Pre-purchase inspection checklist for mechanics
A printable PPI checklist from the mechanic's side, grouped by area, with what a fail looks like on each line. Plus how to grade findings, word them for the buyer, and state the limits of the inspection.
By Miqui Campuzano, founder of GoFolio · Updated 6 October 2026
This is the checklist from the mechanic’s side of a pre-purchase inspection (PPI): what to look at, in what order, and what a fail looks like. Print it, take it to the seller’s driveway and fill it in as you go. After it: how to grade, how to word findings so a buyer can act on them, and how to state what the inspection doesn’t cover.
Before you leave for the job
Get the VIN and rego from the buyer when they book, plus the seller’s name, number and address. Ask the seller not to start the car on the day. A cold start tells you more than anything else you’ll do, and a warm engine on arrival is worth a line in the report.
Tell the buyer to run a PPSR search themselves. On the PPSR site it costs $2.00 online and needs the VIN or chassis number, not the plate. It shows whether a security interest (finance) is registered against the car, and usually its written-off and stolen status. PPSR advises searching on the day you buy or the day before. It does not show the amount owing, the ownership history, the odometer reading or unpaid fines, so it doesn’t replace your inspection and your inspection doesn’t replace it.
The printable checklist
Each line says what to check and, after the colon, what a fail looks like. Write P (pass), W (watch) or F (fail) in the box, or N/C if you couldn’t check it, and note the reason on the back of the sheet.
1. Paperwork and history
- VIN on the build or compliance plate, windscreen and body matches the rego papers: F if any differ, a plate is missing or its rivets look disturbed
- Build date on the plate matches the model year the seller claims
- Rego current (state online check by plate): note the expiry date
- Buyer's PPSR certificate dated today or yesterday, VIN matches, no security interest: F if written off or stolen and not disclosed
- Logbook entries in date and km order: F if a later entry shows fewer km than an earlier one
- Last service date and km against the manufacturer's schedule: W if overdue or no record
- Timing belt or chain? If belt: sticker, invoice or logbook entry showing it was replaced on schedule: W if due and no evidence, and say so in the summary on an interference engine
- Outstanding recalls (manufacturer's VIN lookup): W for any open recall, and put an open airbag recall in the summary
- Odometer reading recorded; wear on pedals, steering wheel and driver's seat bolster fits it
2. Exterior and body
- Panel gaps even all round; paint colour and texture match: F if they point to undisclosed crash repair
- Overspray on rubbers, badges or trim; filler under the paint (magnet or paint gauge)
- Rust at sills, wheel arches, door bottoms, tailgate, windscreen surround: F if rusted through or structural
- Hail dents across roof, bonnet and boot lid (look along the panel in low light)
- Windscreen chips or cracks in the driver's line of sight
- Headlight and tail-light lenses clear, not cracked or holding water
- Tow bar, roof racks, lift kit, oversize wheels: note mods that may need engineering sign-off or affect insurance
3. Under the bonnet (engine cold)
- Oil level and condition on the dipstick: F if milky or sludgy (a little mayonnaise under the filler cap alone is often condensation from short trips: W)
- Coolant level and colour in the overflow: F if oil film, sludge or rusty water
- Leaks at rocker cover, timing cover, sump, power steering, water pump and hoses
- Drive belts and hoses: cracked, glazed, soft or swollen
- Auto transmission fluid, where there's a dipstick: W if dark or burnt-smelling, F if low with metal on the stick
- Turbo: oil in the intake pipes or intercooler hoses
- Battery age, terminal corrosion and hold-down
- Freshly degreased engine bay: note it, since it can hide leaks
- Radiator support, inner guards and strut towers: welds, kinks or replaced panels: F if structural repair not disclosed
4. Cold start
- All warning lights come on at key-on, then go out: F if the airbag (SRS), ABS or engine light stays on, or never lights at all (it may have been disabled)
- Starts promptly; listen for timing chain rattle in the first few seconds, lifter tick, diesel injector knock
- Exhaust smoke: blue that persists (oil), white that persists once warm (coolant), black under load (rich or diesel fuelling): F if heavy or persistent
- Diesel: blow-by with the oil filler cap off at idle: F if it pulses or pushes oil mist
- Idle steady; scan all modules for stored and pending codes
- Readiness monitors: W if several are not ready, since codes may have been cleared recently
- Hybrid: READY light and no hybrid system warning; read battery health if your scan tool supports it
5. Underbody
- Oil leaks at sump, gearbox, transfer case, diff and the engine-to-gearbox join (rear main seal)
- Exhaust: rust, blowing joints, broken hangers; diesel DPF or cat damage
- CV boots split or slinging grease; driveshaft and uni joint play
- Chassis rails and floor pan: kinks, crash repair, non-factory welds: F if structural
- Steering rack boots, tie-rod ends and ball joints: play or split boots
- Shocks leaking; bushes perished or cracked
- 4WD: scrapes, bent bash plates or recovery points, mud or sand packed high in the chassis
6. Wheels, brakes and suspension
- Tread depth at several points on each tyre: F if worn to the wear indicators (1.5 mm), W if close
- Wear pattern: inside or outside edge wear points to alignment or suspension faults
- Tyre date codes; same brand and pattern across each axle
- Disc condition (lip, scoring, cracks) and pad thickness where visible
- Brake fluid level; moisture content if you carry a tester
- Spare tyre, jack and wheel brace present
- Ride height even; no corner sagging
7. Interior and electrics
- Flood signs: silt or a tide line under carpet and seats, rust on seat rails, belt buckles or under-dash bolts, musty smell, new carpet in an older car: F if found
- Air-con blows cold; heater and demister work
- Every window, lock, mirror and seat adjuster works
- Number of keys; each one works the central locking and starts the car
- Seatbelts retract and latch in every seat
- Reversing camera, sensors, infotainment and horn
8. Road test
- Temperature gauge rises to normal and stays there
- Conventional auto: slow or harsh engagement into D or R, flare or slip between gears: F if it slips
- CVT: judder pulling away, whine, revs flaring without the car picking up: F if it judders or slips
- Dual-clutch (DSG and similar): shudder on take-off or creeping in traffic, clunks on downshift, hesitation from a stop: F if it shudders
- Manual: clutch slip in a high gear at low revs, crunching gears, dual-mass flywheel rattle at idle
- 4WD: 4H and 4L engage and disengage, no binding on tight turns in 2WD, diff lock light works
- Brakes: pull to one side, judder, soft or long pedal
- Steering: pulls, off-centre wheel, vibration at highway speed
- Noises: knocks over bumps, wheel bearing hum that changes with steering load, diff whine
- Cruise control and driver-assist features work, with no warnings
9. After the road test
- Look under the car again while it idles: fresh drips
- Rescan for codes
- Radiator fan cycles on and off
- Coolant level in the overflow, and no bubbling or fuel smell there (don't open a hot radiator cap)
- Record the finishing odometer reading
Some faults a PPI can only point at. If you see blue smoke, heavy blow-by, a misfire or coolant loss, say what you saw and recommend the test that would confirm it (a compression or leak-down test, or a cooling system pressure test and combustion leak test) as a separate job before the buyer commits. Don’t guess the result in the report.
