Mechanic shares used car check to help drivers | Tech News

A motoring skilled has urged drivers interested by shopping for any used car to make a quantity of checks to keep away from scams and penalties, together with their new vehicle being confiscated by the police.

Whilst there are lots of bargains to be had on the used car market, not all fashions on the forecourts are precisely what they are saying they’re.

Collaborating with the personal registration firm Number 1 Plates, Liam Clarke, 29, from Sheffield, not too long ago purchased a used car at a cut price price, solely to discover out it was a stolen vehicle.

He defined: “It looked clean, ran well, and the seller said he just needed a quick sale. I paid £3,000 in cash. A few weeks later, the police turned up and said it had been reported stolen.

“I misplaced the car, the money, and had no concept what I’d performed mistaken. I didn’t even know there was a manner to check that kind of factor.”

In order to reduce the chances of buying a used car with a hidden history, Number 1 Plates recommended that all drivers looking to buy a pre-owned model ask the seller for the V5C logbook.

This official document from the DVLA will outline various pieces of information about the vehicle and its current registered keeper, including their full name and home address.

By looking at the document, drivers can check whether the address they have visited to view the car is the seller’s actual home and whether the number plate and trim level of the vehicle match the one they are viewing.

Similarly, a spokesperson for Number 1 Plates suggested always entering the vehicle’s number plate into a car history checking service, which can help drivers identify whether the vehicle has previously been stolen or written off.

They added: “We at all times suggest doing a full reg quantity historical past check earlier than you half with any money.

“It’s one of the simplest, smartest things you can do to protect yourself — especially now that more car sales are happening online and through private sellers.”

Finally, the company recommended that motorists look carefully for any indicators that the vehicle’s mileage has been tampered with, which may end in more costly restore payments within the long run.

Whilst most trendy automobiles are clocked digitally, drivers can typically establish whether or not the mileage has been tampered with by checking the final situation of the car with the quantity of miles counted on the odometer.

In explicit, drivers must be suspicious if a low-mileage car has a important quantity of stone chips on the bonnet, paint fading or shiny inside plastics. Drivers can even use a vehicle historical past checker to see whether or not the mileage recorded during earlier MOTs was larger than the determine at the moment displayed.