Used car inspection checklist for buyers in the Philippines

Check the papers before you look at the paint

A clean car with messy papers is still a bad buy. Ask first for the original Certificate of Registration (CR) and the latest Official Receipt (OR), and compare the name on them with the seller's government ID. If they don't match, you need to see every deed of sale linking the registered owner to the seller.

Then take the CR to the car. The plate, engine and chassis numbers on it should match the vehicle. Uneven characters, grinding marks or fresh paint around the stamped numbers are reasons to stop. Tampering with them is illegal under the New Anti-Carnapping Act (RA 10883), and the same law presumes that a car whose sale was never registered with the LTO came from an illegal source until proven otherwise.

Also look for the word 'encumbered' on the CR. It means a lender still holds a chattel mortgage on the car, which can be cleared only with the lender's release in hand. Our guide to used car documents covers the steps.

Exterior: paint, panels and tires

Inspect the car in daylight. Crouch at each corner and sight along the body: ripples, uneven panel gaps or a door a shade off from the fender usually mean body repair. A repaint isn't a deal-breaker, given how common parking scrapes are in Metro Manila, but ask what happened.

• Overspray on rubber seals, plastic trim or the edges of the windshield.
• Scratched paint on the bolts at the hood hinges and fenders, a sign the panels were removed.
• Rust bubbles on wheel arches, door bottoms and rocker panels, especially on cars kept near the coast.
• Tire age. The four-digit code on the sidewall shows the week and year of manufacture (2223 means week 22 of 2023). Uneven wear can point to alignment or suspension problems.

Flood damage: check twice

Flooded cars are the biggest trap in the local used market, and more of them appear after every heavy rainy season. A car that sat in floodwater can look fine and still develop electrical faults for years. Start with your nose: a musty smell, or a suspiciously strong air freshener, in a closed cabin is a warning. Then work through these checks:

• Lift the floor mats and press the carpet. Dampness, water stains, or brand-new carpet in an old car all need an explanation.
• Open the trunk, lift the floor panel and check the spare-tire well for silt, mud lines or rust.
• Look at the seat rails and the bolts under the seats. Rust there is unusual unless water got in.
• Pull each seat belt all the way out. Mud stains on the lower end of the belt are hard to fake.
• Check the headlights and taillights for a water line or fogging inside the lens.
• Try every electric item: power windows, mirrors, locks, each aircon fan speed, the audio and the gauge lights.
• Still unsure? Ask the seller to state in writing that the car has never been submerged. An honest seller rarely minds.

Engine bay and the cold start

Ask the seller not to start the car before you arrive, since a warm engine hides weak batteries and worn parts. The hood should be cool when you get there.

• On a cold start, listen for knocking, loud ticking or a starter that struggles.
• Watch the exhaust. Blue smoke points to burning oil. Thick white smoke with a sweet smell can mean coolant is getting into the engine. An older diesel may puff some black smoke under hard throttle, but a constant cloud is a problem.
• Open the oil filler cap. A milky residue underneath is a bad sign.
• Check the coolant level and color, and look for crusty deposits around the hoses and radiator.
• Look for oil leaks around the valve cover, the oil pan and, on turbo diesels, the intake pipes.
• When you turn the key to 'on', the check-engine light should come on and then go off after the engine starts. If it never lights up at all, the bulb may have been removed to hide a fault.
• Plug a cheap OBD-II scanner into the port under the dashboard. On most modern cars it reads stored fault codes in about two minutes.

Transmission and clutch

On an automatic or CVT, moving from Park to Drive or Reverse should give a short, light bump, not a loud clunk or a long pause. The engine speed should not flare between gears. A CVT may hum a little, but a rising whine or a shudder when pulling away is expensive news. Ask for proof of transmission fluid changes, which many owners skip.

On a manual, a clutch that bites near the top of the pedal travel is worn, and grinding into second or third points to worn synchros. Try a hill start: if the revs climb and the car doesn't pull, the clutch is slipping.

Underbody and suspension

Bring a flashlight and a piece of cardboard to lie on. Look for fresh fluid drips, torn rubber boots around the drive shafts, and welding marks or bent parts that suggest accident repair. On body-on-frame pickups and SUVs such as the Hilux, Ranger and Montero Sport, check the frame rails for heavy rust. Scrapes on a skid plate are normal after provincial roads, but a bent or freshly welded frame rail usually means the truck took a hard hit.

Push down hard on each corner. The car should rebound once and settle. If it keeps bouncing, the shock absorbers are worn.

Test drive: at least 20 minutes, mixed roads

A quick loop around the village tells you very little. Plan a route with stop-and-go traffic, a few speed bumps, and a stretch where you can safely reach 80 to 100 km/h.

• In traffic, watch the temperature gauge and check whether the aircon stays cold at idle. Weak aircon in Philippine heat usually means compressor, condenser or refrigerant work.
• At speed, the steering wheel should stay centered without shaking, and the car should not drift to one side.
• On an empty road, brake firmly from about 60 km/h. The car should stop straight, without grinding or a pulsing pedal.
• Take speed bumps slowly and listen for clunks from the suspension.
• In a parking lot, turn the wheel fully left and right while rolling. Clicking from the front wheels can mean worn CV joints.

Pay a mechanic before you pay the seller

Even careful buyers miss things. A pre-purchase inspection by an independent mechanic or a brand service center (the 'casa') costs far less than the repair it might catch. Ask for the maintenance booklet and receipts too. Service stamps with odometer readings that rise steadily are reassuring. A reading of 40,000 km on a car with a shiny, worn steering wheel and pedal rubbers is not.

If the seller won't allow an inspection, you have your answer.

Red flags that should end the deal

Every used car has a few small issues. The ones below are different, and any single one is enough reason to walk away. There will be another unit next week.

• The seller isn't the registered owner and can't show the chain of deeds of sale.
• An 'open' deed of sale, signed by the owner with the buyer's name left blank.
• Engine or chassis numbers that don't match the CR, or that look re-stamped.
• The seller avoids the PNP-HPG clearance, which the LTO requires before it transfers ownership.
• A 'pasalo' (assume balance) deal where the bank hasn't approved you as the new borrower. Until it does, the car stays with the original borrower and the lender.
• A price far below similar listings, combined with pressure to pay a deposit today.
• New carpet, fresh undercoating or heavy air freshener in an older car.