Used car buying guides

The questions buyers ask us before they book, answered plainly by the person who does the inspections, with the prices and the real cars behind the answers.

How much does a pre-purchase car inspection cost in the UK?

Every national provider's pre-purchase inspection price as published on 19 October 2026: AA, RAC, ClickMechanic, CarExamer, WhoCanFixMyCar and independents, what the 'from' means, what is left out, and what £199.99 buys.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

AA vs RAC vs independent: which car inspection should you book?

An honest comparison of the AA, RAC and an independent inspector on price, points, road test, history check, who turns up, turnaround, EV battery testing and the cars each will not inspect, from their October 2026 terms.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

Is a pre-purchase car inspection worth it?

The arithmetic on a £199.99 inspection against what inspections find, with the 2026 data and three real cases from October 2026, when it is most worth it, and the few times it is not.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

What does a pre-purchase car inspection check?

The five areas a proper pre-purchase inspection covers, point by point: mechanical, exterior and paint, interior, the full diagnostic scan and the road test, plus the history check, what Premium adds, and what no inspection can do.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

How do you check an electric car's battery health before you buy?

Five ways to check a used electric car's battery, from the dashboard to a full discharge test, what State of Health is normal by age, the red flags, and what our £149.99 mobile test reads.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

How long do electric car batteries last?

What the 2026 fleet data says about EV battery life: 2.3% loss a year, 82% at eight years, under 4% ever replaced, what shortens a pack, every major warranty, and what a replacement costs in the UK.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

Should you buy a Cat S or Cat N write-off?

What Cat S and Cat N mean, how often write-offs turn up in used car sales, what a cheap repair hides, how it affects price and insurance, and what we check before you buy one.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

HPI check vs car inspection: do you need both?

What a history check covers and what it cannot see, 2026 prices for HPI, AA, RAC and Total Car Check, which inspection services include one, and a real example of a clean scan hiding eight fault codes.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

Dealer or private seller: which is safer when buying a used car?

Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 from a dealer, what a private seller owes you, how traders pose as private sellers, and what an inspection adds in each case.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

Buying an imported car: what should you check?

Why a UK history check is blind on an import, the registration paperwork an unregistered car still needs, the conversion for UK roads, which inspection services refuse imports, and a real example that cost £5,000 to £8,500 to put right.

Checked 19 October 2026Read

EV battery notes by model

Battery sizes, warranty terms, what goes wrong and what we check, one short page per popular used electric car.

The battery check itself is on the EV battery health check page: £149.99 on its own or £49.99 with an inspection.