Score a used car pass / fail before you pay — catch salvage titles, transmission slip, accident repaint & worn brakes.
This used car inspection checklist turns a pre-purchase walk-around and test drive into a single pass / fail score out of 100. It applies the same pass/fail thresholds an ASE-certified appraiser uses for a pre-purchase inspection: hard-fail gates for deal-breakers (salvage/flood title, flashing check-engine light, a slipping transmission, body filler, a seller who refuses an inspection), then a weighted score across tires, brakes, transmission, paint/body, diagnostics, leaks, and whether you got an independent PPI. Everything is scored privately in your browser — free.
A 2016 sedan, clean title, 92,000 miles. Check-engine light off, 0 monitors not ready. Lowest tread 4/32 with one-edge wear, oldest tire 5 years. Paint reads under 25 µm with even gaps. Transmission shifts smoothly, fluid pink & clean. Brakes pulsate slightly (warped rotor suspected), front pads 4 mm. No leaks. No PPI yet.
No hard-fail gate trips, so the tool scores each item: tread 4/32 = CAUTION, one-edge wear = CAUTION, tire age 5 yr = PASS; brake pulsation = CAUTION, pads 4 mm = CAUTION; transmission all PASS; paint/body PASS; diagnostics PASS; leaks PASS; PPI = CAUTION. The mileage check (expected ≈ 120,000 for the age) is normal. The weighted score lands in the 70–84 band with only wear-part cautions, so the verdict is CONDITIONAL — Negotiate repairs into price, with an estimated reconditioning range (tires, a rotor/pad service, alignment) you can use as a price-reduction talking point — and a reminder to get a PPI before signing.
Category weights sum to 100: Tires 18, Brakes 16, Transmission 16, Paint/Body 16, Diagnostics 14, Leaks 12, PPI 8. Within each category, PASS = full points, CAUTION = half, FAIL-item = 0. Verdict bands: 85+ with zero failed items = PASS; 70–84 (or one failed wear part) = CONDITIONAL; 50–69 = CAUTION; under 50 = FAIL. Any hard-fail gate forces the score to 0 and the verdict to FAIL — Walk Away, naming the gate that tripped.
This checklist is a buyer's decision aid, not a substitute for a professional pre-purchase inspection (PPI) by an ASE-certified mechanic ($100–$250). A clean score here does not guarantee a sound car — only a lift inspection reveals frame rot, exhaust/undercarriage condition, and internal engine wear.
Tire thresholds use the safety standard: 2/32″ is the legal minimum in 42 states (CA & ID allow 1/32), but 4/32″ is the wet-safety replacement point. Paint-thickness reads depend on a gauge calibrated for the substrate (steel vs aluminum vs galvanized); factory paint is typically ~80–200 µm, so the reliable repair signal is the ≥40 µm delta between adjacent panels, not any single number. VIN history reports cover only reported events — a cash-repaired car can have an undisclosed accident with a clean title, which is exactly why the paint/panel checks exist. Reconditioning cost ranges are regional ballparks for negotiation context, not repair quotes. This checklist is built for gas and conventional-automatic vehicles: for EVs and hybrids the transmission-fluid and tailpipe-readiness items don't apply (skip or leave them at their defaults), and battery state-of-health — the EV's most expensive component — is out of this checklist's scope.
A branded title (salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk, lemon-buyback, odometer-rollback), a flashing or dead-bulb check-engine light, a slipping/delayed/won't-shift transmission, milky (coolant-contaminated) transmission fluid, body filler detected by gauge or magnet, and a seller refusing a PPI. Any one is a hard fail — walk away.
6/32″+ passes; 4–under-6/32 is a caution; 2–under-4/32 fails as unsafe in the wet; below 2/32 is below the legal minimum in 42 states. We use the safer 4/32 line, not the 2/32 penny-test line.
No — branded titles only capture insurance total-losses. Cash-repaired collision damage leaves a clean title, so always run the paint-thickness and panel-gap checks too.
Two or more not-ready on a 2001+ car suggests the ECU was recently cleared to hide a code. One can be normal after a battery change.
No. It's a decision aid. Always get an ASE-certified PPI ($100–$250) before buying — and treat a seller's refusal as a red flag.
Yes. 100% free, everything runs in your browser. Nothing is stored or sold.
Everything is scored in your browser. We don't store or sell your data. Decision aid only — not a substitute for a professional inspection.