How to grade: pass, watch, fail
Three grades are enough. Add more and the buyer stops reading. Decide the grade by what the buyer should do about it, not by how bad it looks.
| Grade | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Checked, nothing to act on. | Pads about half worn, discs smooth, no pull under braking. |
| Watch | Fine today, will need money or attention soon. Worth negotiating on. | Timing belt due at the next service and no record it has been done. |
| Fail | Unsafe, needs fixing before the car is driven much, or changes whether to buy at all. | Coolant level dropped after the road test, with bubbles in the overflow bottle. |
Grade what you saw, not what might be there. If you couldn’t check something (no hoist, flat battery, seller wouldn’t allow a road test), say so on that line. A blank line reads as a pass.
How to write findings a buyer understands
The buyer will read the report on their phone, probably while talking to the seller. Each finding needs four parts: the grade, what you saw and where, what it means, and what to do next. Keep the jargon for the second part only.
Some oil leaks underneath.
FAIL. Oil leak at the rear main seal area (between engine and gearbox). Fresh oil on the bellhousing, dripping after the road test. Fixing it means removing the gearbox, so it is not a small job. Get a repair quote before you agree on a price.
WATCH. Front tyres 2021 date code, tread even, about 3 mm left. Safe today. Budget for two front tyres within the next year or so of normal driving.
Don’t estimate repair prices unless you would quote that job yourself. Say “get a quote” instead. Keep opinions about the price of the car out of the report. You’re reporting condition.
Photos to take
Photos settle arguments later. Take them as you go, not at the end, and caption each one with the checklist line it belongs to.
- All four corners of the car, plus the odometer with the ignition on.
- The VIN on the compliance or build plate and on the windscreen.
- The logbook page with the most recent entry.
- Every Fail and Watch item, close up, with something for scale.
- The scan tool screen showing codes and readiness monitors.
- Each tyre’s tread and date code.
- Under the car after the road test, showing any fresh drips.
What to say about the limits of a PPI
A PPI is a visual and road-test inspection on one day. You don’t pull the engine down, you can’t see inside the gearbox, and a car that is fine today can fail next week. Say that on the report, in plain words, near the top. It protects you and it sets the buyer’s expectations.
It is also not a roadworthy or safety certificate, and it says nothing about finance owing. The reverse holds too: Queensland’s own safety certificate page says that inspection is not a full mechanical inspection of a car’s quality or life expectancy. The roadworthy vs PPI guide covers how to word the difference.
Scope: This is a visual, scan-tool and road-test inspection of the vehicle as presented on date at address, odometer xxx,xxx km. Nothing was dismantled. It reports the condition found on the day and is not a guarantee of future condition or reliability. It is not a roadworthy or safety certificate, and it does not check finance owing, ownership or write-off history (the buyer should run a PPSR search). Items marked N/C could not be checked, for the reason given.
What goes in the report
- Buyer’s name, seller’s name, inspection date, time and address.
- Vehicle: make, model, year, rego, VIN, odometer at start and finish.
- The scope statement above.
- A short summary: number of Fail and Watch items, and the one or two that matter most.
- The full checklist with a grade, note and photos for each line.
- Conditions on the day: engine cold or warm on arrival, weather, hoist or no hoist.
- Your business name, ABN, the inspecting mechanic’s name, and the invoice.
If you run PPIs in GoFolio, the inspection checklist on the booking takes a Pass, Watch or Fail, a note and photos for each item. The finished checklist is folded into the invoice document and also has its own shareable page.
Common questions
Should the mechanic or the buyer run the PPSR check?
The buyer. It costs $2.00 online on the PPSR site, needs the VIN or chassis number, and PPSR advises doing it on the day of purchase or the day before. Sight the certificate and note on your report whether the VIN matches.
Can I do a PPI without a hoist?
Yes, with ramps or a creeper and a good torch, but say so in the report and mark any underbody line you couldn't see properly as N/C with the reason.