This checklist is for a dealer or licensed buyer who buys cars from their owners to retail or wholesale. It assumes you know how to appraise a car. What it adds is an order. Each check comes as early as it can, so a bad deal can end on the ad or on the phone, before you drive anywhere.
Before you call
Many bad private-party buys show signs in the ad. Read the whole thing, not only the price and the photos.
- Read the ad's own words for problems. "Check engine light," "slips," "overheats," "needs a transmission," "salvage," "rebuilt" and "flood" all change the price. So does a price that isn't the full price, such as a down payment or a monthly payment posted as the price.
- Check that the ad's text describes the same car as its year, make, model and miles fields.
- Look at the odometer photo if there is one, and compare it with the miles the seller typed and the wear in the other photos.
- Look for the same car posted before. The same photos, the same text or the same VIN on another listing show a repost or a cross-post. Note how many times the ask has been cut and how long the car has been up.
- Look for dealer signs: a financing offer, a business name, copy that reads like a dealer's website, photos on a lot, or a phone number that appears on other cars. See spotting curbstoners.
- If the seller posted a VIN, run it before you call. A report from NMVTIS, the federal title database, covers the current title state, brand history such as salvage or flood, the last odometer reading on record, and total loss and salvage history, per its own description. The site lists the approved providers that sell the reports.
- Work out your maximum buy price before you dial.
The guide to pricing a private-party buy covers that last step.
On the phone
The call settles whether the seller can sell you the car at all. Ask about the title before you ask about the car.
- Ask whether the title is in the seller's name, and whether the seller has it in hand.
- Ask whether anyone else is on the title. If the title lists two owners, you may need both signatures. See the paperwork section below.
- Ask whether there is a loan on the car, which lender holds it and what the payoff is. You can still buy a car with a lien, but the lender has to release it.
- Ask whether the title carries a brand such as salvage or rebuilt.
- Ask for the VIN if the ad didn't show one, and the current miles on the dash.
- Ask how long they have owned it, why they are selling, and whether it has been in an accident, has warning lights on or has any known problems.
- Ask for service records.
- Ask whether they have other cars for sale. A private owner rarely has three. A curbstoner often does.
- Ask whether it is fine to scan the car and drive it, and not to start it before you arrive. A cold start tells you more than a warm one.
- Set a meeting in daylight, at the seller's home or a public place with room to look under the car.
- If the answers don't match the ad, write down both and decide whether the trip is still worth it.
For what each title problem means at resale, see title problems on private-party cars.
At the car
Bring an OBD-II scanner, a flashlight and a copy of the ad.
Match the paperwork to the car
- Read the VIN on the dash through the windshield. Match it to the label on the driver's door jamb and to the title.
- Check that the title and the registration show the same VIN and the same owner.
- Check the seller's ID against the name on the title.
- Look at the title itself for a brand, a lienholder, erasures or a different state than the ad said.
Inspect it
- Start it cold. Listen for noise at startup and watch for smoke.
- Check panel gaps, paint texture and color between panels, and overspray on rubber and trim for signs of body repair.
- Look under the car for frame damage, fresh welds, leaks and rust.
- Check for flood signs: silt or water lines under the carpet and in the trunk, rust on seat rails and screws, and a musty smell.
- Check tires for tread and uneven wear, and look at the brakes through the wheels.
- Check the fluids for level, color and smell.
- Test every window, lock, light, the air conditioning, the heat and the screen.
- Compare wear on the pedals, seat and wheel with the miles on the dash.
Scan it
- Plug in an OBD-II scanner and read stored and pending codes.
- Check the readiness monitors. Several monitors showing "not ready" on a car that has been driven for weeks often means someone cleared the codes or disconnected the battery recently.
- Note any warning light that comes on at startup and doesn't go off.
Drive it
- Drive at city and highway speeds. Watch for hard or late shifts, slipping and a flashing light.
- Check that it tracks straight and brakes straight, with no pulsing in the pedal.
- Listen for clunks over bumps and noise on turns.
- Scan it again after the drive. Pending codes can set while you drive.
- Lower your maximum by what anything you found will cost you, before you talk price.
Paperwork
Every state has its own title forms and deadlines, and a licensed dealer often has its own forms and record-keeping rules on top. The items below are general. California's DMV explains its version on its change of ownership page, read September 29, 2026, and your state's DMV or dealer licensing agency has the rules that apply to you. None of this is legal advice.
- Every owner who has to sign the title has signed it. In California, the DMV page says owners joined by "and" or a slash must all sign, and owners joined by "or" can sign alone.
- Any lienholder on the title has released it, either by signing the release on the title or with a separate lien release document. Without the release, you can't title the car free of the loan.
- The odometer reading is disclosed where the title or your state's form asks for it. The California page says federal rules require the disclosure on transfers, with an exemption once a 2011 or newer vehicle is 20 years old.
- You have a bill of sale with the date, price, VIN, year, make and model, and both parties' names and signatures. California's form is the REG 135, listed on its title transfers page.
- The seller knows to file a release of liability. In California it is the REG 138, and the seller files it within 5 days of the sale.
- Any emissions or inspection certificate your state requires from the seller is in hand. California puts the smog certification on the seller for most used cars. The DMV page lists which model years and fuel types are exempt.
- You have copies or photos of the signed title, the bill of sale and the seller's ID.
Payment
Pay in a way that leaves a record and doesn't put a pile of cash in anyone's pocket in a parking lot.
- Pay by cashier's check made out to the name on the title, or meet at the seller's bank and pay there.
- If there is a loan, get the lender's written payoff figure, pay the lender directly, and pay the seller only the difference.
- Avoid cash. If a seller insists on it, do the exchange inside a bank and get a signed receipt.
- Don't pay a deposit to hold a car you haven't seen, and don't pay before you hold the signed title.
- Walk away from a seller who wants a wire or a gift card, won't meet in person, or says the car is with a shipper.
Doing the first section faster
The checks before the call are the ones you repeat on every ad, and many cars fail them. VinCount reads the ads for private-party cars in Los Angeles on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. Each car is one row, with reposts merged and their price cuts shown, ads that read like a dealer's marked "likely dealer," and "the ad says" tags that put the problems an ad admits first. The plate read off the photos and the VIN, when the seller posted one, sit in their own columns. Everything from the phone call on is still yours. How it works shows each column.