A good inspection report is long, and that puts people off. You do not need to understand every line. You need to know which three or four findings change your decision, and the report should make those obvious.
The structure
Most reports, including ours, follow the same order: structure and body, then engine and drivetrain, then electronics, then wear items, then a summary. Read the summary first and the detail second.
Pass, advisory, fail
| Marking | What to do |
|---|---|
| Pass | Nothing. Move on. |
| Advisory | Price it. This is money you will spend in the next year. |
| Fail | Stop and think. Some fails are negotiable, some end the deal. |
The findings that end a deal
- Chassis or structural damage, however well repaired
- Evidence of flood damage, including silt in the spare wheel well or corrosion on connector pins
- Odometer reading lower than the mileage in the service record
- A VIN that does not match across the chassis plate, the registration card and the engine bay
- Airbag warning light with a stored crash record in the module
The findings that are really just a price
Brakes, tyres, battery, filters, a service due, a weeping gasket, worn bushes. All of these are normal wear on a used car. Get a quote for each, add them up, and take the total off the asking price. That is the whole negotiation.
Paint depth, in plain terms
If the report lists a number next to each panel, you are looking for consistency. A column of readings between 90 and 150 with one entry at 300 means that one panel has been repaired. The report should say which panel and show a photograph.
Fault codes
Scan results come in two kinds. Stored codes are faults that have happened and been recorded. Pending codes are faults the car has seen once and is waiting to confirm. Both matter. A car with codes cleared minutes before the inspection usually shows almost no readiness monitors completed, and a good report will flag that, because clearing codes before a sale is a deliberate act.
A worked example
Here is a real shape of report, with the detail changed. A 2020 saloon, 96,000km, asking AED 68,000.
| Finding | Marking | What it meant |
|---|---|---|
| Rear right quarter panel, 312 microns | Fail | A repaired impact the seller had not mentioned |
| Front brake pads at 3mm | Advisory | AED 900 to replace |
| Two tyres dated 2021 | Advisory | AED 1,400 to replace |
| Gearbox fault code P0730, stored | Fail | Needed investigation before any offer |
| AC vent temperature 8 degrees | Pass | Healthy |
| Service record complete, mileage consistent | Pass | Good sign |
The buyer did not walk away. He used the two advisories to take AED 2,300 off, then made the offer conditional on a gearbox diagnosis. The diagnosis found a worn solenoid, AED 1,800, which came off as well. The quarter panel repair was the reason he did not go higher. Final price AED 61,000 on a car asking 68,000, and he knew exactly what he was buying.
What a report does not cover
Be clear about the limits. An inspection is a snapshot of the car on the day. It does not predict failures, it does not come with a warranty, and it cannot see inside a sealed engine. What it does is remove the things that are visible to someone who knows where to look and invisible to someone who does not. That is most of the risk, but not all of it.
Get the car checked before you pay
625 points, on site anywhere in the UAE, photo report the same day. From AED 239.