The Road Test

First, are you insured? If you own and insure a car yourself, your policy will usually cover you to drive another insured car third party only. But this means you will be personally liable for any damage you do to the car.

Switch on the ignition and look at the lighting display. If there is an ABS light, make sure it goes off within seconds of starting the engine. (If not, that's an MOT failure.) The engine should start instantly and, when it does, are there any rattles? With hydraulic tappets you may hear a brief rattle before the tappets pump up, but this is nothing to worry about unless it persists.

If the car is manual, where does the clutch take up? If near the top of the pedal travel, there is likely to be less than 10,000 miles of life left in the clutch. If you can get it to slip, reckon on less than 2,000 miles.

If the car is front-wheel-drive, do a full lock reverse turn in both directions. This will tell you more about the condition of the clutch, but if you also hear clonking, there is wear in the driveshaft universal joints and these are expensive to replace.

Does the car accelerate smoothly? If it's an automatic, do the gears change smoothly? But don't expect all automatics to change into 4th or even 3rd at town speeds. If it's a manual, do the gears change easily with no graunching and can you change down smoothly, particularly from 3rd to 2nd, without having to double de-clutch? Is there any gearbox whine or whirring noises? A lot of gearboxes do whine slightly and, though it's an irritant, it may be nothing to worry about. Similarly, a bit of diff lash may be terminal, or the diff may soldier on for years. But the likelihood of a transmission repair should be budgeted for and the price you pay for the car chipped down unless it already accounts for this.

Do the brakes stop the car straight and true? If you feel juddering, the discs may be warped. If retardation is slow, the discs, pads, drums, linings may be worn or grooved. Do the brakes lock up front or back during an emergency stop? If so, the rear brake compensator may be u/s.

Finally, check all the electrics: wipers, sunroof, windows, everything. If the car has a trip computer, get the owner to run through its functions. (But, obviously, if the car is cheap, you don't worry about a non-functioning trip computer.)