Start with the chassis number
Everything else on this list is only as reliable as the identity of the car. Read the VIN off the car itself, not off the advert, and check it matches every document you are shown: registration, service records, warranty paperwork, invoices.
A mismatch is not automatically sinister, since clerical errors happen. It is automatically worth resolving before money moves.
Service history is the real price signal
On this class of car, a complete main-dealer or recognised specialist history is worth serious money, and its absence is worth a serious discount. You are looking for continuity: regular intervals, no multi-year gaps, and the model-specific big-ticket items done rather than deferred.
Some of those items are predictable and expensive. Clutches on single-clutch automated manuals, hydraulic components, tyres that have aged out rather than worn out, and the fluid and belt services that certain engines demand on a calendar rather than on mileage. Ask what has been done and when, and price the ones that haven't.
Accident and repair history
- Panel gaps that vary from one side of the car to the other.
- Paint depth or finish that changes between adjacent panels, and overspray on trim, seals or in the door shuts.
- Fasteners with tool marks, or bolts whose factory paint is broken.
- Underbody and structural areas: on carbon-tubbed cars, structural repair history is a different conversation entirely and needs specialist assessment.
- In the UAE, a professional pre-purchase inspection from an independent specialist is straightforward to arrange and cheap relative to the car. There is no good reason to skip it.
Mileage in context
Low mileage is desirable and also a warning to look harder. A car that has done very little in several years may have sat, and sitting is its own kind of wear: flat-spotted or aged tyres, perished seals, dried fluids, brake corrosion, battery and fuel-system issues.
A car with moderate mileage and unbroken service history is very often the better buy than a garage queen with an empty book. What you want is evidence of use and maintenance, not a small number.
Warranty, specification and the resale question
Check whether any manufacturer or dealer warranty is still active, what it actually covers and whether it transfers to you. Where a car we sell has active warranty, it is stated in that car's listing.
Then look at specification, which is where resale value hides. Colour combination, options, carbon and interior packages, and whether the car is a GCC-specification example or an import all feed into what the next buyer will pay. A well-specified car in a desirable combination is easier to sell than a base example at a lower price, and the gap tends to widen with time.
The paperwork before handover
- Confirm there is no outstanding finance or lien registered against the car.
- Check for unpaid fines attached to the vehicle.
- Confirm who holds the registration and that the seller has the authority to transfer it.
- Agree in writing what is included: both keys, tool kit, car cover, original books, any spare wheels or hardware.
- If you are exporting, confirm the export certificate and the destination's import requirements before the deposit, not after.