Close the deal
4 stepsDetails
What you need first
A candidate car listing you are seriously considering, with the seller’s VIN in hand; a driver’s license and active insurance for the test drive; daylight hours at the seller’s location; and, for the OBD-II step, a scanner — borrowed from a friend or from an auto-parts store that lends them free (AutoZone, O’Reilly).
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About the creator
I write about cars, vehicle paperwork and transport for people who want a plan, not a list of tips.