Don't buy a used car without doing these checks

Check the VIN plate on the dashboard against the VIN stamped on the firewall and the one on the NaTIS document. All three must match exactly. A mismatch is the number one indicator of a cloned or stolen vehicle — common targets in SA are Hilux, Fortuner, Polo and Ranger.

Run the VIN on firstcheck.co.za before you pay anything. If the seller still owes money on the car, the bank's lien follows the vehicle — not the seller. You can legally inherit the debt. This check costs R50–R99 and takes two minutes.

Check that the km on the odometer is higher than the last service book entry, and that the km increases between service stamps are realistic. SA odometer fraud is widespread — digital clusters are rolled back with a laptop. A car showing 80,000 km on a 10-year-old vehicle warrants serious scrutiny.

Open each door fully and look at the bottom edge of the door and the sill underneath. Surface rust there is cosmetic — but bubbling, flaking or perforation means structural rust has started. On coastal cars (Cape Town, Durban) this spreads fast. Budget R3,000–R8,000 per panel to fix properly, more if it's into the sill.

Look under the car — a dry concrete patch beneath the engine is a green flag; any fresh oil staining is a red flag. A small weep from a rocker cover gasket costs R800–R1,500. A leak from the rear main seal or sump gasket is R3,000–R8,000 on most vehicles, and more on German cars.

A freshly steam-cleaned engine bay on an older car is a warning, not a selling point. Sellers clean engine bays to hide oil leaks, old seals weeping, or evidence of overheating. Compare the engine bay cleanliness to the rest of the car — if it's the only spotless part, ask why.