Vehicle Service Record
Keep a service history in your own hands, so it survives changing garages and is there when you sell.
VE-01 1 page
Vehicle buying and selling · VB-01
Used Car Pre-Purchase Inspection Sheet
A free printable used car inspection checklist — cold start, panels, tyres, fluids, warning lights, test drive and a faults-and-costs table, on two pages.
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2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Carry out the same inspection on every car you view, so a decision made in somebody's driveway is based on what you saw rather than what you remember.
Who it is for
Private buyers viewing three to six cars over a fortnight, and anyone helping a friend or a son or daughter buy their first one.
How to use it
- Print one sheet per car before you set out, and fill in the top block from the advert while you are still at home.
- Ask for the engine to be stone cold when you arrive — the cold start section is the part you cannot repeat later.
- Work round the car in one direction and write what you see, not what you conclude.
- Total the faults column afterwards, at home, and compare the sheets side by side.
What is on the sheet
2 pages, in this order:
Page 1
Printed under the title: One sheet per car, filled in on the driveway while you are standing in front of it. Print one per viewing and lay them side by side afterwards, when nobody is watching you decide.
What this sheet is, and is not. This is a buyer's own walk-round, not a professional inspection. It exists because people forget checks when a stranger is standing beside them — anything expensive is still worth paying an independent inspector to look at before money changes hands.
Write-on lines: Make and model · Registration · Year · Date viewed · VIN / chassis number · Engine and gearbox · Colour · Advert reference
Price, mileage and history — the numbers to settle before you look at the car
Write-on lines: Asking price · Mileage on the clock · Mileage at the last stamp · Former keepers · Seller — name and town · Private or trade · Phone · Do the mileages agree?
Documents seen — tick only what you have actually held in your hand
- Registration document — seller's name and address
- Service book stamps, dates and mileages in order
- Invoices for the work the advert claims
- Roadworthiness certificate, and when it expires
- Both keys, locking nut key and handbook
- Finance, write-off and identity checks done
Cold start — ask for the engine to be stone cold when you arrive
- Bonnet cold to the hand before the key is turned
- Smoke on start-up — colour, and whether it clears
- Noises from cold: rattle, tap, whine, chain
- Idle steady, or hunting and dropping
Write-on lines: Warning lights with the ignition on, before starting · Still lit once it has started
Page 2
Panels, gaps and paint — walk round in one direction and write what you see
- Bonnet — gaps and paint
- Wings and headlamps
- Doors, gaps and sills
- Roof, pillars and screen
- Rear quarters and arches
- Boot floor and bumpers
Tyres and wheels — front and rear, plus the spare — the date code is on the sidewall
Table, 5 rows: Wheel · Make and model · Size · Tread depth · Date code · Condition and damage
Write-on lines: Engine oil — colour and level · Coolant · Brake fluid · Gearbox and other
Ruled lines: Test drive — clutch, gears, brakes, steering, temperature, noises
Faults found, and what they cost to put right
Table, 5 rows: Fault · How bad · Who quoted · Cost to fix · Off the price?
Write-on lines: Decision · Offer made · Outcome
Questions
Does this replace a professional inspection?
No. It is a buyer's own walk-round, and its job is to stop you forgetting a check while somebody is standing beside you. Anything expensive — structural repair, a cambelt, a gearbox, a hybrid battery — is worth paying an independent inspector or a marque specialist to look at before money changes hands.
Why is there nothing about what the readings should be?
Because tread depths, emissions limits, roadworthiness tests and what counts as acceptable corrosion are set nationally and change, and because tyre pressures, service intervals and fluid specifications are the manufacturer's, not ours. The sheet records what you found; the standard it is measured against should come from the handbook and from the rules where you live.
Why two pages?
Because a one-page version means either dropping the test drive or shrinking the writing space until nobody uses it. The first page is what you can check standing still; the second is the car moving, and what putting it right would cost.
Related sheets
Tyre and Brake Record
See wear as a trend, so you can plan replacement instead of being told at a test that it is already too late.
VE-07 2 pages
Vehicle Maintenance Schedule Planner
Translate intervals into due mileages, so servicing is planned rather than remembered.
VE-02 2 pages
Fuel and MPG Log
See what a vehicle actually costs to run and spot a change in fuel consumption early, which is often the first sign that something mechanical is wrong.
GF-01 1 page
Also in the resources library
The same subject, with a version you can fill in on screen.
Used Car Inspection Checklist
Nothing forgotten in the moment because the seller is talking.
RV-37 Checklist PDF Online
Vehicle Pre-Delivery Inspection Sheet
Exactly what was checked before the vehicle left, and by whom.
IC-114 Form PDF Online
