These are questions you need to ask to clarify how much of a bargain the car really is. For example, it may be priced “£5,000 below list” and may be a manufacturer distress sale and a genuine bargain. But if it is really last year’s model or is pre-registered, or both, it may be worth no more than a second-hand car of that true age.

Is the car in stock?
If so, can you see it before you buy it?

Who pre-delivery inspected the car?

Was it a UK franchies dealer, was it an overseas franchised dealer, or was it someone else, in which case the car may be disqualified from its manufacturer warranty.

Is the car UK supplied and warranted?

If not, then the manufacturer warranty will not be a UK warranty, might originally have only been for 2 years, and might date from the first transaction involving the car in the country it came from, so could be as little as 6 months, or, if the car is old stock, may have already expired.

How old is the car?
When was it made? Is it pre-registered or un-registered? If pre-registered, when, and how much warranty is left? If unregistered, when was the car actually built? (You can check the true build date on the tags on the seatbelts.) How much warranty will it carry? And what is the CO2? CO2 has been hugely reduced in recent years, so if the car is older than a current model it may be in a much higher VED bracket.

Will you be the first registered keeper?
If not and the car is first registered to a fleet or to a garage, ask how long before it can be registered to you? Make sure you can get insurance for a car of which you are not initially the ‘registered keeper’. If the car is to be registered to a fleet first, then it may be better to construct the purchase contract so you make a nominal monthly payments at 0% APR for 6 months then a balloon payment to assume ownership of the car, the total amounting to the same sale price you would have paid anyway. You will then need to tell your insurer that you are leasing the car for the first 6 months so are not the registered keeper, and will also need to inform them when you become the registered keeper. Make sure VAT is correctly paid.

Be aware that if you are not the registered keeper, then the registered keeper might fraudulently take out finance on the car, even though you have paid for it. If he does this before you pay for it, then he has defrauded you and you lose the car. If he does this after you pay for it, then he has defrauded the finance company and you keep the car.

On top of that, if the car commits any camera offences, the NIP goes to the registered keeper first, so may be delayed getting to you creating a penalty, as would be the case with a London Congestion Tax penalty.

What's worse is that comprehensive insurance policies that provide new for old if a car is written off in its first year do not apply to pre-reg. They are regarded as 2nd hand. That poses an additional difficulty of the car if you insure the car, but it is registered to someone else for the first 6 months, then to you for the last 6 months of its first year.

From 15 August 2010, the DVLA started issuing a revised version of the V5C to anyone who registers a new vehicle or notifies DVLA of a change of keeper, address or of any vehicle changes.

The revised V5C is a different colour (red) and makes clear that the V5C is not proof of ownership.

Is the car an independent or ‘parallel’ import?

If so, how much manufacturer warranty is left. This usually dates from when the car was first sold in the country where it was sourced, but may date from when the car was actually built.

If the car is not in stock, how will it be sourced?
Will it be ordered via a UK dealer in the normal way and you pay that dealer? Or are you being asked to pay the broker money in advance for a car he will order for you, either through a UK dealer or a dealer in another country.

Does the price depend on a finance deal?
If so this may strictly speaking be illegal. Nevertheless some bulk dealer discounts can depend on the customer buying the car on a fiance deal which can then be canncelled after the first repayment but means the car costs more than the price you were originally quoted.