How to inspect a vehicle before bidding

Most expensive auction mistakes are not caused by hidden faults. They are caused by information that was in the listing and nobody read.

Work through the photos twice

First pass, look at the car. Second pass, look at what the photographer did not want you to see. Panels shot only from a distance, one wheel missing from an otherwise complete set of corner shots, an engine bay absent from a forty-image gallery — these are worth a question. Check panel gaps and colour match across adjacent panels in the same light; a door that reads slightly different from the wing behind it usually means paintwork.

Read the title status before anything else

Clean, salvage, rebuilt, and flood titles are different products at different prices. A rebuilt title is not automatically a bad buy, but it is a harder resale, and some insurers and lenders treat it differently. If the title status is not stated plainly, treat that as the answer and ask.

Sanity-check the mileage

Compare the odometer against the wear you can see. A 30,000-mile car with a polished steering wheel, sagging driver's seat bolster, and worn pedal rubbers is telling you something the number is not. Note whether the listing marks the reading as actual or not actual.

Look up the specifics for that model

Ten minutes on owner forums for the exact year and engine will tell you the known failure points. Some transmissions, timing components, and infotainment units have well-documented histories. Knowing that a given engine eats a particular part at 90,000 miles turns an abstract risk into a number you can put in your bid.

Ask for what is missing

A history report, extra photos of a specific corner, a note on whether it starts and drives — these are all reasonable requests, and the agent assigned to the lot can get them. A seller reluctant to answer a direct question about condition has answered it.

Price the whole thing

The bid is not the cost. Add the auction fee, transport, and whatever the car obviously needs — tyres at the wear bars, a windscreen with a crack, brakes that were photographed for a reason. Do that arithmetic before the lane opens, not while it is running.